joedad

Dog Tags,

I did a brief Google search for the history of military dogtags and came up with this:

<a href="http://www.qmfound.com/short_history_of_identification_tags.htm" target="_blank">http://www.qmfound.com/short_history_of_identification_tags.htm</a>

But nowhere is mentioned the fact that religious preference is included on tags, or at least was when I served in the '70s. Is religious preference still included on the tags and when did it start and what was the reasoning?

The issue somewhat hits home as a son is nearing active duty, and I know is not religious at all. His friends even bought him a "Jesus action figure" for a gag birthday gift.

Someone recently posted that some preference is asked for when issuing tags, for the reason that if "atheist" appears on a tag, a soldier could be killed as a prisoner. Personally, I'd not put "atheist" on a tag, but simply leave it blank.

But if there is any truth to such a veiled threat against including "atheist" on a tag, it would seem prudent from a military standpoint to discontinue the use of religious preference on all tags, so as not to endanger any one soldier.

Does anyone have information as to when this practice of including religious preference was initiated and whether it continues today?

joe

enrious

When I was in (starting in '93) they put your preference on there, the reason given was that appropriate services could be given for you if you were killed.

As for putting down "atheist", IME, they don't put that down. They will put down "No Religious Preference" which amounts to the same thing.

YSMMV

joedad

In my thinking, there is a difference, and I understand the explanation as to respecting the dead. If a person has no religious preference, why not leave the tag blank, so that it contains only a name and number? Makes much more sense to me. I'm probably being slightly paranoid, but there appears to be a bit of intimidation or coercion involved, or else just plain old ignorance.

But do chaplains actually examine tags when death occurs? If you have an individual's name and number, that service can be performed at any time. That reason to me just doesn't sound like a good reason.

Informal tags came into use during the Civil War, and, were not institutionalized until 1899. I'm trying to find specifically when these tags took on a religious flavor. It may very well be that they have been so since 1899.

joe

joedad

Here's a better site with more information:

<a href="http://www.sadona.com/dogtag/history.html" target="_blank">http://www.sadona.com/dogtag/history.html</a>

Notice that it states emphasis is mine

Apparently, unless the reg is changed, which is possible because it looks like this information is dated 1982, though the site is 2001, you were not issued tags by the book. Notice also that a few paragraphs down it states: According to this same article, tags in 1916 were issued without religious affiliation.

joe

Toto

This was discussed here a few months ago. Luckily the search engine is working:

<a href="http://iidb.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=59&t=000408&p=" target="_blank">Military chaplains (contains discussion of Atheist on dogtags)</a>

joedad

Thanks, Toto.

Shake

I wasn't very strong in my atheism when I joined the USAF, (also in '93, enrious), so I too, have the "No Religious Preference" on mine. I also agree that there is a big difference between saying no preference and atheist. No preference still implies that you're a believer, just perhaps one of those non-denominational types (or UU even).

As was mentioned in that other thread (about the military chaplains), yes, they were present at all of the big (and some not-so-big functions) all over base. We even had one come to a flight holiday (T-day/Hanukkah/Xmas) dinner with roughly 80-100 people (this included dependents) in attendance. I was always respectful of the blessing. I still am when I'm somewhere where one is given. But now instead of bowing my head, I'm merely silent. I usually scan the room to see if anyone else is also merely being polite and quiet. I just wait for someone to notice and comment so that I can return the same question to them.

enrious

I just don't see it as a big deal. I'm an atheist but if I went back in today, I still would be fine with "No Religious Preference" - not because I'd be afraid of some sort of stigma, but because it really doesn't matter one way or the other.

"But do chaplains actually examine tags when death occurs? If you have an individual's name and number, that service can be performed at any time."

Thing is, and looking at it from our Marine perspective, we understood that if you could recover enough of the body that's fine, especially in peacetime.

We also realized that in war you seldom have the time for such niceties - a chaplain would have very little time, so anything that helped them perform the proper rights on the remains meant that the unit would come to accept the death quicker and not be focused on that person's death.

What's on that dogtag is for the living, not the dead.

Corpsmen need to be able to tell at a glance what blood type, chaplains need to tell at a glance what ceremony to perform or if the person is wounded, how to approach the wounded person. The rest is for the grave detail.

Oresta

It's heartening to know the military is somewhat more enlightened than in the 50s when my husband, a draftee, put "no religion" on a form. His tags were issued with "Protestant" as his religion.

I question the term "no preference". It's ambiguous. It could be read to mean non-denomonational, as it was for me in the hospital recently. I was listed as having "no preference" on my admittance. Shortly before I was to be taken from my room for surgey, a bizarre, little man of God came in for us "to have a prayer together before surgery." I looked up from reading my copy of The Nation and told him I'd prefer he didn't. He then asked me if I would prefer someone of another faith. "No preference" falls under the category of religions as just another alternative.

enrious

I can only say that the Chaplains, corpsmen, and so on basically only cared if it said something other than "No Religious Preference" - it was viewed as an all-inclusive "Other" category.