erniek,
Thank you for your question. As a kid, I had my father's dog tags
that he had will in the Marine Corps and they had a notch in them.
When I asked him why, he said that it was because when you were killed
in battle, they would take one dog tag and place it between the teeth
of the dead Marine in order to identify the deceased. Sounded good at
the time. Later, when I joined tha Army, I noticed my tags did not
have notches. This question insterested me and my research showed
that my Dad was right. Kind of.
Identification tags were first designed by Civil War soldiers, on
their own accord, out of wood. This was to insure that if they were
killed in the line of duty, their bodies would be able to be
identified. ID tags were not standard issue until 1917, when all
American soldiers wore aluminum discs around their necks. The
familiar oblong shape was introduced by World War II.
Notched dog tags were issued during World War II, Korea. Battlefied
rumor stated the reason for the notch was exactly as my Father
explained: When a soldier was killed, the notched tag was placed in
the mouth of the soldier with the notch going over the teeth. This is
great for Drill Instructors to tell new recruits or the old grizzled
sargeant telling the new private. However, there is no record of any
American soldiers being given instructions on doing this. Yet, there
are stories of medics using pliers to pull tags from dead soldiers
mouths. Supposedly, it kept the mouth open to allow gases to escape
the body to prevent it from bloating after death. While it may have
been used that way, the notch was actually simply used to hold the tag
in place on the embossing machine that made the tag. Since this type
of machine is no longer used, there is no need for the notch anymore.
The notched tags are no longer used. Instead, a second, 5" chain is
included on the identification tag necklace and the tag is used as a
toe tag for identification.
Thank you for allowing me to answer your question. I hope the above
informtion is helpful and if you need any additional clarification,
please let me know.
Regards,
-THV
Search Strategy:
notch dog tags
References:
ArmyDogTags.com
http://www.armydogtags.com/notched.htm
History of the Dog Tag
http://www.173rdairborne.com/dogtag.htm
The Real Reason for the "Notch" in the WWII Dog Tag
http://home.att.net/~steinert/real_reason_for_the.htm
The G.I.'s Dog Tags: A History
http://www.adeq.net/tag-hist.htm
History of military identification tags
http://www.gun-rest-bags.com/dog-tags-dogtags-history.html |
