Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Ms. Chard,
My purview is mostly limited to identifying the lineage and honors of individual Quartermaster units from administrative documents. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of resources here at the Center of Military History to answer your question about the reissuance of dog tags during World War II. I recommend that you contact the U.S. Army Quartermaster Foundation and Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia, as they handle a much wider variety of topics related to Quartermaster history. The Quartermaster Museum may be contacted at leeeqmmuseum@conus.army.mil or 804-734-4203.
However, below is some limited information which may partially answer your questions.
War Department Circular 60 of 2 March 1942 dictated that stainless steel should be used in the production of identification tags, as the monel metal which had previously been used was too scarce. It also implies that many tags were being reissued due to loss of or damage to the original tags, as it reads, in Section VII:
"4. Issues of tags have exceeded the estimated requirements upon which procurement has been based. While the exact reason for this variance is not known, it is believed to be due, at least in part, to thoughtlessness on the part of both officers and enlisted men, resulting from the expendable nature of the item and its relatively insignificant cost. Identification tags, while a minor item insofar as the actual quantity of metal in each tag is concerned, require great amounts of metal when procured in quantities for issue to all personnel of the Army.
5. In view of the above, it is directed that each officer and enlisted man personally exercise the greatest possible care to prevent the necessity for replacement of the identification tags in his possession."
War Department Circular 223 of 3 June 1944, Section V, reads:
"V. TAG.--1. Prior to July 1943, Army Regulations prescribed that identification tags have inscribed thereon the name and address of the individual to be notified in case of an emergency. Paragraph 85b, AR 600-35, 31 March 1944, no longer requires that such inscription appear on identification tags. It has come to the attention of the War Department that serviceable identification tags inscribed with the names and addresses of emergency addressees are being replaced by tags not so inscribed.
2. Metals from which identification tags are fabricated are of a critical nature and must be conserved to the fullest extent.
3. Identification tags in the possession of military personnel will not be replaced for either of the following reasons:
a. Because of a change in name or address of the individual to be notified in emergencies, inscribed on identification tags; or
b. Because change in Army Regulations has eliminated the former requirement that identification tags bear the name and address of the individual to be notified in emergencies."
A short article on the history of dog tags appeared in the December 1988 issue of the Quartermaster Professional Bulletin. An online version can be found at
http://www.qmfound.com/short_history_of_identification_tags.htm.
You may also wish to note that pages 221, 228, and 336 of the The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany (William F. Ross and Charles S. Romanus, 2004) indicate that each soldier had two identification tags handing on a necklace.
See http://www.archive.org/stream/quartermastercor00ross#page/n3/mode/2up. War Department Circular 151 of 12 December 1940 (attached to this e-mail as a .PDF document) provided for the issuance of two tags per Army soldier, and Circular 262 of 19 December 1941 (also attached) details how the two tags were to be worn.
War Department Pamphlet 29-2 of 15 May 1944 (and possibly earlier versions) stated that, "Records of tetanus immunizations including when applicable the first stimulating dose of tetanus toxoid, and blood type will be embossed on the identification tags." It was possible that tags were reissued to individuals to reflect any new tetanus vaccinations.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Fargey
POC for Support/Sustainment, Quartermaster, Military Intelligence, Information Operations, Chaplain, and JAG units, Force Structure and Unit History Branch, U.S. Army Center of Military History
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"