Dog Tags Lost and Found In Southeast Asia: An Update

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One of the things that researchers have to deal with is how to tell whether a particular dog tag is genuine or fake, and there are several ways. ‘Fake’ can either refer to the metallic composition of the dog tag or whether it was actually worn by a U.S. service member. Here is an example of how science proved the authenticity of a dog tag.

In 1966 two soldiers joined the Marines under the buddy system, with the guarantee that they would be stationed together throughout their career. They sat four chairs apart in boot camp and, as a result, received military service numbers that differed only in the last digit — one soldier’s service number ended in 602 and the other in 606. The following year, one of the buddies (606) was killed when the helicopter carrying him crashed in Vietnam. As of 2005, he is still unaccounted for. Despite all efforts, U.S. investigators have been unable to locate the crash site or recover the remains of the crew or passengers.

That would have been the end of the story if not for the fact that a dog tag showed up on the streets of Vietnam in 2002. A Connecticut couple visiting Vietnam, doing what they perceived as their patriotic duty, purchased some dog tags in Saigon and later learned that one (606) was from an unaccounted-for U.S. Marine killed in action. Through a bit of detective work, the couple located the Marine’s brother and returned the dog tag to him. The brother, after noticing a reddish substance on the dog tag that he believed might be blood, contacted the JTF-FA, which then contacted the CIL to check it out.

Once at the CIL, scientists measured and weighed the rectangular dog tag and, using a scanning electron microscope, determined that it was made of stainless steel, a substance commonly used to make dog tags before, during and after the Vietnam War. Its weight, size and features, including a smooth curled edge and the absence of an end-notch, were consistent with dog tags issued in the 1960s. Close examination of the dog tag also revealed evidence of bending, burning and exposure to moist soil for an extended period of time. Scientists at the CIL then took the dog tag to the Serology/DNA Unit of the Honolulu Police Department, where the reddish substance was tested and found not to be blood, but a mixture of corrosion and dirt. The combined evidence was consistent with a dog tag that was made, embossed and issued during the Vietnam War. The evidence also indicated that the dog tag might have been damaged in a helicopter crash.

The next step was to compare the dog tag (606) from Saigon with the one carried home after the war by the dead Marine’s buddy (602). Using a low-power microscope, CIL scientists noticed that the numbers 602 and 606 on the two dog tags slanted upward in exactly the same way. They also noted that ‘OLIC’ in ‘CATHOLIC’ was misaligned on both dog tags. There was no doubt that the same stamping machine had been used to emboss the dog tag purchased in Vietnam and the dog tag carried home after the war by the missing Marine’s buddy. Here was irrefutable proof that both dog tags were genuine, having been stamped by the same machine back in 1966. Anyone wanting to produce a fake dog tag to reflect all of the circumstances behind the real 606 dog tag would have had to go to some extraordinary lengths for $1, which is about what the dog tag sold for. In fact, to replicate the original 606 dog tag one would have to:

• Have a genuine/vintage dog tag blank.
• Have the precise and correct 606 personal information to include on a fake dog tag.
• Know that 606 had died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam.
• Replicate the exact misalignments and spacing on the 606 dog tag to match the dog tag of the buddy (602) who went home after the war.
• ‘Antique’ the fake dog tag to reflect long-term contact with moist soil and precisely mimic damage and burning associated with a downed helicopter.

Of course skeptics may say, ‘Well, that’s just one example, what about all the other dog tags?’ There’s no realistic way to answer that — in fact, it’s impossible to answer with certainty. What we have found, however, is that an intensive program to get to the bottom of these and other dog tag questions has revealed no evidence that any one of the 1,444 dog tags from Hue City is a fake. We’ve also found no evidence to support such statements as ‘You know, the Vietnamese are making dog tags out of beer cans over there ‘ (although we have found handmade dog tag blanks made of recycled metal in Saigon) and ‘Oh, they’re all fakes.’ Such statements only cloud the issue and cast doubt on the authenticity of many genuine U.S. dog tags. There’s no reason for the Vietnamese to produce fake dog tags or — perhaps more accurately — replica dog tags, using vintage blanks with machine-stamped personal information of someone who actually served in-country, when they have so many genuine ones at hand. Considering that some 2 1/2 million Americans served in Southeast Asia, some 5 million genuine dog tags have passed through there.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War