Neil, as a Vietnam veteran who has contacted several families of some of my lost teammates, I suggest that the family might welcome your remembering your friend and talking to them. If you couch your request about wanting to recover the knife to remember him, you might be surprised how they might welcome it, after all these years. It might mean more to you than to them.
Many, maybe most, families just received a letter with few if any details about their son, and few of his mates ever contacted those families because of the way we dribbled back.
A few years ago, decades after the event, I posted my rememberences of what happened to SSGT Michael McCain, SF A-244 Ben Het, May 9, 1968, on the virtual wall. To my amazement I had 4 different family members communicate in the most postive way.
My father was KIA in Normandy 12 days after we were born. His effects were returned except for a few things I always wondered about. I wonder if you just knew where the knife was, even if you didn't get it back, whether you might find it enough to somehow complete the circle.
Good luck with it. Regards.
Edited by Jacknola (10/30/11 12:08 AM)
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Jack Williams