How do I get my lost military dog tags back?Found dogtags must be mailed to the Department of Defense or the nearest United States Embassy.
The issue was further complicated by inadequate recordkeeping of personnel assigned to and fighting as regulars or volunteers in both the Union and Confederate militaries, and lost records pertaining to burial locations. The first attempt to provide identification tags were called “name discs” or “soldier pins” of various designs, and there was no specific uniformity pertaining to the information provided. Despite their best efforts to mark themselves, historians estimate that 50% of those killed in the Civil War were either unaccounted for or simply marked unknown. The nation debated how to address this issue to ensure Americans were properly accounted for, returned home, and given proper burial.
On Dec. 20, 1906, by General Order #204, the United States government decided upon a circular aluminum disc to be worn as an identification tag, and by 1913, the identification discs were required for all military service members. An aluminum disc the size of a silver half dollar – imprinted with the name, rank, company, regiment or corps, worn by both officer and enlisted member in the field – suspended around the neck.
During the 1950s, the two dog tags were detailed to each service member for a specific purpose regarding accountability. One identification tag was placed on a long chain, while the second was hung on a shorter chain. Upon death, the identification tag on the shorter chain was placed around the toe of the deceased, thus the nickname “toe tag” was given to this identification tag. The other dog tag was to either remain with the deceased or collected, as time permitted, by survivors to report back the name of the deceased.
Today, the issuance of military dog tags remains an important component of military culture, but reliance on dog tags is more symbolic as technology advances. The dog tags are still stamped with important information (name, serial/social security number, blood type and religious preference), but the military uses medical/dental records and DNA sampling to positively identify deceased military service members.
The tags were first made of brass and later a corrosion-resistant alloy of nickel and copper. By the end of the war, all tags were made from stainless steel. Meanwhile, military service members during World War II began to use tape or black silicone to silence the “clinking” sound the tags made as they walked with them hung around their necks. They were suspended from the neck by a rope, a beaded chain, or a stainless steel wire with a plastic cover. It was during World War II the nickname “dog tags” was adopted.
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.
[Collected via e-mail, 2003]
I was dating a guy in the military who told me this story about dog tags. He said that if a soldier was killed in the field, his surviving comrade was to take one of the dog tags, break it in half, and close the dead soldiers jaw firmly over one of the halves it to keep it in place for identification purposes in case the body was found. He also said that the ball chain that holds the tags is comprised of 365 beads, and the smaller loop that goes through the tags is comprised of 52 beads. If a soldier is taken prisoner, he can detach the beads as a means of keeping track of how many days have passed.
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:
away to the morgue it is marked for identification with a simple token: a paper tag attached to a toe of the deceased. In the more turbulent world of the military, however, a hardier ID token is necessary. This token needs to be something that is carried on a soldiers person at all times, because the violence of combat can often leave remains difficult to identify, and it needs to be sturdy, because bodies may have to be moved a long ways under rough and adverse conditions before being attended to by mortuary personnel. Under these conditions a paper tag is too fragile — it may too easily be rendered unreadable or separated from the body it identifies, hence the development and use of the oblong-shaped “dog tag” now worn by members of the armed forces.
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.