Sunday, May 11, 2014

Reflections on the knife

"We've got to resist this temptation to discard tried weapons until something better is proven.  The principles of warfare don't change that much.

Even today, with atom bombs, rockets, and all of the frightening new things, we haven't discarded man's oldest weapon - the knife.  And I don't think we ever will.  It is still the basic weapon of warfare.

The man with the knife is the one who does the conquering. Bombs and rockets can soften up Nations, but it requires the man with the knife to go in and actually take the country.

Warriors exhaust every other weapon but always retain the knife.  The knife - be it sword or bayonet or dagger or scimitar - decides the ultimate fate in battle"

Rear Admiral T.D. Ruddock, Superintendent of the United States Naval Gun Factory, Washington D.C.


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