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Dog Tags Lost and Found In Southeast Asia: An UpdateVietnam | Single Page | 14 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
What was most interesting and unexpected, however, were the circumstances and stories of how these dog tags became separated from their owners. Tony Kurr (Army, 1970-71), a soldier out of Schaumburg, Ill., unknowingly lost both of his dog tags in-country and got replacements, which he still has. Karl Voiles (Navy, 1968-69) wore a peace symbol around his neck and doesn't remember losing his dog tags. Chuck Racette (Army, 1970-71) mistakenly left one of his dog tags tied to his boots when he turned them in at the out-processing station in Vietnam. Others, such as Edward Liekis Jr. (Marines, 1967-68) and Spencer Zielenski (Army, 1969), after being wounded in battle, were taken to aid stations where medics cut off and discarded their boots with the dog tags tied to them. Joseph Chernowas was injured during a mortar attack and had his boot and dog tag cut off and tossed out the back door at an aid station. He remembers seeing flak jackets, bloody boots and steel helmets lying in piles behind one of the aid station tents. Ronald Castonguay (Army, 1970-71) of Massachusetts lost his dog tags when medics cut off his boots from his badly swollen feet in order to treat his trench foot. And then there was Alfred Pergeau, who lost both dog tags when his Marine squad was attacked by an NVA division in Quang Tri in 1969. Steven Sweetland (Army, 1969-70) lost his as he was moving along Highway 1 from Da Nang to Chu Lai. John Kreucher (Navy, 1967-69) probably lost his when he sent them out with his laundry, while James Petyak (1967-68) thinks he lost his in the Phu Bai area. Chuck Manlove (Marines, 1966-67) received two reissues of dog tags in Vietnam and remembers losing one pair, as he put it: '…on ambush as the NVA attacked. We were only a reinforced squad. The VC followed us afterwards. When we finally got picked up I was running down the beach and taking off everything as fast as I could to get to the Amtrac and ran for home. I lost them north of Hue, three kilometers from the Ben Hai River in Dong Ha.' Interestingly, Dan Clipson recognized the dog tag from Hue City as the one he had been issued in boot camp. He could tell because it showed his religion as 'Methodist,' while his second set had 'Agnostic' and the third set 'Undecided.' Dan certainly had a good sense of humor. As for what got stamped on dog tags, 'You could have anything put on them if you knew the company clerks,' was his reply. That also explains the dog tag we have with 'ZIPPO THE GREAT' on it. Our research revealed that the service number on that tag belonged to a Marine who served in Vietnam and went home after the war. And in fact the owner of that tag — Sergeant Martis Barton of Arkansas — just recently contacted us. So much for another purported fake! One thing we have learned, based on dog tags that American teams have personally recovered from crash sites and graves around the world, is that having unusual or misspelled names or incorrect information on a dog tag is commonplace and doesn't mean it's not genuine. After conversations with 17 veterans, we had learned a lot about the mystery of the dog tags in Vietnam, including — perhaps most important at this point — that the vast majority of them seem to be genuine. They were issued to U.S. service members, worn in and out of battle, lost, misplaced, given away as souvenirs, reissued, snagged and left on barbed wire, left hanging on bedposts or at out-processing stations, removed when wounds were treated, turned in while still tied to filthy, mud-covered boots or blown off their owners' bodies in firefights. Although we haven't seen it firsthand, we accept the possibility that some Vietnamese may be hand stamping or etching dog tags for sale to tourists. One thing we're not seeing, however, is evidence that any Vietnamese are either making fake or replica dog tags in mass quantities or producing ones bearing information that is machine-stamped. Vietnamese citizens are, nevertheless, still finding genuine dog tags along jungle paths, in their rice paddies and yards, in streams and at crash sites. Many are sold to scrap dealers or given to friends, whereupon they make their way to street vendors in the larger cities of Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and are eventually sold to tourists. The simple truth is that dog tags are not the thriving business that some would have us believe they are. The best way to judge 'what's hot and what's not' on the streets and in the shops of Vietnam is to look at the