USO Canteen FReeper Style... Dog Tags... September 25, 2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

Dog Tags
Past, Present and Future

Arlington National Cemetary is not the only resting place for "Unknown Soldiers." Countless American soldiers have died defending our way of life throughout the history of this great nation; many of their graves are marked with a single word,"unknown."

The American Civil War (1861-1865) provided the first recorded incident of American soldiers making an effort to ensure that their identities would be known should they be killed on the battlefield. 42% of all Civil War dead remain unknown.

Their methods varied, and all were taken on by the soldier's own initiative. In 1863, before the battle of Mine's Run in northern Virginia, troops wrote their names and units on paper tags and pinned them to their clothing. Many soldiers took great care in marking all of their personal belongings. Some troops made their own id tags out of wood, boring a hole in an end so that they could be worn on a string.

The commercial sector saw the demand for an identificatuion method and provided products. Harpers Weekly Magazine advertised "Soldier's Pins" which could be mail ordered. Made of silver or gold, these pins were inscribed with an individual's name and unit designation. Private vendors who followed troops also offered  id tags for sale just prior to battles. Soldiers also fashioned tags out of  coins by scraping one side smooth and engaving or stamping name and unit.

A 18 x 35 mm German silver pin Spanish-American War dog tag from 1898. It contained unit, company and individual number.

An ID tag made from a coin

Despite the fact that fear of being listed amoung the unknowns was a real concern among the rank and file, no reference to an official issue of identification tags by the Federal Government exists from the Civil War.

The first official advocacy of issuing id tags took place in 1899. Chaplain Charles C. Pierce recommended that a "identity disc"be included in the standard combat field kit, though the first official introduction of one tag didn't happen until December of 1906.

The Army Regulations of 1913 made a identification tag mandatory. In July of 1916 a second tag was added, and by 1917 all combat troops wore aluminum discs on rope or chain. In February of 1918 the official introduction of Serial Numbers started. 

An aluminum WWI set with Serial Number on back
Two-time winner of the Metal of Honor USMC SgtMaj Dan Daly's tag	WWI USMC Lt.Gen Holland Smith's brass tag
An example of the stamping set used on early tag sets.

Next in the evolution of dog tags came what is known as the Navy/Marine style of tag (as seen above) a more oblong shape with more uniform printing. First made of brass and then a "Monel" metal (a patented corrosion-resistant alloy of nickel and copper, melded with small amounts of iron and manganese ) proved to be more corrosion resistant. In  October of 1938 the start of tests for a new identification tags started, and by 1940 it was adopted.

The M-1940 "notched" dog tag

By the early 70's the "notch" was removed to the present day tag.

The United States Armed Forces is currently developing and testing a new tag , which will hold 80% of a soldiers medical and dentail records on a mircochip known by several names: The Individually Carried Record, Meditag, The Tactical Medical Coordination System and Personal Information Carriers (PIC). It is not intended to replace the present tag, but rather to augment it as part of the "paperless battlefield" concept.

The yellow TacMedCS being tested by the Marines uses radio frequency technology, electronics and global-positioning systems to pin-point wounded.

The black rubber encased PIC is currently under DoD testing.

Tags from Other Countries

A Czarist Russia, WWI tags aid to be found at the 1914 Tannenburg site.	A French WWI bracelet id tag	British WWI ,brass, Dog Tag
An Austrian WWI brass locket with paper information inside with the owner's name engraved on the outside

Dog Tag Chains

There have been several different types of chains used during the evolution of the U.S. dog tag, every thing from shoe laces to the current ball chain.

Early 1940's monofilament plastic with metal ends, yellowed with age.	simple rope	1943 issue cord
These two types solved the major problem with soft cord, metal chains will withstand fire, above is a reprint of a quartermaster manual showing the first of the metal chain set with what are referred to as sister hooks small clasps on the end of the chains.

This silver set was favored by officers

The Military has come a long way from
hanging pieces of wood around our necks.

