The atrocity that shocked the world continued its influence in other forms, and the knife was the vehicle of many important events. On the morning of September 11, 2001, two airliners hijacked by terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and another group of hijackers forced a third airliner into the Pentagon in Washington, killing 2,977 civilians and 19 others. The hijacker died. Many great knife makers have created works based on the theme of 9-11. Today, 20 years after the events of that time, the work on 9-11 has become a series.
Knives from the Keith Kaiser 9/11 Memorial Project, top to bottom: Pat and Wes Crawford’s openwork pocketknife, Alan Eilishewitz pocketknife; a Jill Hibben dagger, With scrimshaw handle; Bob Dozier Damascus folding knife; Bob Tezola CQB fixed blade; Merpardue’s Damascus folding knife; Jerry Fisk Damascus straight knife.
The atrocities that shocked the world continued to unleash his legacy, and so did the knife. Below are some of the custom knives produced based on 9-11.
It starts on a regular Tuesday. It ends with the world changing forever.
September 11, 2001, at 8:45 AM ET, the atrocities of the terrorist attacks will never be forgotten. At the World Trade Center in New York, where the plane crashed, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, today. Twenty years later, looking back brings not only sadness and memories of great loss, but also an acknowledgment of heroism and humanity.
One measure of humanity is custom knives made from the twisted and scarred steel of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings – forged once in the fires of that terrible day and then again to pay tribute to the lives lost, and to benefit those who miss them and move on.
Keith Kaiser, right, at FDNY 131 Ladder Company. In 2003, he recruited several knife masters to produce knives made of WTC steel. In addition to Mel Pardue (Mel Pardue), these masters from left to right are Bob Tezola, Bob Dozier, Alan Elishevich, Jill Hibben, Pat and Wes Crawford.
Ladder Company 131 (L131) and Engine Company 279 (E279) of the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) were deployed in Red Hook, Brooklyn during 9-11. Keith Kaiser is a member of L131. Keith vividly remembers that dreadful day as he enlisted the support of several master custom knife makers to produce knives with WTC steel blades.
“Because of the proximity to lower Manhattan, both companies were ready to go to the rescue,” he recalls. “As we approached the tunnel into lower Manhattan, we saw a second plane crash into the south tower. The locomotive company entered the building first, followed by the ladder company. Before we realized what was happening, we broke through a wall and rescued a group of civilians.”
Five members of E279 were killed, and the FDNY lost a total of 343 firefighters. Since then, nearly as many people have died from 9-11-related cancers and other diseases, according to Kaiser. His older brother, Wayne Kaiser, an electrician who worked to restore communications after the terrorist attacks, recently died of chronic exposure to toxic dust and debris.
Keith was seriously injured at 9-11. “Oddly enough, my injury probably saved my life because I was then unable to dig in the pile,” he said. “I’ve been looking for something to occupy my mind and my time, and one of the guys in my company, Christian Regenhard, is a knife collector. I thought I’d try to get some steel, use it as a knife for charity and get me involved.”
The early days of launching the project were difficult, but Kaiser persevered. Eventually, he reached out to several big names in the custom knife world and secured their commitment to contribute to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. Bob Terzuola, Bob Dozier, Jerry Fisk, Pat and Wes Crawford, Allen Elishewitz, and BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® members Gil Hibben and Mel Pardue each create a knife with a blade fused with steel from the fallen Twin Towers.
Seven knives from Keith Kaiser’s 9/11 Memorial Project are housed in a beautiful Coco Polo box with a beveled glass top engraved with the World Trade Center. (Photo by Eric Egli/PointSeven)
“It was planned with the help of Christian’s father, who was a police detective in New York City,” Tezola said. “Seven knifemakers, including myself, volunteered their time and materials. Keith approached us with the idea and offered to give each knifemaker a piece of steel from the wreckage of the collapsed tower that they could use It makes the knife of their choice.”
Knives include signature pieces: a Dozier Damascus pocketknife; an Elishewitz pocketknife; a CQB from Terzola; a Hibben dagger with a Scrimshaw handle; a cutout pocket knife from Crawford Knife; Pardew’s Damascus Jackknife; Damascus Buck Sendero Hunter from Fisk.
This task presents additional challenges, even though ITC steel is available for the blade. “It’s mild structural steel,” Dozier said, “and I asked Darryl Meyer to make me Damascus. On the first show after 9-11, Keith brought me some steel, and asked me to make a knife out of it. This steel is not usable, a friend of mine who was a state police investigator in Arkansas said leave him alone, it was evidence. About a month later, a large The cardboard box came, and it had steel in it. I cut it into small pieces and Daryl made some trapezoidal Damascus.”
Once the knives are collected, they become tangible memories. “They’re housed in a beautiful Coco Polo box with the World Trade Center engraved on the beveled glass top,” comments Terzola. “The idea was to auction them off to raise money for the Burns Centre. Keith sent them to various museums before the auction, and after a few years they became almost permanent pieces in some places.”
