While it is true decomposing bodies do bloat from gases that build up therein, propping open mouths of corpses to vent them wouldnt have much effect since these gases are present throughout the body, not just in the digestive system and lungs. (These vapors eventually escape as the tissue containing them breaks down, allowing them to leak from the body.)
The chain upon which dog tags are hung wasnt always beaded. At one time olive drab cord or cloth tape was the norm, and woven nylon, wire, and cloth cords still show up as alternatives to the now ubiquitous string of metal beads. Even the original metal chain issued in 1943 had flat links, not the rounded beads of the rosary explanation. The smaller loop of chain was there to keep the tags separated from each other so their clinking didnt alert unfriendlies to the presence of U.S. troops, a function now primarily served by rubber gaskets (known as “silencers”) placed around the edge of each tag.
One of the more common myths involves the reason for the notch on the tag issued between 1941 and the early 1970s. Battlefield rumor held that the notched end of the tag was placed between the front teeth of battlefield casualties to hold the jaws in place. No official record of American soldiers being issued these instructions exists; the only purpose of “the notch” was to hold the blank tag in place on the embossing machine. The machine used at this time doesnt require a notch to hold the blank in place, hence, todays tags are smooth on all sides.
It is to Mortuary Affairs we therefore turn for the answer to why the older style of dog tags (i.e., tags manufactured between 1941 and the early 1970s) worn by those serving in the U.S. military had notches in them. Dog tags are issued by the military for the purpose of tracking the identities of their wearers, either to identify the remains of those who have died or to put names and medical histories to those who have been grievously injured and rendered unable to provide that information for themselves. The tags (which are now worn in pairs hung on a beaded chain around the neck) bear the following information about the person they were issued to: surname (followed by initials), service number, branch of service, blood type, and religion (if desired by the individual). The tags are issued in pairs because upon death of the wearer one tag needs to be retrieved from the body and sent to Mortuary Affairs along with intelligence about where the body is, and one must be left with the remains for identification purposes.
When measured against the gripping mental of lion-hearted soldiers setting aside their personal grief to kick shut the jaws of fallen comrades, proper alignment on a stamping machine just doesnt present itself as much of a story. This lack of romance is perhaps some of the reason for the popularity of grisly rumors about the purpose for the notch — what reality fails to supply, rumor agreeably contributes. More than thirty years since the cleft was last a part of these tags, mail from our readers confirms the story is very much in circulation. Indeed, some have heard unusual variations on the theme:
Civil War Concerns
Unofficially, identification tags came about during the Civil War because soldiers were afraid no one would be able to identify them if they died. They were terrified of being buried in unmarked graves, so they found various ways to prevent that. Some marked their clothing with stencils or pinned-on paper tags. Others used old coins or bits of round lead or copper. According to the Marine Corps, some men carved their names into chunks of wood strung around their necks.
Those who could afford it bought engraved metal tags from nongovernment sellers and sutlers — vendors who followed the armies during the war. Historical resources show that in 1862, a New Yorker named John Kennedy offered to make thousands of engraved disks for soldiers, but the War Department declined.
By the end of the Civil War, more than 40% of the Union Army’s dead were unidentified. To bring that into perspective, consider this: Of the more than 17,000 troops buried in Vicksburg National Cemetery, the largest Union cemetery in the U.S., nearly 13,000 of those graves are marked as unknown.
The outcome of the war showed that concerns about identification were valid, and the practice of making identification disks caught on.
Our Notched dogtags are replicas from WWII, Korean war and Vietnam war eras. Although commonly referred to as Tooth Notch its actual purpose was for alignment in field transcription equipment. Today, this notch serves only as a historical reminder or for aesthetics. We recommend that you choose the vintage deboss type lettering for this type of tag.
All Dogtags on this page are sold as individual blanks without any custom embossing, chain, or silencer. We have the largest selection of Dog Tag styles, materials and colors to choose from, most of them based on military specifications with rolled edges and either modern Embossed raised lettering, or vintage WWII style Debossed lettering. If you would like to order a complete set with custom embossing, chains, and silencers for an additional fee, click the Customize button.
The amount of characters per line is depedent on the size of the dogtag, dogtag orientation (i.e. rotated), Character Density CPI (Characters per Inch), & Start Position (i.e. closer to hole). Some of these settings can be changed under the Show Advanced Layout Options in Step 1 of the Dogtag Maker page.