display cabinets holding these items. Zippo-type lighters, Purple Hearts, military payment certificates, cameras, and military equipment such as survival knives and compasses are typically displayed on the top shelf; dog tags are relegated to the bottom shelf or some dusty box in the back. The suggestion that the Vietnamese are feverishly stamping out dog tags in some back room in Da Nang just doesn't hold up when all of the pieces of the puzzle are reassembled and examined together. For example, is there any proof that U.S. authorities left rosters listing detailed personal information on thousands of soldiers that included their last name, first name and middle initial, social security number and/or military service number, religion, blood type, gas mask size, date of their tetanus shot, and branch of service? If so, none of our Southeast Asia analysts at JPAC-CIL is aware of it. And while we've often heard accounts of the U.S. military leaving stamping machines behind when American troops pulled out in 1975, none of the authors has ever seen one in Southeast Asia, despite repeated requests to shop owners. In fact, when two of us tried to purchase 'replacement dog tags' for ourselves in Saigon, only hand stamping and etching were available. When a half-full box of vintage dog tag blanks from the 1960s and 1970s was found at a shop in Saigon, the owner could not recommend where it could be 'professionally' stamped. Two handmade dog tag blanks that were purchased were easily distinguishable from genuine blanks, as they were made of very shiny recycled metal, had irregular curled edges, bent very easily and had jagged eyelets/holes resembling cogwheels. Being machine made, the eyelets in genuine dog tags are precise and smooth, not 'flowered.' Eyelets resembling cogwheels are perhaps the best indicators of a handmade dog tag blank. Subscribe Today
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14 Comments to “Dog Tags Lost and Found In Southeast Asia: An Update”
Can you give me information on the most trusted resource for recovering dog tags. My father Larry Francis Lucas, December 20 1966, Army, MIA now recovered and buried in Arlington. His tags were last located in a village close to the place where his plane crashed.
Any resource would be helpful. We are very interested in finding out more about revovering his tags.
Thank you for this story.
760-672-8641
San Diego California
By Melissa Harlow on Aug 8, 2008 at 1:28 pm
In Papua New Guinea last week I encountered a local who possessed 2 sets of US dog tags – a Melbourne Berg of Crystal Falls, MI and a ….Lynch of 5th Air Force. How do I go about pursuing the possibility that these may be MIA's? The local still has them in PNG.
Mike Decker, Dallas, Tx
By mike decker on Aug 10, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I have lived in SE Asia for 10 years, some local children in a
remote location (without any tourism ) were wearing old dog
tags, (there are many war time plane wrecks nearby , an
abandoned wartime airfield also) We bought the tags from them,
explained why they were so precious and brought them home
with us, we are wanting to re-unite the tags with the soldiers, can
you help us with this??
By Susan on Nov 16, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I have recently found a US army dog tag at a battlefield named Dakto in Vietnam. It is, I believe, 40 years old. I wish to try and track down the owner. I have checked to see if he is MIA on the internet and thankfully he is not. I hope this guy is alive and well and maybe would appreciate the return of his dog tag after all this time. I do not want to submit my precious find to any Dogtag lost and found website. Why should I give them the glory of returning it!!
Maybe you can help someway. I have began some research work by contacting people with the same surname on Facebook and Myspace
Kind regards
Neil
By Neil Hazeldine on Mar 22, 2009 at 5:56 am
How to try to return a Dog Tag: 1st if there is a nine digit number it will be the Social Security Number. Try using an Internet Search Engine such as http://www.zabasearch.com and use the search by SS Number feature; if successful you will get a City and State. Next try a phone directory, such as http://www.anywho.com. Also check using YAHOO or GOOGLE under SSDI (Social Security Death Index) – it may be that the former soldier is deceased. Lastly you can submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis – http://www.archives.gov The FOIA information may help with tracking the place of entry and discharge of the Dog Tag owner. Be sure to clearly state "This is a FOIA request" and that you want "ALL FOIA RELEASEABLE INFORMATION."