[Mr_Magoo]

Vought F4U Corsair

Vought XF4U-1

To the ears of American G.I.s clawing their way off the bloody beaches of Okinawa in April 1945, the sweetest sound in the world was the whistling war cry of a strangely proportioned aircraft called the Vought F4U Corsair.

The most important naval attack fighter of WWII, the Chance Vought Corsair remained in production for thirteen years.

The Corsair's most unique feature was the "bent" wing, the result of a marriage between the most powerful engine ever installed in a piston-engined fighter and one of the biggest propellers in the world. The inverted gull wing permitted the short, sturdy undercarriage required for carrier operations, allowed a low drag, 90 degree wing-fuselage junction, gave the pilot better visibility over the wing and lowered the overall height of the folded wing.

The Corsair's distinctive sound, which earned it among the Japanese the nickname of "Whistling Death", was caused by the wing-root inlets for the engine air.

A production contract was awarded to Chance Vought in June 1941 and the first production machine flew in June 1942 with a top speed of 415 mph, a sea-level climb rate of 3,120 ft/min and a service ceiling of 37,000 ft. The first carrier trials were carried out in September 1942 aboard the USS Sangamon.

Despite the hundreds of detailed demands contained in the specifications for the new fighter plane, the major design objective was speed - - and more speed; everything else was secondary. From the start of its design in June 1938 the paramount demand on the Corsair was that it be the fastest fighter ever built and this goal was achieved when the new plane became the first in the world to exceed 400 mph in level flight with full military equipment.

Two things are required to create the rare environment in which a seemingly ageless airplane can exist: 1.) It must be a very good airplane; and 2.) The peculiar economic or tactical situation into which it was borne must persist. The Vought Corsair met both of these environmental tests. It was one of the fastest propeller-driven airplanes in the world and its unmatched versatility included close air support abilities vital to a successful war effort.

The F4U Corsair was one of the great fighter plane designs of WWII. A rugged piece of flying machinery, it had the most durable production of all fighters of that day. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs had been manufactured by Vought.

First ordered into production in the fall of 1941, the Corsairs appeared in time for the bitter struggle in the southwest Pacific from Guadalcanal to VJ Day. Until late 1944, both Navy and the Marines had used the Corsair as a land-based fighter. In the final year of the war, the Corsair began operations from aircraft carriers, where it speedily ran up new spectacular scores.

F4U of VF-791 makes a series of vapor rings as it starts its take-off run laden with bombs from USS Boxer, CVA-21 in Korean waters, July 6, 1951.

The Vought Corsair is forever engraved in aviation history as the last - - and the finest - - propeller-driven combat airplane.

Each of the services made an airplane great in WWII and history can never forget the Air Force's Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the Navy's Grumman F6G Hellcat and - - most certainly the Marines' Vought F4U Corsair.

[HiJinx]

Each of the services made an airplane great in WWII and history can never forget the Air Force's Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the Navy's Grumman F6G Hellcat and - - most certainly the Marines' Vought F4U Corsair.

Excellent story about the Corsair, Magoo...
This may very well be the best closing lines I've seen, to date, for one of your Air Power posts!

[Kathy in Alaska]

22

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning Aeronaut and your faithful sidekick Otto. Thank you both for your steadfast overflights of protection.

[redhead]

"I find every OTHER year works best! LOL!"

LOL! Tom, you are not going to believe this: My dad was born in 1890. He was VERY old-fashioned when we were growing up. But one thing he was very strict about was bathing. Bathing more than once a year was bad for the health, so he didn't do it.

One year, we caught him bathing out of season. We were all going around, whispering to each other, "What's wrong with Dad?" "Is he going to the hospital?"

My youngest sister was about 4 at the time, and she piped up and said, "I know!" We all looked at her in amazement. "It's simple. I just told Daddy he STINKED."

