Monday, October 13, 2008

Dog Tags

Milady asked me today a question of military history. When did dog tags come into common use?

Good question.

As it turns out, the identification tag was first required in the US Army Regulations of 1913. By 1917 all combat soldiers wore an aluminum disk with their identifying information. The oblong disk came into use by WWII. We use a similar disk today.

Not surprisingly, Civil War soldiers were afraid of being killed without identification and obtained makeshift tags to identify themselves.
The commercial sector saw the demand for an identification method and provided products. Harper's Weekly Magazine advertised "Soldier's Pins" which could be mail ordered. Made of silver or gold, these pins were inscribed with an individual's name and unit designation. Private vendors who followed troops also offered ornate identification disks for sale just prior to battles. Still, despite the fact that fear of being listed among the unknowns was a real concern among the rank and file, no reference to an official issue of identification tags by the Federal Government exists. (42% of the Civil War dead remain unidentified.)
One common misconception about identification tags concerns the notch that is often found in WWII era tags.
One of the more common myths involves the reason for the notch on the tag issued between 1941 and the early 1970's. 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 doesn't require a notch to hold he blank in place, hence, today's tags are smooth on all sides.
I had heard that myth myself and probably told it as being true. It turns out, the notch was just design item for embossing.

I wore identification tags for a long time, and there is probably a set still in my military box in the attic.

And now I know the history of the dog tag. 42% of Civil War dead remains unidentified. Ain't that somethiing?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I enlisted and went through basic training at Fort Benning in the spring of 1966. In the event someone was KIA, we were instructed to take one dog tag and hold it edge on to the two upper front teeth and strike the chin of the KIA sharply to drive the tag between the upper teeth. The purpose was not to hold the jaws in place, but keep the dog tag from becoming separated from the body.