How did military id's become to be known as dog tags?

Man.With.A.Plan

Front line soldiers were one called 'dogs' because they were the peons of society. The tags are just that, tags. They also resemble the rabies tags that canines wear, but that requirement came after the GI's were wearing them.

Mumbles_75

When you move, military dog tags clink together much like a dog's tags on its collar.

doc_fortune

during the roosevelt hearst election, roosevelt's big project was to start assigning people social security number to people to easily track pertant data. Hearts' only agruement against this was that roosevelt would be forcing americans to wear ID tags like Dog's do so they don't get lost, or dog tags.

XP4ME

ID's are not dogtags. During WW2 soldiers were called "dogfaces" and wearing the metal tags issued as ID around their necks became known as "dogtags".

Section 8 rehab

Dog tags, are completely different from an ID. We get a seperate photo Id card FYI. Dog tags are worn around the neck, just like a dog collar, to identify the dog, where it lives. Basically dog tags serve the same purpose.

wiccanwoman47901

originally during the wars, soldiers would wear two tags one of them being on a smaller chain. The reason for this was if they felt they were in danger of capture they put one in their boot for identification.

richard

cuz the police dogs used similar first

UNITool

because they look an awful lot like the license tags you might see on a dog's collar

Mr. Wizard

"Dog tags" became a WWII catch phrase that quickly caught on when a young recruit wearing them suggested the Army considers them dogs of war, complete with a set of dog tags.

Southern Belle â˜†

Military "tags" look like "dog tags"...

Karma

As others have said, it is because it is a tag to be worn by a soldier carry key information that make it possible to identify a fallen soldier. There is a lot of history behind them though including...

The publisher William Randolph Hearst was a fervent enemy of President Roosevelt and the New Deal. All the newspapers in the Hearst chain were expected to regularly publish unfavorable stories about New Deal programs. On the eve of the 1936 presidential election Hearst sought to undermine support for Social Security with allegations that workers would be required to wear "dog tags" with their Social Security number and would be forced to fill-out questionnaires probing for personal information. In fact, neither allegation was true. However, the "dog tag" story did have a basis in fact.

When considering ways to assign Social Security numbers, one proposal was to issue metal nameplates, not unlike military "dog-tags." Commissioner Altmeyer vetoed this idea as soon as he heard about it. This did not, however, stop the Hearst syndicate from reporting it as fact. During the early discussion of the metal nameplate idea, one company eager for this potential government business (the Addressograph Corp.) went so far as to prepare a sample I.D. tag in Commissioner Altmeyer's name. Altmeyer kept this sample "dog tag" in his desk drawer throughout his career with SSA, and he donated it to SSA after his retirement. So the one and only Social Security "dog tag" ever issued is now on display in the History Room at SSA headquarters in Baltimore.

Also, the use of tags for Identification can be traced back to the Civil War but became hugely possible by the Navy duing WWI. The Marines started using them in 1916 so the nickname for them is nut due to the bulldog mascot nor the devil dog nickname for the marines.

Space Ghost

They are 2 different things.

theMeganEffect

World War One.

It was the first war we were in involving airplanes. Somehow, airplane battles in the air were coined "dogfights." When a pilot was shot down, mostly what was left was their ID tag. Thus - "dogtag."

How correct my answer is is likely to be debated.

ridesonroces

The PLAIN AND SIMPLE ANSWER is that they resemble dog tags....plain and simple. But of course, I have to make my answer special and here is my add on. They are no longer called dog tags. The military adopted the more civilized "I.D tags".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tags
READ THE FIRST LINE!

For those who might be commenting on my "I.D. Tags" comment. Read it again, it says I.D. Tags, Not Military I.D.. Obviously those are two different things.

bostonianinmo

Military IDs and dog tags are two different things. Every GI has one military ID and two dog tags.

charity2882

It is because of the similarities between the ID and a tag on a dog collar

Roadrunner58-79

Question does not compute, there is no answer on the search.

gcbtrading

Because they resemble dog tags

Plato

You know something? I was in the army for 5 years, and I never thought about this until last week I was at a pet store buying a new collar and tags for my dog.

Dangling from a soldier's neck, the ID tags look a whole lot like dog tags don't they? (or a pet's id tags dangling from a pet's collar). Plus, the dog tags have on them identifying information, such as name, social security number, birthdate, religion, and blood type. A pet's tags would have identifying information stamped on them as well, such as its name, home phone number, home address, rabies vaccination number, stuff like that.

It's funny, because in the Army a soldier often feels like a dog; meaning when things get rough and he's getting fussed at by the sergeants he sometimes feel like he's treated like a dog, working like a dog, tired as a dog, sick as a dog, etc. A member of the military is also, in many ways, like a pet. He's told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Military soldiers are even told what to wear and how to wear it. We are told when to eat, when to sleep, where to sleep, how long to sleep, when we can go to the bathroom, how long we have to use the bathroom; you get the picture right?

So it's a comparison that really works well.

Jason

because soldiers are at the level of animals

zqx357

Military ID is not considered a Dog Tag. Dog tags are to metal tags worn around the neck on two chains to help Identify a dead soldier. If some one is killed in action one tag is removed from the body and sent back to the command center the other remains with the body. So the dead soldier can later be identified and sent home. They are called dog tags because they are worn around the neck as a dog wears tags. A military ID is carried in the wallet like any othe ID. Watch the movie "Saving Private Ryan" they collect a lot of dog tags in that movie.

Wolfpacker

During the Civil War, the soldiers started carving wooden ID tags. Commercial people started the metal ones. The "dog tags" name came about because they look like dog tags that real dogs wear.

nicolasraage

They are worn around the neck like a dog collar/tag.

quietfive

Well, the little metal plates sure do look like dog tags (licenses). Also, Marines have a bulldog mascot, so that probably helps too

jinx4swag

They did not. The Military ID is still just that. The Name Tags on the chain around the neck are the "Dog Tags" Get it?

Another Perspective

Only someone as smart as a dog would enlist in this man's army.

hoothootwaa

They are wore around your neck like a dog collar which has dog tags.

savedbylove

military id's arent dog tags. id's are the cards. dog tags are what those things were always called....and no, they arent just necklaces, u get 2 so that if u go missing or something there are 2 places to find them to identify ur body if u are found. when you arent in compat, you should have them both around ur neck. if you are, then you should have one on ur neck, and i think the other one on ur shoe...i think....i'm not sure. but i know u r supposed to have 2 and one on ur foot somehow, lol.

Muffin

in the event of them being killed that is what is used to identify them if they can't recognize anything else on the body, thats why they have two and are supposed to put one on there boot during combat

red hot

when at war, pretty much everyone died and the only way to identify what was left of the body was the dog tags. A dog wears them around their neck to identify the.

whadda ya lookin at

dog soldiers

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