WWII Dog Tags

Well, this is fun!! I found a site that replicates original WWII army dog tags. So I made a few for the boys... the main ones, that is. Made me mad though that I couldn't fit Josh's full last name, which is really Campbell-Hayes. Full names for all of them are Ronald Aaron Stewart, Joshua Caleb Campbell-Hayes, and Malcom Isaac Scott. In case that makes them unrecognizable, that's Ronnie, Josh, and Mac. 😁 Ooh, and what makes this even more fun is that I'm probably going to order these. Put them on my keychain, y'know? Wish I could send you Mac's, Emi! 😏 Honestly, I love these guys like family. It's funny how real book characters can become... 

Prepare yourself for a historical lecture because I am in the mood... 

About dog tags, these were (well, still are) the main identification for a soldier. Although there are more secure methods of identification nowadays, they're still issued, probably more for nostalgia than actual use. They were first used beginning in 1906. Soldiers are given two which they wear around their neck. When a man is killed in battle, one of the tags is taken for official records, the other is buried with him.

During the beginning of WWII, the tags included a soldier's name, army serial number, date of tetanus vaccine, blood type, name and address of next of kin, and religion. On the tags up above, I made up the serial numbers and addresses... the next of kin listed are all their parents... Josh and Ronnie's dads and Mac's mom, since his dad passed away. The "P" on the bottom right corner is their religion, "P" standing for "Protestant". The only other options were "Catholic" and "Hebrew". 

Interesting facts about dog tags...

-Soldiers often stuck the tags together with putty or tape to stop the clinking sound, which could give them away to the enemy. By the Vietnam war, tags were put into rubber covers to fix this problem.

-During the Vietnam War, most soldiers would tie at least one of their tags into their boot laces to keep the enemy from stealing them. Dog tags were considered war trophies by Vietnamese soldiers. Like Native Americans taking scalps. 

-A few rumors exist about where the term "dog tag" came from... some say it was because WWII draftees complain about being treated like dogs, others simply because they look like the tags on a dog's collar.

-During the Civil War, before dog tags became standard issue, soldiers made wooden discs with their names on them so they could be identified after death.

-A soldier's religion was listed for the purpose of providing the proper burial in case of his death.

 

-Later on in WWII, the army stopped putting the information of next of kin on the tags so that the enemy couldn't threaten the families of captured soldiers.

-For Jewish soldiers in WWII, the "H" denoting their religion was a great danger. If captured by the Germans, they would be sent to concentration or death camps, rather than POW camps. Often they would file away the "H" to make it illegible, throw away their dog tags in the event of being captured, or simply not have a religion listed at all. One interesting story tells about a Jewish field medic who was captured in France after being knocked unconscious by an artillery blast. Another non-Jewish member of his unit quickly broke his tags in half, burying the half with the "H" on it. This action probably saved his life.

Well, that's enough rambling for one day. And I'm afraid I've been posting too much lately too! When the mood comes, I must act upon it, I'm afraid.

Till Next Time!

Juliette