In July is the 50th anniversary where a vicious murderer killed 8 nurses in Chicago. One of the nurses who lived in the house, however, lived by hiding beneath a bed. When asked about her making it through the killings, she said, "You are surprised I survived?", she reportedly told friends. "I come from a place where the make 'balisong'. Why should you be surprised?"

I know it's a butterfly knife by looking it up, but how does that relate to her comment? Her avoiding death was because she hid under a bed, not because of a knife she had.

I, too had never heard of a balisong, or a butterfly knife come to that, so I looked it up on Wikipedia.

Like you, I don't understand the connection.

Could she just be commenting that a society that makes butterfly knives is violent so she is used to surviving in such a society?

That's my guess, Bob,

I was thinking along the same lines. Her comment may, in part, be because Speck used a knife to stab some of the nurses to death.

A few weeks after the killings a friend and I went to a country fair in Puxico, Missouri. We found a guy who was selling buttons. He showed us a button that he really liked that said "Born To Raise Hell." I said to my friend "That's what Richard Speck had tattooed on his arm." The button guy said "What?" and I explained that the guy who killed the 8 nurses in Chicago had that tattooed on his arm. He looked confused, then said "Well, I'd rather have it on a button."

The Chicago Tribune published, on April 26, 2016,an article a brother of one of the slain nurses wrote to honor them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

I think you are right, Bob. I thought of that reason too, but thought I might be missing something with the knife.

My husband was taking the SAT test in high school just as all the news reports were out about the killings and every household in the Chicago area knew his name and of course hated him. On the SAT name, you were supposed to write 4 letters of your last name, followed by your first name initial. For Ken, that was Speck. Ugh!

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I explained that the guy who killed the 8 nurses in Chicago had that tattooed on his arm. He looked confused, then said "Well, I'd rather have it on a button."

Tattoos were much rarer 50 years ago. I wonder if that would have been his reaction today?

Wasn't "Balisong" what Bloody Mary sang in "South Pacific?"

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Wasn't "Balisong" what Bloody Mary sang in "South Pacific?"

You're probably thinking of Bali Hai, which is the song of the midget.