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Filipino Bolo

This Filipino bolo knife has a 13-1/2 inch long blade and was worn around the neck of the pilot of the first U.S. Navy helicopter to be shot down over North Vietnam. Lt. Melvin Howell was on a rescue mission to recover two downed USAF jet pilots in November 1965 when his Sikorsky SH-3A was struck by machine gun fire. He managed to fly the stricken helo to a nearby mountaintop, from which he and the rest of the crew (the aircraft commander and two door gunners) were rescued later that day. Howell joined the Seawolves in 1970, where he continued to wear the knife under his survival vest.