Xref: utzoo misc.headlines:24854 trial.talk.politics.peace:89 talk.politics.mideast:36323 alt.desert-storm:11836 Path: utzoo!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rpi!bu.edu!natchez!abw From: abw@natchez.tmc.edu (Al Wesolowsky) Newsgroups: misc.headlines,trial.talk.politics.peace,talk.politics.mideast,alt.desert-storm,alt.conspiracy Subject: Re: Missing in Action Message-ID: <77084@bu.edu.bu.edu> Date: 16 Mar 91 18:24:35 GMT References: <9103152226.1594@mydog.UUCP> Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Followup-To: misc.headlines Organization: Boston University Lines: 24 In article <9103152226.1594@mydog.UUCP> gcf@mydog.UUCP (Gordon Fitch) writes: +In bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes: [discussion of the use of the second dogtag in graves registration deleted] +(Barry Shein again, I think) +| A common practice in VietNam (by Americans, on Americans) was to take +| a dog-tag, position it between the front teeth, and kick the jaw +| closed, "so it wouldn't get lost". + +As a U.S. Army Infantry veteran, let me assure you that this was +not peculiar to Vietnam. It was and probably still is standard +operating procedure. That's what the two little notches in the +dog tag are for: so you can position the tag between the upper +and lower front teeth, and it will stay in place until you can [Sarge's explication from Basic Training deleted] Yup. I remember this explanation from '64. The idea is to make the tag stay with the corpse. I wish this could be a subject for alt.folklore.military, but 'fraid not. -- | Al B. Wesolowsky abw@bucrsb.bu.edu or arc9arn@buacca.bitnet | |"The event you have just witnessed is based on sworn testimony. Can | | you prove that it didn't happen?" Criswell-_Plan 9 from Outer Space_|