‘Taking Chance’ & US Military Dog Tags

[glowe]

. . . Short chain tag was to be placed on the body, either via shoestring attachment or placing the tag vertical between the eye teeth & then kicking the jaw closed, trapping the tag in the mouth . . .

Not true. No medic would ever do that and no instructions ever issued. The short chain tag was sent to Mortuary Affairs and the other left on the body.

Dog Tag Notch | Snopes.com

I put together a display for my wife of her father's WWII insignia, patches, medals, and dog tags. We had a few things he kept and added medals he earned. Was with McArthur's forces when he returned to the Philippines at Red Beach, Leyte. Notched dog tags, one on short chain. Lots more information than what I had on my tags. Notches were needed to secure them in place on the old stamping machines, nothing more. New generation of machines did not require the notch any more.

 

[tripledipper]

Issued two US# dog tags 1957-59, never wore them, Company Clerk

 

[Smoke]

Short chain tag was to be placed on the body, either via shoestring attachment or placing the tag vertical between the eye teeth & then kicking the jaw closed, trapping the tag in the mouth

I've heard this story multiple times I haven't seen any confirmation and I've never seen it practiced. Of course everybody I saw that died in the military was due to an accident. One heart attack and no combat related deaths.

Army 1988-2003. My first unit the unit required us to wear them at all times. I'm pretty sure I wore them while I was in uniform at Fort Lewis and Fort Sam. I don't think I wore them at all at Fort Carson. I wore them when I went to drill in the National Guard. My wife still has the last set that I wore

 

[Nevada Ed]

I wore my two around my neck all the time, since boot camp,
but I did tape them together on active duty, to keep the noise down.

They came off at "TI" when I got my "HD" papers and I headed to "SF"
for my first civilian celebration.

Navy life was not all that bad.
I lucked out with great skippers, XO's and 1st class honcho's while on ship and in the CB's.

 

[max]

Got 2 in 69 and we were required to wear them in VN. I still have both and until a couple of weeks ago, I was wearing one daily. I thought I had lost the one I wear and I was worried because my SSN was on it.

I found the tag and replaced it with one from Amazon that has my phone number instead of SSN.

 

[Hair Trigger]

If you've ever had your two metal dog tags and their metal chain fall into a 400V bus bar on a B-52, you'll never wear a dog tag again.

I don't imagine you'd need to after that.

USAF 1987-1995, I was issued two tags on the "long chain/short chain". I was a Flight Nurse, we had to tape the tags together and shorten the long chain (taped it not cut it) so it wouldn't come out from inside our flight suit and snag on something. We couldn't wear rings either. The short chain was supposed to be used as a toe tag for the deceased and the tag on the long chain went to Personnel for records, at least that's what we were told.

 

[lkabug]

US Army 66-69. I was issued two tags, one beaded chain. Wore them day and night.

 

[S-W4EVER]

US Army 1973-76. Was issued two dog tags, wore them 24/7/365. It wasn't a problem getting more if you wanted them. I don't know what ever happened to them. One fellow soldier told me they got extras to lace into their jungle boots when he was in Vietnam.

After my Dad died my stepmother gave me my Dad's dog tags and I gave one to each of my two daughters (they both served in the Army).

 

[H Richard]

USAF 59, two tags. Still have them.

 

[TOM BECKWITH]

USAF 1951 - 1958 Two metal tags on chain (still have them).

Father's WWI Two round metal tags on cord (I have them)

 

[bgrafsr]

Two tags, always wore them. 63 to 67.

 

[ameridaddy]

Army, 64-70 two stamped bare steel on a ball chain. Utterly mundane. A couple years later, new guys arriving from training had a rubber grommet around each tag to stop noise. Us older guys never did update IIRC.

 

[Rule3]

Seen the movie several times. Very well done, Only one I liked Kevin Bacon. Do not know about the tags,
Did you know he is married to Kyra Sedgwick?

 

[Smoke]

FWIW this is what AR 670-1 has to say about the wear of identification tags. Keep in mind that AR 670-1 only applies the United States Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

a. Identification (ID) tags. The wear of ID tags is governed by AR 600-8-14.

(1) Soldiers will wear ID tags at all times when in a field environment, while traveling in aircraft, and when outside the continental United States.

(2) Personnel will wear ID tags around the neck, except when safety considerations apply (such as during physical training).

 

[wood714]

When KIA soldiers are brought back to the states, are they actually treated like that?

 

[Smoke]

When KIA soldiers are brought back to the states, are they actually treated like that?

Short answer? No.

 

[Birdgun]

Wife and I watched "Taking Chance" for the first time just this evening.
Very somber movie.
We both thought the movie was excellent.
We both teared up, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

Again as stated above, I wore two dog tags, generally around the neck.
I also have one of the two of my father's WW2 dog tags (USNR). My brother had the other. My brother has passed and the other dog tag is now in the possession of his oldest son. My dad served in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Idaho, BB-42.

God bless,
Birdgun

 

[pmanton]

USMC 1955-1964 2 dog tags. USAF 1964-1967 2 dog tags. USA 1967-1975 4 dog tags. One set W-2218797 for serial # the second set had my SSN for serial number.

 

[toddimusnimski]

US Army 1989 -1992, issued 2 w/chain initially and then 2 more before TDY Desert Storm deployment. One of them is now somewhere in France after trading with a member of the French Marine regiment that helped refuel us when our UH-60 ended up off course.
Usually kept them in my pocket and used sew-on ranks/badges to prevent FOD issues around aircraft.

Todd

 

[bulletslap]

My Dad was a combat medic in the Korean "Conflict", he related to me that the purpose of two dog tags in the case of a KIA was one remained with the corpse, and the other was for turning over to Graves Registration or an officer or highest ranking enlisted soldier readily available. I am certain regulations were often ignored in action. I have no idea what the regulations were at that time.

He also told me that thousands of dead were buried in temporary cemeteries, some unofficial as it was often times not possible to remove the bodies during the pullback to the south. I believe that to this day the fallen are being repatriated to American Cemeteries.

I also read that somewhere close to 95% of Korean War Vets are deceased. It was a long time ago, longer than it seems to me, as I remember when the Korean War Vets were vigorous young men in their 30s.

 

[Tinyman]

Enlisted USAF January -67 and issued two. One on long chain the other on a short one. After Tech school, plastic bag with shot record Geneva Convention card & $10 in ones. After 24+ years, did a shadow box for display.

 

[Retired W4]

June, 1968-May 2000. The Army always issued two with the second going on the small chain. I wore them and the non-regulation addition around and under the collar of my nomex flight suit. That way the chain wouldn't melt into the skin in the case of a flash fire. The eagle was made by the Contras and sold to make money, supplementing what Col. North and the boys gave them.

 

[Kinman]

U.S. Army '69-'73 issued two, wore two...they did not come with the newer black rubber surrounds I have seen somewhere to help eliminate rattles I guess.