Dog Tags On Boots

[frisco-kid]

Many of us would put one of our dog tags on the laces of one of our boots. The reasoning behind this being that if you were dismembered by an RPG, mortar, booby trap, etc., it would increase the chances of most of you being properly identified. Not an unfounded concern.

So, did any of you do this? Was this unique to VN, or was this a carry-over from WWII or Korea? I don't remember being told about this in AIT.

[David]

We did it in the Gulf War too.

[DMZ-LT]

Good post . I got my Dads , Brothers and mine dog tags. My Dads , from WWII , have a notch in them . He said they wore both around their necks but if you were KIA the tag on the small chain was taken and put between your front teeth and your jaws slammed shut. He could have been *@#$ with me. Not till I got to my platoon in RVN did some one explain the logic of one on your boot. I had already picked up pieces the night before , from a mortor attack . I wore one on my right boot and one on my neck. Still have the one around my neck , wore it when I went to my reunion at the Wall.

[Bill Farnie]

I still have mine and I too worn one on my boot laces

Homie .... your Dad was $#%*&^!>ing you

[DMZ-LT]

Figures , sure got a little guys eyes opened wide thinking about that though. I have never told anybody about that. Thank you guys for making me know I ain't the Lone Ranger , withn this and a lot of things about the war. Thank you David and Bern for this site.

[frisco-kid]

that's pretty cool about your family's dog tags. Your Dad was telling you a true story. I remember one of our crusty Korean War Drill Instructors in BCT telling us about the notched dog tags. Of course, he said they would KICK the jaw.

Picking up pieces: Been there, done that more times than I care to think about. I wish I still had my dog tags; long time lost, now.


Bill: You mean my DI was lying? Bet you wouldn't say that to his face. He'd have your balls for breakfast . If not for that, what was the notch for?

[82Rigger]

...according to U.S. Army Quartermaster School, Department of Mortuary Affairs (formerly Graves Registration):



"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 align and hold the blank tag in place on the embossing machine. The machine used at this time doesn't require a notch to hold the blank in place, hence, today's tags are smooth on all sides."


On a personal note. I remember a lot of scuttlebutt about the "notch in teeth" going around in Basic and AIT, but it was never part of my training. This was 1968.

Steve / 82Rigger

[DMZ-LT]

Thanks Steve. Hopefully Dad didn't do it on any one. What a great site !

[Jerry D]

When I derosed from Saudi I was given a Gold plated set of Dog Tags as part of the going home process from the Unit there. I had one of my issued tags in my boot laces also while in Saudi (just in-case a Scud attack hit PSAB) BTW my Dad told me the same story about the notch also

[Chas H]

Wore my tags on a chain around my neck. The grunts I knew did the same but taped them together for quiet. I never saw tags laced onto boots, but I did my tour in an Arty battery.