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Home --> Military --> Dog Tags

Dog Tags

Claim:   Two men are returning authentic, lost dog tags to the families of U.S. soldiers who served in Vietnam.

Status:   Not likely.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2001]

Subject: Dog Tags Found in Vietnam

On a recent "Today Show" there was a story about two men who went to Hanoi on a business trip. The men encountered a guy selling old GI dog tags from US servicemen who were killed during the Viet Nam War. They were disgusted by the thought of this man profiting from the sale of these tags. Upon returning to the US, they decided to go back to Viet Nam and purchase ALL the dog tags.

They did so, paying 19 cents per tag! They brought home several hundred tags. The plan is to return the tags to surviving family members, when they can find them. The process has already begun with one set being turned over to a grieving Mom on July 4th (coincidentally, it was on her birthday)!

These two men have set up a website, BELOW listing the names of all those whose tags they purchased.

If you lost friends, family, or know of someone who lost a loved one in Viet Nam, I suggest you check out this website. If you recognize a name, contact these two men and to help in their efforts to return the dogtag to it's rightful survivor. I'm sure a family member would be eternally grateful to have such an important item returned.

Please help by checking this website. And please send the website address to everyone you know. The more people who see the lists, the greater the chance of returning ALL the tags to those who lost loved ones in Viet Nam!

The discovery of these tags after so many years from servicemen dead, missing and in some cases still alive is mind boggling when you consider the emotions that will be reignited. I leave you to your own thoughts on this one.

Click here: FoundDogTags

Origins:   It is Dog tags true that two Florida businessmen, Rob Stiff and Jim Gain, did buy up a bunch of military-style dogtags during a trip to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon); that they are attempting to deliver these tags to the persons whose names appear on them (or their relatives); that they have set up a web site for this purpose at FoundDogTags.com; and that they have appeared on a number of national news programs such as NBC's Today Show, CNN, and FOX News.

What's probably not true, however, is that the dogtags they're attempting to return were actually lost by servicemen. As plenty of Vietnam veterans (and others) have noted, since dog tags are difficult to authenticate and relatively easy to manufacture (and information about Vietnam-era servicemen is fairly simple to obtain), the sale of counterfeit, artificially-aged dog tags to gullible American tourists is a cottage industry in Vietnam. Messrs. Stiff and Gain seem to be honest and sincere in their endeavors, and they are not seeking to profit from their venture, but the media are so lost in lauding the men's noble efforts that they don't want to consider the unpleasant reality that most or all of the dog tags the men purchased are probably imitations, not the real thing.

Last updated:   2 August 2007

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  Sources Sources:
    Branom, Mike.   "Dog Tags Returned to Mother After 3 Decades."
    Chicago Sun-Times.   5 July 2001   (p. 26).

    [New York] Newsday.   "Priceless Emblems; Dog Tags Lost in Vietnam Recovered."
    5 July 2001   (p. A3).