Dog Tags…
I don’t make a habit of posting here unless I can find something humorous to lighten the place up…. this may get deleted?
A pal of mine on FB offered this pix with a question.
How many know what the notch is for?
Can’t stand it… I was certain I knew, but there is an alternative explanation I can not ignore. For 40 years I believed this:
The “notch” was a “tooth notch” for placing the dog tag between the teeth of a deceased soldier.
The “notch” was an aid to “start” the dog tag between the teeth when you “kicked” the tag into place on a deceased soldier.
Category: Geezer Alert!
The notch on the old style American dog tags (we didn’t have it in Israel in the 80s when I served) had something to do with holding the tag in place on the embossing machine.
The rumor was always that the notch was so you could jam it in between someone’s teeth to make it easy for the graves registration people to find, but I think that was just an urban legend. I think Medic09 nailed it.
The “old guys” (my WWII & Korean War uncles and pals) told me it was to pry open a dead GI’s mouth. Notch goes on lower teeth, roll other side into top teeth. That way it can’t be lost and the dead guy can be positively identified (before the days of DNA, fingerprints, and Panorexes)
Not sure if that was fact or fiction, it’s waht I was taught. But then again, I fell for the ” goget me a can of muzzle blast outta supply” was I was a young pup.
Never served, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with holding the tags in the manufacturing process.
(First heard the old legend that it’s to jam between a KIA’s teeth if there isn’t enough left of him to put it around his neck from a Marine who was in a helicopter crew that transported KIAs back in Vietnam.)
perfect change of pace, Mr. Ponsdorf .
No notch when I was in but if I were a betting man I’d go with the manufacturing explanation…..
@1 Is the correct answer, but all the other rumors were around for years, also my favorite was that it was used to keep the jaw open so decomposing bodies could allow enough gas to escape that organs would not rupture internally….
Geeeezzz…a “graphic content” warning might have been appropriate for this thread! It’s a good thing I ate my lunch a couple of hours ago, or I could blame the start of my most recent diet on you guys.
When we were going to Iraq, I took a line from some movie about Nam and told my guys to have extra tags made so they could put them on their boots.
They kids looked at me and said: “why sarge?”
“so when they blow your head off, the medic can figure out who you are.”
So much of urban legands and bullshit came from movies.
Oh come on guys…you know they only quit putting them on dog tags because we now are trained to slice open our dead soldiers stomachs…true story.
Oh, please someone spread my totally false internet rumor. Much like one of the duffel blogs story of military wives getting rank.
Respectfully submitted: http://www.snopes.com/military/notch.asp
Long story short, the theory that the notch is to make it easier to put it between a dead person’s teeth is false.
Very Respectfully,
IW
And since we are on military myth/legend, check this article on the story what is “really” in the truck of a flagpole (the ball at the very top).
http://www.snopes.com/military/flagball.asp
Notch is for stamping since a stamp machine (press) is or was used to imprint vital info on the dog tag and the rest is bunk.
When a body arrives at Dover, the descendant immediately goes to a forensic pathologist (coroner or medical examiner if you so choose) whose duty it is to record every detail and condition of the remains, positively ID via X-ray, dental exam and a DNA match with the nearest living immediate family member if necessary on the remains after arrival.
Desecration of remains in the military does carry a fairly hefty price tag…..Just saying.
The notch was there because of the stamping machine and nothing else.
@9 – in the IDF we indeed had tags in each boot. Our standard issue boots actually came with a pocket at the top of the boot sized exactly for one tag, and a plastic pin that then went through a hole at the top to close the tag in. I think I still have my last pair.
My father told me the notch story… I was sad to find out it was not true. Damn internet. However… did they place the dog tag there?
Dang – what’s with the recent spate of referrals to snopes for information? Y’all getting a kickback from them or something??
Thanks for that explanation, Zero. In the early 60s, we were told in basic that the notch was to jam in the KIA’s teeth. At the time it sounded reasonable …
Must be, OWB. Must be….So far no one’s disputing what I know. Guess that is a good thing.
But back to the using the dogtags between the teeth – you didn’t do it long ways so the notch had nothing to do with it. You put the long sides between the teeth. If you were going to do it at all.
Gonna have to think on this one. There is something rattling around in the grey matter about when this was done, when it stopped, and some other details. Hmmm.
What bothers me is I can’t tell for sure that the photo shows the little short chain that the 2nd tag was on.
But then I’ve been thinking about LS85 for the last few hours.
Frank
USAF 66-74
Next thing you guys are going to tell me is that stress cards are an urban legend, because my cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s barber who used to cut hair of a guy who knew someone told him they were issuing them in basic now days…
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For those with an allergy to Snopes: The Real Reason for the “Notch” in the WWII Dog Tag. With pictures. 😉