The first dog tag would remain with the body of the fallen soldier, while the second was for burial service record keeping. Ten years later, the original dog tag order was modified and a second identical disc was required to be worn. The tags were worn around the neck with the field uniform, secured by a chain or cord. The dog tags were stamped with a soldier's name, rank, company and regiment or corps. Pierce, who was in charge of the Army Morgue and Office of Identification in the Philippines, recommended that all soldiers be issued circular disks to identify those who were severely injured or killed in action.īy 1906, the Army required that dog tags be worn by soldiers and thus the Army ushered in a new chapter in military dog tags history. Department of Defense, the first official request to issue service members with dog tags was in 1899 at the end of the Spanish-American war. The soldiers’ concerns were validated and the use of dog tags on the battlefield took root in the long military dog tags history.Īccording to the U.S. When the Civil War ended, more than 40 percent of the Union Army’s dead were unidentified, according to the U.S. Many more used coins or other bits of metals and some men carved their names into chunks of wood strung around their necks. Soldiers with financial resources purchased engraved metals tags from vendors who followed the armies during the war. Some soldiers stitched their names into their uniforms while others pinned pieces of paper to themselves. They wanted to be properly identified and buried in a marked grave if they died, so naturally, military ingenuity kicked in and soldiers devised ways to be identified if they were killed. But while the term “ dog tag” seems to have caught on around World War II, the concept of identifying soldiers originated long before World War II.ĭuring the Civil War, some battles had casualties numbering in the thousands and soldiers became afraid that they would not be identified if they were killed in action. Another military rumor in military dog tags history is that they looked like tags on a dog’s collar. Many believe that the term dog tag was a nickname that World War II military draftees called them because the draftees joked that they were treated like dogs. Then of course there is the military dog tags history that military personnel know. Hearst tagged them, no pun intended, " dog tags." Roosevelt's plan to issue cards for personal identification to help manage the newly formed Social Security Administration.
Much of it is untrue, like the reason why dog tags used to be notched, but to help remove some of the misinformation out there about dog tags, maybe it is best to cover a bit of military dog tags history.Īccording to the Army, the term "dog tag" was first coined by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in 1936 when Hearst heard of President Franklin D. So, it should come as no surprise that dog tags have a bit of mystery swirling around them in some mythical orbit. It makes the military culture, and the people in it, more colorful and robust. Americans, especially American soldiers, can spin a yarn like nobody else.
Levine, whose first name was misspelled on the dog tag with an extra ‘s,’ died in 1973.The American military, like American culture, has plenty of tall tales, myths and legends.
According to Heritage Auctions’ research, Davenport died in 1970. Research conducted by the auction house revealed that both men were discharged from the Army in 1945. The dog tags carried the names of Hersie Davenport and Morriss D.
I was dealing with something that put me in touch with real people.” “It was an interesting experience to put them on. “There’s an old belief among actors that when you put the shoes of the character on, it’s easier to believe you’re the character and I think the boots had that effect on me,” Alda said.Īfter receiving the dog tags, Alda realized that they didn’t carry his character’s name but the names of two men he thought had likely been real soldiers. The actors, from left, are, William Christopher, Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell, Alan Alda, and Jamie Farr. Cast members of "M*A*S*H" take a break on the set during taping in Los Angeles.
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