[tomkow6]

I "misplaced" my copy of THE RULES, but, unfortunately, I found them again....for those of you that are un-aware of THE RULES, I post them now, as a Public Affairs Announcement:

THE RULES

1. THE FEMALE ALWAYS MAKES THE RULES.

2. The rules are subject to change at any time without notification.

3. No male can possibly know all the rules. Nearly all females are born
with this knowledge.

4. If the female suspects the male knows all the rules, she may
immediately change some or all of the rules.

5. THE FEMALE IS NEVER WRONG.

6. If the female is wrong, it is because of a misunderstanding, which
was a direct result of something the male did or said wrong.

7. If rule #6 applies, the male must apologize immediately, if not sooner,
for causing the misunderstanding.

8. THE FEMALE CAN CHANGE HER MIND AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME.

9. The male must never change his mind without the express written
consent from the female.

10. THE FEMALE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY OR UPSET AT ANY
TIME.

11. The male must remain calm at all times, unless the female wants
him to be angry or upset.

12. The female must under no circumstances let the male know whether
or not she wants him to be angry or upset.

13. Any attempt to change these rules could result in severe bodily harm.

[ST.LOUIE1]

"Around here - answer stupid questions."

LOL

Hi, Sis! : )

[blackie]

Dog Tags...Bump !!

Fire Democrats, hire Republicans !!

GWB Is The Man !!

Snuff Saddam, NOW !!

Death To all Tyrant's !!

The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Please keep our enemies one step behind and our troops one step ahead. May your Guiding Light lead them to victory!

MoJo, this is a beautifully said prayer.

May you help those of us in the Canteen help bring joy, comfort, and peace for those that fight on our behalf.

Hear, hear! Thank you so much for this prayer this morning.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Wow alert, tom! This picture of the Air Traffic Controllers is terrific. My hope is that a loved one might be lurking and see their son. Or that one of the young men may be able to lurk at the Canteen, see himself and let his family know.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Victoria, I love that graphic of the POW/MIA stamp! I bought lots and lots of those stamps until the Post Office told me I couldn't get them any more. Had to add additional postage, but I used them all. Thank you for the visual reminder.

[JustAmy]

Hi Bro

Two blondes are on opposite sides of a lake.
One blonde yells to the other, "How do you get to the other side?"
"You are on the other side," yells the other blonde.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Tom Humble]

Hi All:

Awesome! Incredible! Whatever other superlatives come to mind!

The Canteen news and information comments and graphics are heart-stirring and mind-shaking examples of the differences between “now” and “way back then”.

The foundations of our heritage of Freedom and Western Civilization are so wide and so deep, and so costly in lives and effort, and so priceless in value, one wonders how anyone can fail to marvel at our great good fortune.

My recollections of the world “out there” beyond the direct reach of my own senses go back 80 years. And I have disjointed impressions of a few “impressive” personal experiences that go back a couple of years before that.

My point, if I have one, is to do with seeing, today, photos and texts of yesterday’s happenings in Afghanistan for example. Real people doing real things, right now, in the war against terrorism!

And the history! Mere words cannot convey my feelings at my age when I read about and see pictures of the Warriors for Freedom and their ships and equipage of decades and centuries ago.

And I receive E-mail - - some with photos - - about the terrible butchery and savagery that Islam is at this moment visiting, upon Christians especially, in places like the Sudan for example.

Free Republic in general, and the USO Canteen specifically, represent important, maybe even crucial, threads in the fabric of Freedom.

Truly, the internet is one of Freedom's most effective weapons against ignorance and apathy and tyranny.

God bless.

Ol’ Tom.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, Severa. Thanks to your hubby for his service to our country and to you for serving as a Navy wife.

Hi JJ and Robbie!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Morning, HiWheeler. Very good Jokes of the Day! And the history was good, too.

[Kathy in Alaska]

"Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Clinton; I've told you already that Mr. Clinton is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?"

The old man looked at the Marine, smiled, and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it." The Marine snapped to attention, saluted and said, "See you tomorrow, Sir.

I love hearing it too! Thanks.