Keith again contacted Terzola, who helped arrange the auction, and the set was sold in June 2020, with proceeds benefiting the hospital. “Keith sent me the knives, I cleaned them up, and I connected with one of the top auction houses for knives and firearms at Rock Island Auction in Illinois,” Bob said. “They did a beautiful two-page poster in the catalog and sent a check directly to the burn center after the auction.”
| – Muri Carter 9-11 Custom Knives
Like many others, the atrocities of 9-11 deeply touched custom knife maker Murricat. He was invited to work with FDNY343, an organization of retired New York firefighters dedicated to keeping those injured in 9-11 alive, and Building Homes for Heroes, a philanthropic enterprise dedicated to National and regional service provides homes for those who serve.
Murray Carter holds the last two knives he made from WTC steel as part of a special fundraising project including FDNY343 Building Homes for Heroes (buildinghomesforheroes.org).
Carter has produced several kitchen and outdoor knives, each consisting of a trade center steel laminate with a 1084 carbon steel core. The motivation for producing knives was strong, and Murray pointed out that the elements of fire, water and stone were present in both 9-11 and the manufacture of knives. His reasoning was that fire forges, water hardens blades, and stone grinds them into tools. Instead, the fire brought down the tower, water hampered rescue efforts, and lives were lost in the rubble.
“So the same elements are contained in these knives, and they bless people every day,” explains Murrie. “When the iron gets hot, which is how we get the steel, some of the victims burn and the elements fuse together in a chemical reaction. The depth of fusion depends on time—very briefly. So, I don’t want to try to make these elements stay on the surface of the steel and do too much grinding.”
One of Carter’s kitchen knives was auctioned off for $10,500, with proceeds going directly to the Home of Heroes. He calls the work, completed in the spring and fall of 2017, an honor and one of the humblest tasks of his long knifemaking career.
|——RMJ 9-11 Talon Tomahawk
When 9-11 happened, Ryan Johnson was just working on the RMJ Tactical Ax in his studio in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He had always been interested in tomahawks and was making eagle tomahawks before that day of despair. Then, things quickly changed.
Ryan Johnson was just starting production on his RMJ Tactical when 9-11 shocked the world. The US military was always looking for something that could penetrate body armor, and the RMJ Eagle Talon hawk, featured on the March 2002 BLADE® cover, filled that need. RMJ Tactical took off and became one of today’s leading manufacturers of military axes with models such as the Shrike.
“I made a spiked tomahawk and a gentleman saw it on my website,” Ryan recalls. “He was working in Air Force Security, ‘We’ve got some guys protecting airstrips and we’re looking for something that can penetrate body armor.’ He said my French and Indian War style tactical ax looked perfect for the job.”
Before 9-11, the first batch of goods had just been released. “The same guy called me and he was already at bay,” Ryan said. “He said get busy making these things because they’re going to be in high demand.”
Like lightning, demand for talons skyrocketed—catalyzed not only by 9-11, but also by the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I got a call from a gentleman who was attached to Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) and 9-11 made him a hawk. He sent me a picture of him in his Pentagon office with the last letter, the letter said that when the plane hit the tower, all the senior Pentagon employees were in the hallway in front of his office watching the sky fly by the big plane. Moments later, a plane hit the Pentagon. Just before this happened, an admiral came up and said: “This horror must be fought back with the eagle tomahawk among the soldiers.
Soon after, stories about Ryan’s Talon Tomahawk appeared in Chattanooga newspapers, were picked up by the Associated Press, and eventually appeared in countless media outlets. “The article was about making the Talon tomahawk for the army,” Johnson recalls, “and shortly afterward the Green Berets got in touch with me asking why they didn’t get the Talon tomahawk. When you look back at the war Early on, the task force consisted of the first 300 Special Forces and other troops that went into Afghanistan. We went in with them with Talon tomahawks.”
With the launch of RMJ Tactical, orders kept pouring in and civilian deliveries were delayed to meet military demand. Just before the battle for control of the city of Fallujah, 25 fighters head to the Iraqi Marine Corps in the Iraqi town of Najaf with Talon tomahawks.
“I got a call about those 25 soldiers,” Ryan commented, “from the wife of a naval officer. She said there was a plane leaving that night and if we could get it ready, Seats still available on board. I called my friend Richard Carmack knowing that if I could provide pizza and a movie, his kids might have time to help pack the handles. Now, Richard makes sure everything runs smoothly and his son Jonathan is our production manager, and I’m still working on the design.”
In conclusion
The atrocities of 9-11 and the long-running conflicts they sparked continue to reverberate in the lives of every American. Memorial comes with a vow to be vigilant and never forget the sacrifices of those lost.
This is the initial (bottom layer), intermediate (middle layer rebar) and final product (top layer) Muricutt used to weld the World Trade Center iron into a usable blade with 1084 cores. The blade is water tempered for maximum sharpness and edge retention, and the blade face still retains the soul-infused properties of WTC steel.
Although the jury is still out, there may have been other knives produced using the venerable World Trade Center steel. Terzola still has a small amount of steel, but probably not enough to make another blade. He’s considering a knife in WTC steel and G.L. Hansen Micarta®, which includes a thin blue line in its composition. Proceeds from the sale of the knife will go to a law enforcement relief fund.
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