Dog Tag
Articles
'Dog Tag' Order For 35,283 in Schools Placed.
A
total of 35,283 students in Dallas public schools
have ordered "dog tags," records at the School
Administration Building show.
Sixty-one of the 133 schools in the Dallas Independent
School District have not reported. Students,
with the approval of their parents, may voluntarily
apply for the tags through their schools. The
tags cost 20c.
Of the total number ordered, 18,071 have been paid for
and the remainder are on application.
The tags carry the student's name, address, telephone
number and the name of a person to notify in case of
emergency.
The school administration negotiated with the
Addressograph Multigraph Corp. of Dallas to make the
tags after it had been cleared earlier this year by
the Dallas Board of Education.
'Dog Tag' Order For 35,283 in Schools Placed.
The Dallas Morning News
Part 3, Page 19
March 08, 1956
America is a faith-based nation
In response to the May 3 editorial,
"Liberty wins": The Daily Press claims Virginia
Attorney General Jerry Kilgore gets it wrong on his
support for a non-sectarian grace before supper at
Virginia Military Institute. The vast majority of
Americans consider themselves Christians, to include
the military. Religion plays such an important role
in a soldier's life it is placed on our dog tags
with our blood type. In 1956 when I joined the Army
I was issued a New Testament, and at least once a
month chaplains guided our charter. At all our
ceremonies we had invocation (prayer). I spent 20
years in the U.S. Army, including three tours in
Vietnam and three years in the Middle East after
retirement. George Washington had mandatory prayer
and ordered his officers and non-commissioned
officers to lead it.
If anybody is trying to shove any dogma down
anybody's throat, it's the newspaper. America has
always been a faith-based nation -- that's why our
president swears his oath by placing his left hand
on a Bible and our Congress opens with a prayer.
Rodney R. Doan
Port Haywood
Paper: Daily Press (Newport News, VA)
Title: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Date: June 4, 2004
Section: Editorial
Page: A14
PRECIOUS METAL COMES HOME - LONG-LOST DOG TAG
UNLOCKS MEMORIES
A small, battered piece of tarnished
metal speaks volumes, filling in for what Jerry
Cohen still hesitates to talk about. It's now in a
safe deposit box, sealed as tightly as his memories
of war had been.
After getting a tiny manila envelope from a New
Hampshire couple last month, the war is seeping out
again.
"Welcome home," Bob and Ann McMahon said in a short
note that accompanied one of two Army dog tags Cohen
lost after an attack at Chu Lai, Vietnam, 34 years
ago. The other tag has never been found.
The McMahons say their return of more than 1,000
tags to Vietnam veterans or their families isn't
closure, but a chance to open the process of healing
war's emotional wounds.
In trips to Vietnam by the couple and many others,
5,400 dog tags have been retrieved.
"Oh my God, it's unreal to have my tag back," said
Cohen, 64, who lives in the Southwind area of
southeast Shelby County.
It was in 1970 that Cohen was stationed in a guard
tower overlooking the perimeter of the Army's Chu
Lai base when an explosion toppled the tower,
injuring him severely.
He was flown to a hospital in Japan.
As he recuperated, he noticed the two dog tags no
longer hung from his neck.
" 'Well, if they're gone, they're gone, I'll never
see them again,' " Cohen remembers thinking.
"And now, all of a sudden, (it's) here."
Retrieving dog tags has been the McMahons' mission
for the past three years, when they learned that the
tags were being sold in the streets of Vietnam as
souvenirs.
Many of the tags have Social Security numbers,
which, with Internet databases, the McMahons use to
help find the owners.
It took two years to find Cohen.
"It's a blessing to be able to do it," said Bob
McMahon of Hancock, N.H.
Many of the tags were lost when soldiers were
injured, McMahon said. Once they're found and the
owners located, the couple like to find a local
Vietnam veteran to present them to the owners.
"We get all kinds of reactions, some weep, others
are skeptical that they're real, most are really,
really happy," McMahon said.
Since Cohen left military service, he married, had
two sons, divorced and moved to Memphis from
Hamilton, Ohio.
He lives in a Southwind apartment and runs a
locksmith business.
In the 34 years since that day at Chu Lai, he's
tried to keep Vietnam in his past.
But the little manila envelope changed all that.
Along with reading his name, Social Security number,
blood type and religion on the pockmarked tag,
images of the war returned to Cohen's mind.
"It opened up memories of what happened when you saw
things you really didn't want to see."
