In Infantry Basic in the Sixth Division at Fort Ord, Monterey, California we were taught to use the bayonet with the M1 rifle. Having been raised as a pacifist by my parents, I had difficulty with the instruction. I would feign "laryngitis" when the cadreman would shout,
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU TROOPER!" After some time I was able to shout the words,
"TO KILL" and "THE QUICK" when the instructor would ask the questions about bayonet fighting.
When I was assigned to Germany and issued a M1 rifle and even later a M-2 carbine, I made sure that my bayonet was in working order. When I was in the USAF and issued a M-1 carbine we were not issued a bayonet. I asked if we had any and received laughter as an answer.
When I rejoined the army and was sent to Korea I found myself issued a M-14 rifle w/bayonet. We all carried our rifles and LBE gear on the truck to our mountain top Hawk Missile site every day. Our instructions were that if we went to war with NK we would become replacement rifleman after firing our missiles at enemy aircraft.
Our compound was down the mountain and on a flattened area still at some elevation. The local "slicky boys", as thieves were called in Korea were very adept at their trade and our eight foot tall fences with a dog run in between and barbed wire and concertina wire was just a slight challenge to them. Our interior guard posts were manned by soldiers carrying only a .45 caliber pistol and 7 rounds of 230 ball ammo. There was also a KATUSA with his canine.
After the officer's quarters were hit one night and all the officers lost wallets, watches, and electric razors, the captain was furious. He swore that this would not happen again but it did, this time his personal stereo was taken. I decided that if no one else would address the problem I would do it.
I obtained a copy of FM-19-? (Physical Security Manual) and wrote up a treatise on security for our camp. I covered various aspects that needed addressed in our organization and then went into a one page description of the need for a better firearm for interior guard duty. If the M-14 was too much, the .45 was too little. My compromise was the 12 gauge shotgun with a M-1917 bayonet and 00 buckshot. I turned in the paper to the first sgt. with a request that he pass it on to the captain.
About four weeks later as I was returning my rifle to the arms room, after our truck came down from the missile site, the armorer asked me to stay by for a minute since he needed my help on something. When the others were gone the armorer opened a wooden packing crate and there they were, the most beautiful sight! There were 6 of the Winchester 12 gauge riot shotguns with the opon cooling hand guards and bayonet mounts. The bayonets and sheaths were there also.
The armorer said that he didnt know quite how to set them up and asked my advice.( I was know to be a firearms afficianado since I had a pistol and rifle/shotgun combo in the arms room) He was not too kappy to see them and wondered aloud about who had thought up such a scheme. I just kept quiet and grinned inwardly.
Later, as soon as they were put to work with the bayonet fixed and fully loaded with 00 buck, the troops were saying how they would like to get hold of whoever it was that brought these shotguns into their lives. They were not liked because they were heavy and required the bayonet to be fixed while on patrol and were not as easy to carry as the holstered .45 pistol.
The bottom line? We were never bothered by "slicky boys" again as long as I was there. That was the purpose anyway. The thieves would walk down the road outside or camp and scowl at the guard walking post with the shotgun and bayonet.
Later enroute to Oakland by train from Fort Riley, Kansas we were asked by the first sgt. if anyone wanted to be ready to repel boarders by the Berkeley mob as we pulled into the Oakland Army Base. The whole aisle outside the compartments filled up with soldiers with rifles and bayonets. The one thing I remember doing with my bayonet in RVN was to cut a cobra in half so we could see what it had for lunch. The guy that found the cobra in his bunker, climbed back down the ladder and stabbed it with his bayonet that was mounted on his M-14.
