Notched US Military Dog Tags

     Once, a long time ago, I wore a set of US military dog tags. The ones I was issued had a notch in one end.   

     In the 1940s and for about 30 years, US military dog tags, known as the M-1940 dog tag, had a notch along the edge. If anybody asked what the notch was for they were told that when a soldier died on the battlefield, medics, or Navy Corpsman if serving with the Marines, would take the notched part of the dog tag and place it between the teeth of the deceased soldier. The medic would then kick the jaw so the tag would become lodged between the soldier’s teeth. The reason for this procedure was because transporting a dead soldier across a battlefield in the 1940s was difficult and his identity could be lost. But, if the dog tag was wedged between the teeth the loss of identity was unlikely. 

     Equally gruesome is the alternative reason for the notch. After a dead soldier was taken off the battlefield their decaying bodies produces gases and in order to allow the gases to escape the dead body, a dog tag was placed in the mouth, between the teeth, to keep the mouth open thereby allowing the gases to escape.

     Actually, neither was the purpose of the notch, known as a "locating notch" in military manuals. It's purpose was more prosaic. The notched dog tags used until 1970 were part of a casualty identification process. 

     The dog tag was created using a machine and the notch helped the machine hold the dog tag in place as it was stamped. Modern dog tags are manufactured by machines that do not need the notch to hold the tags in place. 

     The notch served an additional purpose. The dog tag was removed from casualties and it was placed into a handheld tool called the Addressograph Model 70 which transferred the information from the dog tag to medical records. The notch, again, held the dog tag in place in the Addressograph. 

     Of course, today's modern technology what with DNA and all, dog tags are no longer as important as they used to be.