By Joseph Naporac on May 27, 2009 at 10:25 pm
how can i go about getting my dads replacement tags he passed 14may he was in vietnam for 6 years got out in 1966
thanks
tim
By tim turner on Jul 10, 2009 at 4:22 pm
In January, 2002 I had a dog tag returned to me from a gentleman who purchase several from a Ho Chi Mong city market. His name is Bob McMann from New Hampshire. Are you aware of him.? He did not ask for anything. Just returned my dog tag with a nice carf wishing me home. I appreciated it, even though I did not remember losing a tag.
By ronald Pewinski on Jul 27, 2009 at 8:55 pm
As, a fairly frequent visitor to Vietnam since 92, I can attest to the fact dog tags in the early years were found in shops all over Saigon. Less frequently now, since it has become known that it was and is a scam. I even believe if I were to ask, I could find Bill Clinton, George Bush or even Marilyn Monroe's dog tags if I had only asked.
One must realize that it isn't that difficult to find service numbers and even social security numbers if one searched some websites of American units a few years ago. While in Vietnam during the 60s, many of us got our replicate dog tags made by a Vietnamese shop owner, while standing in a Vietnamese vendor's shop. The one's I have now are a copy of the real ones, I got on entering the service.
One doesn't give the Vietnamese enough credit for being smart and industrious. A thief of one's identity doesn't have to be born in the United States. Conterfietings, isn't a national crime but is worldwide. Anyone want to purchase Obama or Bin Laden's dog tags? I'm heading to Vietnam again soon. Or what about Michael Jackson's. Now, that would be valuable.
By curtis gilliland on Aug 16, 2009 at 10:59 pm
I was given a US dog tag from Vietnam a couple of years ago, the service number is 9 digits and the name is not on the wall.
Real or fake, It was handed to me for free from a vietnamease in a scrapyard miles from any tourists.
By Thomas on Dec 11, 2009 at 8:54 am
correction, 8 digits.
By Thomas on Dec 11, 2009 at 8:56 am
Anyone want Hillary and Bill's and George and Laura's dog tags? I feel quite certain I seen them on my last trip to Vietnam a month ago. Now, I will only give them to you if you are planning on visiting with both couples. Dog tags have been sold on the streets and shops of Saigon at least to back in the 90s when I first started returning. Even the vendors realize they have been found out and are now stopping the action. Does no one realize how easily they can be made in the back of the vendors shop or at home and the information so easily obtained over the web? Vanity oh vanity how long will people fall for this?
By curtis on Dec 24, 2009 at 12:43 am
Okay, I'm back in the USA and I've found and bought Obama's, Bin Laden, Rush Limbaugh, Larry the Tool Man, Arnold Swatenegger, Oreilly, Wolf Blitzer, Dick Cheney's and several others dog tags, that I found in a shop in an alley just off Dong Koi street. Each has their serial number and other pertinent information including blood type.
The dog tag issue is nothing but a ripoff people. I've seen jars and buckets full of them on trips to Vietnam and some tourist falls for the trap every day.
By curt on Dec 31, 2009 at 12:01 am
Does no one realize how easy it is to get personal information off of old orders that were made back then?
By curt on Dec 31, 2009 at 12:02 am
In April 2007, I received a call from Bob McMann from New Hampshire saying that a dog tag with my name on it was found in Vietnam. I apparently lost this tag near LZ West (near Hiep Duc)north in 1969 during a firefight. This tag was found in Saigon 400 miles south from where I lost it. I thought this call from Mr. Mcmann was a hoax and when he read off the information from the tag, I knew it was real. He sent the tag to me in the original condition as found (little rusty and still old black tape marks on it). I have this tag put away in safe keeping in same condition as received. I thank Bob McMann and Cannamission for its outstanding service to the Vietnam Veteran! This tag is the most precious thing I have! Thanks everyone!
By Harold Watson on Jan 24, 2010 at 3:12 pm