Local group launches program to honor veterans

In June, Tricia Kinnamon received a Buck knife while attending the 90th annual Montana state convention of the Disabled American Veterans held in Butte.

"Everyone who attended received one, to our surprise," she said.

Kinnamon serves as the commander and service officer of the Flathead chapter of the Disabled American Veterans. Although she ended her active duty more than two decades ago, the knife gift touched her profoundly.

"It was just a real bonus that someone would do this for us," she said. "We got to meet Mr. Buck and Mr. Crutchfield."

Chuck Buck, a veteran and owner of Buck Knives in Post Falls, Idaho, and Col. Graham Crutchfield, U.S. Marine Corps retired, presented the commemorative knives as part of an ongoing thank-you to injured veterans and to the families of service members killed in the line of duty.

Crutchfield has spent his own money and taken on fundraising for knives as a mission while Buck provides the knives at a discount.

Now Kinnamon and the Flathead Disabled American Veterans chapter are asking for donations to start a similar program locally for injured veterans and the families of those killed. She would like to eventually expand the program to other soldiers who have served in combat.

Kinnamon said that the more she learned about the knives, the more impressed she became.

"They're all made by American workers," she said.

A young blacksmith apprentice named Hoyt Buck made the first knife in 1902 when he found a way to temper steel so it would hold an edge longer. He made each knife by hand, using worn-out file blades as raw material.

Al Buck made the company a leader in the knife industry in 1964 with the first folding "lockblade" knife, the model 110 Folding Hunter.

In an opinion piece, Crutchfield answered a question he hears often: "What's so special about these Buck knifes?" He described them as Buck Commemorative Sheath Knives produced in special limited production runs of less than 150 per branch of military service.

He said each knife comes engraved with the branch of service insignia in gold on the black handle. Buck employees laser-engrave the blade with three lines listing the veteran's branch of service, date that the branch of the service was established and the date of the knife manufacture and the motto of the service.

"These knives are for war service, for our service men and women in the air, on the ground, above and below the sea," Crutchfield said. "For those of us who give these knives, to those of you who receive them, We say thank you, and God bless you."

He said most of the knives he gives out go to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Most are young although Crutchfield has purchased some for World War II survivors such as those from the Bataan Death March.

"To know what the gift of one of these special knives means to them, you have to ask them," Crutchfield said.

A well-known figure in Idaho, Crutchfield gave Kinnamon a large packet of articles written about his project. One published in the Coeur d'Alene Press covered a presentation there in April similiar to the one Kinnamon's chapter hopes to organize in November.

Vietnam veteran Bill Conner attended and described to the audience how he felt when he received a knife in 2007 on behalf of his son Bradley, who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq.

"It means the community does care about the service men, even if they don't return," he said. "It's a tremendous feeling."

Kinnamon couldn't be prouder of her own brass-trimmed knife engraved with: United States Air Force, established in 1946, knife manufactured in 2011, and "Integrity First," the Air Force motto. It serves as a reminder of her service and the gratitude citizens expressed for it.

She and others in the chapter decided they wanted others to experience the gifts of a Buck commemorative knife. According to Kinnamon, the Flathead Valley has about 100 disabled veterans while the state has almost 600.

Kinnamon said the DAV started in the 1920s.

"Our goal is to help disabled vets any way we can," she said. "We help them get their benefits by helping then fill out the paperwork."

The group meets the first Wednesday of each month in the meeting room of the VFW in Kalispell.

As the program gets rolling, the DAV wants to serve all branches of the Armed Forces. Kinnamon said they would like to raise about $6,000 to launch the project.

The knives retail for several hundred dollars but the company provides them at cost for this project for $39.95. People who would like to donate should send a check made out to the Flathead chapter and mail it to DAV, P.O. Box 10606, Kalispell, MT 59904.

"It's tax-exempt if people donate through the DAV," Kinnamon said.

For more information, people may contact Kinnamon at (406) 890-3335 or Terry Brosten at 752-2357.