Origin of dog tags

Did you know that dog tags and Memorial Day share common origins? Well, they do — the Civil War. Both have their beginnings from that horrific conflict.

First off, what are dog tags? They are identification tags worn around the neck of a member of the armed services. Two silver bits of metal, rectangular in shape, rounded on the narrow ends on a ball chain necklace. The nickname “dog tag” comes from their shape (thanks to the GIs of World War II).

What is on them? Well, I will use mine as an example. I still wear them with pride. Mine are Army dog tags. There are small differences between the services, but this is the basic format:

GROTA

DANIEL D.

XXX-XX-XXXX

A POS

RELIGION

I have left out some stuff for privacy, but I think you get the picture. Everyone serving wear these. The reason is, well, to identify the dead and wounded. Grim as it is, that is the truth, and it all started during the most devastating war in America’s history.

In 1863 during the battle of Mine’s Run in northern Virginia, Union troops under Gen. Meade’s command. Wrote their names and unit designations on bits of scrap paper. They pinned them on their uniforms prior to marching into what would be certain death. This was a war fought with modern (for the time) weapons and early 19th century tactics — a lethal and tragic combination.

The carnage and the losses on both sides were, frankly, catastrophic. By war’s end, by most estimates well in excess of 620,000 died. More Americans died during that war than all the others American soldiers fought in. All of them, right up to today. Then there is the other sad fact that more than 42 percent of Civil War dead still remain unidentified.

So, soldiers scribbled names on paper, scratched initials on belt buckles, pouches and packs. Some used pieces of wood drilled with a hole for a string. To be worn as a tag of sorts. Some opportunistic camp followers made special order disks called “soldier’s pins” with the name and unit of the soldier that one could purchase. But nothing was official until 1899.

We can thank Chaplain Charles C. Pierce for that. It was his efforts that made it a requirement for all soldiers to wear them. Starting in 1913, it became regulation. Then from World War I up to today, all members of our armed services have been required to wear them.

At first they were round disks. In World War II they took on the rounded rectangular shape with a small notch on one end. The notch was for the stamping machine to hold them in place. The modern ones like mine lack this notch. They were worn in pairs as well, one on a long chain, the other on a shorter one called the toe chain or toe tag.

They looked so much like the tags worn by their pets, the nick name “dog tag” came about. They are still called this by most GIs today, although there was an effort a few years ago to change the name to “identification tags.” It was a failed effort in political correctness, in my opinion. Today we even have special red tags for medical alerts to aid medics and doctors as to a soldier’s allergies to medicines and other information critical to treating the wounded. I wore a pair for a medicine allergy. They are slightly larger and worn on the same chains.

And it all started with desperate soldiers scribbling their names on pieces of paper more than 150 years ago.

Now to the origins of Memorial Day. It, too, was born out of the horrors of the very same conflict.

It was called Decoration Day at first. Later, it was changed to Memorial Day on May 5, 1868, by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30 of that same year.

The reason for Memorial Day was to honor the thousands of war dead scattered in cemeteries across a bruised and battered nation. Cites and towns like Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Fredricksburg and others were once sites of some horrific battles and became the final resting places of thousands of fallen soldiers from both sides. Arlington, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee, became one of the country’s first national cemeteries. There were many groups trying to find ways to honor them. Some were doing so on a small basis. Gen. Logan’s General Order No. 11 was an attempt to make it a national effort in healing the wounds of a nation that was nearly torn to pieces.

At first, only Northern states took part. Southern states, still reeling from the shear devastation inflicted upon them during the Civil War, insisted on their own holidays to honor their fallen. This went on until the early 20th century after World War I since soldiers from both the north and south served in Europe. It became obvious that the grudges of the past were foolish.

Then the day became not just a way to honor the dead of the Civil War, but all of the fallen, from the Revolutionary War that gave birth to this country to the “war to end all wars,” and later beyond even that. The list of wars and conflicts to follow has grown since then, and Memorial Day has become the day to honor them all.

May 30 was the official Memorial Day until congress passed the National Holiday Act of 1971. Then it became the last Monday of May in order to make it a three-day holiday weekend. It became less and less a day to honor the nation’s fallen and more about being a three-day fest to open the tourist and summer seasons. Much has been lost as to its true meaning — except for the families and surviving veterans who struggle to keep the true spirit of the holiday alive. The true meaning of this day has not been lost to us.

There was an effort to restore the day back to the May 30 in 1999, when Sen. Inouye of Hawai introduced a bill that would do it. But it remains buried in limbo to this day.

Regardless, a Memorial Day born of the terrible war that nearly tore this nation permanently in half is now a great way to honor the living and the fallen of all this nation’s conflicts. So veterans, dig out those old dog tags and wear them with pride.

To quote my favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, in his Nov. 19, 1863, message to all in honor of Memorial Day:

“That we are here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.