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

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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?

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

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.

Answer 6

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.

Answer 7

A dog tag is the informal name for the identification tags worn by military personnel, because of their resemblance to actual dog tags. This came to prominence in World War I when there was need for vaccination records to be listed on the tags. As well, they date back even to ancient Sparta.

Answer 8

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

Answer 9

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

Answer 10

Dog tags are metal and worn round the neck like a dog collier. Some now have rubber around them so they do not "clink" to avoid the enemy from hearing them. If you get killed in a
battle, a platoon sargeant will take one of your dog tags and stick the notch between your teeth
and then ram your mouth shut causing the tag to be permanently affixed between your upper and lower jaw. When and if another group can
retrieve your body, the dog tag is your identification. Enemy soldiers can steal your i.d. cards and your wallet, watch, rings etc.,but they'll never get the dogtag from between your teeth. The second dogtag is turned in to the Commanding Officer to prove you died in the
line of duty.

Answer 11

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.