Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Even though I've yet to join the military, from my perceptions about the bayonet, I've got that mental edge especially in mind. Even moreso considering the reports I hear about how the modern army is regarding warrior spirit.

And I've got here a little story that Col. Hackworth used to tell his soldiers about something like this:

The Tragic Story of Willie Lump Lump

After WW 11, a boy named Willie Lump Lump enlisted in the Army. He went to Fort Benning to take his infantry training, sixteen weeks of sweat and tears and lots of punishment, to turn him into a hardened soldier. Along about the seventh week of training, a sergeant stood up in front of his class and said, "Gentlemen, I'm Sergeant Slasher, and today I'm going to introduce you to the bayonet. On guard! With that, the sergeant went into the correct stance for holding the bayonet. "On the battlefield," he continued, 'you will meet the enemy, and there will be times when you will need this bayonet to defeat the enemy. To KILL the enemy! Over the next weeks you'll be receiving a twenty-hour block of instruction on the bayonet, and I will be your principal instructor."

Willie Lump Lump went back to the barracks, deeply upset. Man, that was so brutal out there today, he thought. The war is over. We're living in peace and tranquillity, and still the Army is teaching us how to use these horrible weapons! "Dear Mom," he wrote home. "Today the sergeant told me he's going to teach me how to use the bayonet to kill enemy soldiers or, the battle field.'

Willie's mother was shocked. She got right on the phone: "Hello, Congressman DoGood? This is Mrs. Lump Lump. I want to tell you what's happening down at Fort Benning, Georgia. Here it is, 1949, and they're teaching my baby to kill with a bayonet. It's uncivilized! It's barbaric!"

The Congressman immediately got on the horn. "Hello, General Playitright at the Pentagon? This is Congressman DoGood. I understand the Army is still giving bayonet training."

"Yes, we are."

"Do you think it's a good idea? I don't think it's a very good thing at all. It's even somewhat uncivilized. 1 mean, really, how many times does a soldier need his bayonet?"

“Not very often, sir, it's true. Actually, I was just reviewing the Army Training Program myself, and I was thinking that the bayonet is a pretty obsolete weapon. I agree with you. I'll put out instructions that it's going to stop…”

The next day, seven hundred miles away: "Gentlemen, I am Sergeant Slasher. This is your second class on bayonet training--" the sergeant was interrupted by a lieutenant walking purposefully toward his across the training field. “Stand easy, men."

"It's out," the lieutenant whispered.

"What!" said the sergeant.

"It's out," the lieutenant whispered again. The sergeant nodded, his mouth wide open in disbelief. He returned to his class.

“Gentlemen, we'll have to break here. It looks as if bayonet training has been discontinued in the Army.

A year later, PFC Lump Lump, the model soldier, deployed to Korea with the 1st battalion, 23rd Regiment, 2nd infantry Division. He was standing on a frozen hill and the Chinese were coming it him--wave after wave after wave. Willie stood like a rock. Resolutely, he shot the enemy down. Suddenly he realized he was out of ammunition. He looked at his belt--not a round left. He saw a Chinaman rushing toward his. He remembered the first class on bayonet training. He reached down and pulled his bayonet out of his scabbard. Shaking and fumbling, he tried to fit it an the end of his weapon, but by that time the Chinese soldier was standing over him, with a bayonet of his own.

The Secretary of the Army signed his thousandth letter for the day: "Dear Mrs. Lump Lump; It is with deep regret that I must inform you that your son, PFC Lump Lump, was killed in action 27 November 1950."

Heartbroken, Mrs. Lump Lump wrote to some friends of young Willie's in the company. "Now?" she asked. "Why???" "Willie wasn't trained," they wrote back. 'He didn't know how to use his bayonet." Now Mrs. Lump Lump was not only heartbroken, but outraged. She didn't even bother to call Congressman DoGood. She barged right into his office.

"Why?" she cried and screamed. "Why wasn't my son trained for war?"


Lessons Learned:

The training soldiers receive daily is in their own best interest.

The civilian population doesn't know diddley squat about the realities at war

Taken from here: http://hackworth.com/aboutfaceextracts.html .

A very good book if you haven't read it. Even if you disagree with his current stances, I find him a great source of inspiration regarding leadership.

Great Story!!

Lessons Learned:
The training soldiers receive daily is in their own best interest.
The civilian population doesn't know diddley squat about the realities at war

Very True!!

The Bayonet: Never leave home without it...

Very good story. Now for all of you about to enter the military see the importance of sneaking one of the old fashioned 12 inch triangular bayonets in your ruck sack.

I still dont get the byonet thing, maybe if we had a tridition with byonets like the USA and UK, I would, but really, bullets seem much more sensible....

But what about when you are in a really tough fight and run out of ammo? A soldier with a bayonet at the end of their rifle will still more than likely whoop anyone trying to use their helmet.

yeah thats true, but who fixes Byonets before combat these days....I might just get alucky with the helmet before you fix the byonet....just kidding. What about M4 carabines and other weapons....Not all of them are adapted for byonets anyways... The butt of the M16 is also good for CC.

That's why Patton said, "Few men are killed by the bayonet, many are scared by it. Bayonets should be fixed when the fire fight starts." If we aren't using bayonets we can't follow Patton's immortal advice in the first part. That's why I think we should revert back to the 12inch triangular bayonet and make it a regular part of training so when they go out and fight they will have their bayonets attached as soon as they start shooting and then they will easily overcome any nutcase trying to attack them with a helmet. Whew. Does this make sense?

Haha. Well the whole striking fear into the hearts of everyone who sees us would be great except that our most important mission is to stabilize those regions we are in, and this cannot effectively be done if our troops scare the pudding out of everyone (including civilians) that sees them. It's hard enough to gain the trust of the indigenous people when you roll around in armored vehicles covered in gear that makes you look like some kind of evil spaceman to many people in third world countries who have never seen anything like our troops before, and adding gear whose sole intention is intimidation will not help this situation.


On an unrelated note, last year I had the honor of meeting a Medal of Honor recipient from WWII. He won the decoration for two days of action on D-Day and D+1, and one of the acts that called attentions to his heroism was when he took out an eight man German mortar position with just his bayonet.

And anyway, people should know that when (fill your armies name) is coming to get them, it dosent matter if your carrying a lolipop or a spear- you are stronger, faster, and genneraly better....thats the only kind of intimddation you really need.

But what if the bayonet is the means to getting to that point of intimidation? Just 'cause it has no practical use doesn't deny the role it has in laying the foundation for fighting soldiers.

And Redneck, yeah the whole scaring the bajesus outta them does kinda make it a moot point. But first you gotta scare the hell outta them, then show them that you're not so bad as you look. Either way they still wouldn't wanna mess with you.