Original Item: Only One Available. As far as legendary fighting knives go, there are a few that stand the test of time. The Ka-Bar, the Bowie knife, the Fairbairn-Sykes, and the often forgotten Gerber Mark II Combat Knife are all famed fighting knives. The Mark II was designed in 1966 and quickly became a popular choice with soldiers and Marines headed overseas. Particularly, the Mark II became a favorite with the MACV SOG teams that were the premier special operations unit in Vietnam.

A former Army Captain designed the Gerber Mark II. And he designed it not just to be a tool but a weapon. The Mark II has a 6.5-inch blade. That length allows the blade to strike something vital in the torso from almost any angle. The Mark II uses a dagger type design making it less of a slasher and more of a stabber. This dual-edged blade, with its dagger point, will penetrate deep and with ease.

During the Vietnam War, the first production run of this knife had a five degree offset between the blade and the grip in order to ride in the sheath more comfortably, and give the user a grip similar to that of a fencing foil. This design feature led to a significant number of knives being returned by users for having a "bent blade", so Gerber discontinued that element on subsequent production runs.

At 12.75 inches (32.39 cm) long it has a 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) 420 HHC stainless steel double edged spear point wasp-waisted blade, weighs 8 ounces, and has a die cast aluminum handle. It has a distinctive look similar to that of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife developed during World War II for the British Commandos.

In the 1970s, the military's base/post exchanges discontinued selling these knives, reasoning that they were "not in good taste" or "too brutal". Al Mar, then working for Gerber as a knife designer, added the sawtooth serrations toward the hilt, marketing the knife as a "survival aid", making it more appealing to the PX System, which resumed selling the Mark II as a survival knife, rather than a fighting knife.

This knife is name engraved on the blade to CAPT. E. S. HOLMBERG / 084009. Captain Eugene Holmberg was given this knife as a promotion present from his father. Eugene Holmberg first enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 10, 1951 and soon found himself in Korea with Marine Attack Squadron (VMF-311) with Marine Air Group 33. We have not been able to find much on his Korean War service, but we did find an interesting story about him during the war.

Jet v. Biplane

MAG-13 headquarters left Vietnam in September 1970 and returned to MCAS El Toro in October of that same year.

After serving with MAG-13, he flew with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 (VMFA-115) for 6 months, eventually transferring to VFMA-115 in Ops. They moved to Danang and he continued flying until he left Vietnam in November of 1970.

He flew a total of 180 missions during his second tour.

The wear on both the knife and sheath are consistent with service wear and use, but are without damage. There is some paint loss on the cast aluminum crossguard and pommell, but no corrosion is present. The blade is without any significant damage and all engraving is deeply made and still easily read. The sheath exhibits minor wear and is free of damage. The sheath is correct to the knife and the belt loop is marked with Gerber. The sheath also has a pistol belt brass hook attachment at the top.

Included in the grouping is a print out of an email between a previous owner and Captain Holmberg, confirming this knife is his and a brief history of when and where he carried it.

This is an incredible knife attributed to a member of the world’s finest fighting force, the United States Marine Corps. The knife comes more than ready for further research and display!