Veterans
and dog tags (
Information courtesy
of the Gia-vuc
website)
I came in-country
January of 1969. I
went through BCT at
Ft. Polk in January
1967. I had an RA
service number as an
enlisted man
(RA18!!!!!!) then
somewhere between the
start of BCT and the
end of LPC at Ft.
Lewis, I was changed
over to my SSAN.
When I was
commissioned at Ft.
Benning, they gave me
O53!!!!!. So Sam gave
me three service
numbers.
I bought the black
rubber silencers at
Polk and used them
until I separated. 1Lt
W. M. Treadway, Army
***
My dog tags, SVN 70-71
were coated in clear
plastic as well as the
chain. They made no
noise but had a
greenish crud inside
from all the moisture.
Cpt D.S.Mudd, Army
***
I was issued my oval
shaped enlisted tag
issued 1950 boot camp.
In Korea not taped.
Two hung separately
around my neck on a
chain. Really enforced
to wear.
New tag issued 1963.
Had to get rid of the
old and replaced by
new as per regs. That
enlisted tag was
replaced when I
discovered I had wrong
blood type. Tag has
one notch.
First tour 65 –66 we
taped them, Second
tour in the rear with
MPs as an officer
taped no issued
silencer
I have my officer tag
issued 66 no notch but
has gas mask size. All
tags had service
numbers. Cpt E. Garr,
USMC
***
I don't recall being
issued the hard rubber
silencer. I saw
them in Vietnam and
most tags I saw were
laced up on the boots.
You did not need the
silencer if tag was on
the boot. No way
to make a noise
because most all used
only one of the two
tags issued.
My tag shows USNR.
I was in the Reserves.
Also the S. Baptist
stands for Southern
Baptist. I
got my tags in 1967
when I joined the
Reserves. Naval
Reservist had to serve
two years of active
duty. I went
active duty in January
69 and was in Vietnam
that spring. P03
R. Holmes, Seabee
***
I seem to remember
using good old Army
"green tape"
to silence the two
tags around my neck.
Never put them on my
boots. The boot thing
was pushed by the
regular units.
Also in hindsight,
after being in country
for a while, I
realized that there
was no such thing as
silence when moving
with the PFs, but the
tape kept the dog tags
from annoying me. Cpt
P. Tompkins. Army
***
Mine were issued 22
June 1968, we were
told, " one
around the neck one on
your jungle boot, in
case your head was cut
off!" When I went
" Over the
fence," I was
told, no dog tags, no
combat boots, no
ID!" The other
tag around you neck
was to go on your
teeth if you had a
mouth. 1Lt W. Pearson,
Army
***
I was in Vietnam in
1969-70. My dog
tags were issued in
1968. My
silencers were black
and were the only kind
I ever saw or have
ever seen. My
dog tags had no
"tooth"
notch. I don't
know if it was true,
but the notch on the
old style tags was
said to be for
propping a deceased
soldier's dog tag (the
one to remain with the
body) in his mouth.
I'm not sure that's
true because it
doesn't seem to be a
reliable way to
achieve the result and
the result doesn't
seem to me to be
necessary, anyway.
My silencers were
private purchase.
I did not tape mine
together, I and all my
team mates, if I
recall correctly, put
them in our boot
laces. We each
had two pairs of
boots, so one dog tag
went with each pair.
Since we were out by
ourselves, the idea
was to make it
difficult for anyone
to easily take the dog
tags from our bodies,
if we were killed, and
to maximize the chance
of the identification
to be found if we were
blasted to bits in an
explosion. I
attach a photo of my
"working"
dog tags, the ones
that were on my boots,
which you can tell
because a little
Mekong mud is still on
them. For some
reason, I had two
pairs of dog tags, so
once I returned from
VN I wore the other
set and put these back
on their chain. 1Lt T.
Turner Army
(numbers
have been changed)
***
No silencers issued or
used. In fact, I was
told not to wear dog
tags or rings and
carry no ID when on
patrol. In some cases
these ‘vanilla’
patrols did not carry
M-16s, but used other
weapons that did not
tie patrol/mission to
US Army. The M-16
silhouette was quite
noticeable and made
identification of US
personnel easy –
like when you were
crossing a river. VC
then knew who to shoot
first. I didn’t wear dog
tags at all in RVN.
Sgt G. Bowes USSF
***
As I recall I had at
least one dog tag and
probably both affixed
through my boot laces.
I was in Quang Ngai
Prov and home to the
U.S. Amercal Div and
where I got the notion
to stick them in my
boots. Given the
number of booby traps
in that AO, in
hindsight it may not
have been such a hot
idea. As I recall the
Americal troops had
them in both their
boots and around their
necks.
I definitely did not
have any commercially
made
"silencers,"
especially the black
rubber type that
bordered around the
tags. I used that
device years later. I
don't recall if those
type silencers existed
back then or not.
I think I started out
with both tags either
taped together or
silenced with a small
rubber band around my
neck. Cpt R. Hensler,
Army
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