Open question to anyone: why do you think there are real deal, respected knife makers and real deal professional soldiers supporting Mick and Duane? Is there something we don't know? Something not known publicly?
Among the supporters: Kit Carson, Tom Mayo, Bill Harsey, Pat Rogers, Jerry Hossom, Neil Ostroff, Ryan Johnson, numerous verified special operations soldiers from several discussion forums,...
Look at the these names. Think about the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines. These are not just anybody. These are very important figures in knives, big names in knifemaking and knifedealing and others in the special operations scene. They talk the talk, walk the walk. They know the deal. Why do they support Mick and Duane?
Yes, I know I'm going to get flak for posting this but I am genuinely interested in what people think!
(To make things clear, yes, I'm a Mick and Duane supporter that's no secret. I'm also a active duty soldier. How complicated. Does all this make me a tool, poser, sucker and biased in my posting?)
Thanks, Dan
Dan,
I don't think you deserve any flak for your post. It sounds sincere to me, it asks a legitimate question (one which I posed several pages ago), and it was delivered without insults or disrespect. I only wish that more contributors here were capable of something similar.
That being said, prior to his departure from this thread, I was going to address a post directly to Hotrodkelley in the hopes of making it easier for him to understand why military folks take such a dim view of people who have falsified their military records. I can only assume he missed STR's heartfelt post on the subject (post #158). How one could read that, and not be able to connect on a personal level with the sentiments being offered, is difficult for me to comprehend. It has to be said, though, that the people who
really do accomplish the things Mick and Duane have apparently claimed to do, endure great hardship and sacrifice to
earn the right to call themselves Force Recon, Scout Sniper, SEAL, or even Combat Infantryman. In many cases, this sacrifice is one that is shared by wives, children and, in STR's case, parents. And beyond that, to complete your training, earn your qualification, and then go on to actually engage the enemy in combat operations in the defense of your country only compounds the hardship and sacrifice that all of the aforementioned are forced to endure. People who have served honorably understand and respect the commitment that is required to achieve such things and most, therefor, get justifiably upset when they see others who haven't earned that right attempt to wear the mantle. And please note my use of the word "upset" and what it connotes. For some folks you could probably legitimately put words like "outraged" or "incensed" in its place. But, please refrain from accusing us of being "traumatized" or "devastated" by such incidents in the insulting manner that Hotrodkelley has. There is a huge difference between the two.
It's also important to understand the following -
assuming the evidence that has been presented with regards to the embellishing of military service is credible, Mick and Duane's situation is made even worse in the minds of military folks by the apparent fact that:
1) They did so in the pursuit of personal financial gain,
2) They have used their tales of military service to influence and/or ingratiate themselves with other legitimate military members of the SpecOp community,
3) They continue this activity even to the present. Despite having already been outed, the charade persists and the "story" is ever changing as additional facts become known, and most importantly,
4) They are conspiring to convince our troops that the troops can trust their lives to the tools Strider Knives produces
because the knowledge and experience that Mick and Duane themselves gained in similar combat situations has been drawn upon to create the products they are using.
Seeing as you have some military service yourself, I'd be curious to know how you personally feel about such behavior. Now, you can say, well there are hundreds of troops around the globe using Strider knives and they do work as advertised, so what's the big deal? It's a fair question, and I'll address it in a moment. But consider that in many ways what we have is almost analogous to the guy who goes around preparing people's taxes while claiming to be a CPA when, in fact, he really isn't. Should he be absolved of his fraud simply because you didn't happen to get audited that year?
But, to the bigger question, why am I even wasting my time in the midst of this discussion in the first place? For the answer to that, we must once again look to this passage:
Open question to anyone: why do you think there are real deal, respected knife makers and real deal professional soldiers supporting Mick and Duane? Is there something we don't know? Something not known publicly?
Here's your answer, Dan. I suspect, but I don't know, that Mick and Duane have been good friends to the makers mentioned. I suspect, but I don't know, that Mick and Duane have helped other less well known individuals to succeed in this industry. I suspect, but I don't know, that Mick and Duane have been overly generous in distributing their products to members of our military in lower pay grades. I suspect, but I don't know, that Mick and Duane have been involved in other forms of charity that we haven't even heard of, and that they don't publicize. I suspect, but I don't know, that Mick and Duane have gone out of their way to help alleviate the suffering of the Simonich family.
Now, if we can assume for a moment that even any one of these is true, I think it would be an absolute tragedy if their ability to continue with these good works was somehow interrupted or destroyed. And in my estimation, the biggest obstacle to their continued beneficence is this giant albatross they have hanging around their necks that has been exposed by the POW Network and others. I'm not (finally, after all this time) getting involved in all this mess because I'm out for blood. I'm not a "hater" who wants to see Mick and Duane lose their business. Far from it. I'm involved because I want Mick and Duane to come clean once and for all and put an end to this "real operator" foolishness. I want them to renounce all the tall tales and secret squirrel bullshit that no longer serves any purpose. They make a good knife. Many troops like it and have been served well by it while in harm's way. It will continue to be a good knife regardless of whether or not Mick wants us to believe that he was really this close to smokin' skinnies in Mogadishu. Nobody gives a crap about that stuff except for wannabe mall ninjas who think it's "cool", and the real soldiers who see such stories as little more than a poke in the eye. The only thing these stories are good for at this point is to drive a wedge between the core Strider/USN devotees and the rest of the military and knife community. And that's a divide that seems ridiculous to me. In short, I want Mick and Duane to succeed so they can continue doing all of the great things that Kit Carson, Jerry Hossom, Tom Mayo and others respect them for doing.
But alas, I will be unable to support them so long as they persist in dishonoring our men and women in uniform who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.
