THE VIETNAM TRIBUTE COLLECTION issued by The American Historical Foundation

The American Historical Foundation issued a series of four
commemorative combat knives called the Vietnam Tribute
Collection. The four knives honors the service of the United
States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines in Vietnam from
1961-1973. The knives were manufactured by Gerber
Legendary Blades of Portland, Oregon. The type of knife
used for this collection was the Gerber Mark II.

Each knife handle has its own camouflage scheme relative to
that specific branch of the United States Armed Forces. The
only exception to this is the United States Navy Knife which
has the solid colors of green and gray with a gold rope
wrapping around the handle seperating those colors. On the
handle of each knife is the seal for that specific branch of
the United States Armed Forces.

Each knife is unique, and the blades are made of stainless
steel. Each knife blade is individually hand ground, so there
are slight differences in the blade lengths. The display side of
the blade has an insignia or patch relative to that specific
branch of the United States Armed Forces. The rest of the
display side of the blade has a stunning engraved combat
scene with banners on each side. For example, The Marine
Knife says "In Honor of the United States Marines" to the
left of the engraved combat scene and "Vietnam 1961-73"
to the right.

The back of each blade has the Gerber Legendary Blades
logo, below the logo is the word GERBER in capital letters.
Below GERBER, in smaller capital letters it says
PORTLAND, ORE. U.S.A. and below that is the serial
number.

Each Knife has its own case made of Mahogany. Inside of the
Wooden Knife Case is its own Embedded Certificate of
Authenticity that tells you the specific branch of the United
States Armed Forces for the Knife, and Serial Number.

At the time of issue, you could also purchase from the
American Historical Foundation a Master Box that would
hold all four of the wooden knife cases.

The American Historical Foundation produced a Gold Leaf
Wall Display Mount to enhance the presentation of the four
commemorative combat knives in the Vietnam Tribute
Collection. The Gold Leaf Wall Display Mount has dark green
felt. On the top center of the wall display mount is a black
plate with gold lettering. The plate has the serial number
for this limited edition collection which matches the serial
number on the back of each knife and the serial number on
the embedded certificate of authenticity inside each knife
case.

There were a total of 2500 Vietnam Tribute Collections
produced worldwide. This limited edition collection of Gerber
knives is very rare. At the time of production, each knife sold
for $259, the Mahogany Case for each knife with Matching
Serial Number was available for an additional $39. For
example, if you bought the U.S. Army Knife with Serial #1997,
you would pay an additional $39 for the U.S. Army Mahogany
Case with Serial #1997.