Why do dog tags have notches

Indeed, some have heard unusual variations on the theme:. The story was that this was to hold a dead soldiers mouth open to allow gases to escape until the body was attended to. These vapors eventually escape as the tissue containing them breaks down, allowing them to leak from the body. Sometimes variations encountered by our readers served to add to the basic rumor, as in this telling:. He also said that the ball chain that holds the tags is comprised of beads, and the smaller loop that goes through the tags is comprised of 52 beads.

If a soldier is taken prisoner, he can detach the beads as a means of keeping track of how many days have passed. At one time olive drab cord or cloth tape was the norm, and woven nylon, wire, and cloth cords still show up as alternatives to the now ubiquitous string of metal beads. Even the original metal chain issued in had flat links, not the rounded beads of the rosary explanation. Last updated: 2 August Sources: Levins, Harry. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fortunately, the tales are untrue and U.

In the s and for about 30 years, U. Soldiers tell stories, as soldiers do, so when people started asking, why were dog tags notched, military personnel began to tell tales of how when a soldier died on the battlefield, medics would take the notched part of the dog tag and place it between the teeth of the deceased soldier. Why was it necessary for it to stay lodged between their teeth? If a tag was secured between the teeth, this aided the identification process, despite how uncivil the act might be.

Why were dog tags notched? Another reason for notched dog tags was popular for many years and has since subsided. The tale went that once a soldier was taken off the battlefield, their bodies would produce gases.

This was another reason offered when people asked why were dog tags notched? The truth is, neither of those two stories are true.

This makes the letters easier to read. See Text Alignment Options. Centered text is not military spec. Here is an example of each alignment: Left Justified Text. Centered Text. Emboss vs Indent Text Types. Unable to Upload? Available Characters. To be sure of the final results, please choose from the following: Emboss: English Capital letters A — Z Numbers 0 — 9 and the following characters: period.

Specific characters that are not available: Emoji Parentheses Accented characters Lowercase letters. Hole Placement. Examples of hole placement: Hole Left. Hole Right. What you get with White Text option. Color Options. If you want to order one of these colors, click on the images shown below to visit those respective order pages: Anodized Aluminum Tags Red, Purple, Orange, Green, Gold, Blue.

Rolled Front vs Rolled Back. Rolled Edge to Front the rolled edge can be seen when reading the text is how we usually stamp Current Issue dog tags.