Despite that, Cohen smiles broadly, squints into the
sun and shakes his head as he reacted to the piece
of mail he received.
"It's unbelievable to have it back. I'll keep it
forever."
ON THE WEB
Thousands of dog tags belonging to soldiers who
fought in Vietnam have been retrieved by groups and
individuals. Two Web sites - www.canamission.com and
www.vietnamdogtags.com - list names of the tags'
owners.
- Laura Coleman Noeth: 529-5853
Paper: Commercial
Appeal, The (Memphis, TN)
Title: PRECIOUS METAL COMES HOME - LONG-LOST DOG TAG
UNLOCKS MEMORIES
Date: June 4, 2004
Section: News
Page: A1
This is no time to relax, get overconfident
Now that I have had
time to digest the effect of the Republican National
Convention in New York, it seems appropriate to ask
how George W. Bush has managed to jump so far ahead
so fast. Some think he has the election in the bag.
What happened?
I found clarity in a bag of another sort: the
convention goodie bags that are distributed to
delegates and convention guests. They are usually
stuffed with a collection of unremarkable items.
Mine contained its fair share, and most were ditched
upon arrival. But the real keeper in the bunch was a
stainless steel replica of GI dog tags that got me
admission to the Sea-Air-Space Museum for the GOP's
Operation Victory party after the president's
acceptance speech. The museum is housed on board the
USS Intrepid, a finely maintained World War II Essex
class aircraft carrier.
For a history junkie like me, the night was filled
with awe. Not so much for the party glitterati on
board, but for the machines on display and the
gratitude they evoke to those who flew them.
The hangar deck houses three of the legendary
aircraft that originally flew from the Intrepid
during the war -- a TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, an
F6F Hellcat fighter, and a SB2C Helldiver dive
bomber. The flight deck shows off today's aerial
arsenal including the F-14 Tomcat and the F-16
Fighting Falcon.
The museum motto is: "The Intrepid. Honor. Educate.
Inspire."
Republicans and aircraft carriers have become a
tawdry tale for some in the Kerry camp, though.
Instead of recognizing the President for his
leadership in troubled times -- as Sen. Zell Miller
did in his keynote address -- they have ridiculed
him for landing on one and speaking in front of a
banner that read "Mission Accomplished."
The truth is President Bush has risen to his moment
of destiny just like those fliers on the USS
Intrepid. And it was our job to show the nation how.
So last week, we Republicans did what we do best. We
honored the honorable. We educated those with an
open mind. We inspired.
Mission accomplished.
Now I suspect some Democrats will have a similar
reaction to this political declaration as they had
to the president's military one: "Hold on now, it is
way too early to claim victory. Besides, Election
Day is still to come." And they just might be right,
despite the president's commanding bounce coming out
of the convention.
Dismal digits and demography greeted Democrats this
week. First Time, then Newsweek magazines published
post-convention likely voter polls giving President
Bush double-digit leads. On average, the data
suggested one of the biggest bounces on record.
Bush bounce
Pundits like to say in a close race, events can tip
the scales. If that's so, then the convention -- a
pretty good event in itself -- might prove the
thesis. But the Bush bounce is much more than that.
Two other recent events have added to it.
Late Friday, a spate of good economic news was
released. I suspect most Americans were feeling the
reality already: Jobs are up; unemployment is down;
inflation remains under control.
And despite the terror and turmoil of the
insurgents, we also learned last week that about 10
million Iraqis have registered to vote in the
elections scheduled for January, 2005. So much for
the hand-wringers who contend representative
democracy is beyond the reach of the region. Liberty
knows no limits; nor does intrepid presidential
leadership.
So I will grant the big bounce for a number of
reasons. But I am far from making my reservations
for the next Bush inauguration. There are too many
wild cards yet to be played.
The Kerry campaign is now taking election lessons
from Bill Clinton. Good Republicans should hold
their breath and work that much harder. Despite
Clinton's personal flaws, he won two elections
against steep odds. Any bets on how soon the media
start calling Kerry the "Comeback Kid II?"
Complacency kills campaigns. Just ask me. I lost a
close race for Congress by about 2,000 votes -- in
part -- because late polls had me in the lead. I
coasted and it cost me. Too many Republicans left
New York too jazzed by the bounce to be scared
enough to gut-fight this election to victory.
One more aircraft carrier analogy, if you please.
Tom Taylor is a good friend and commanded a jet
fighter squadron at Lemoore Naval Air Station. He
logged about 750 carrier landings -- and lived. He
will tell you it took tenacity, teamwork and a full
throttle to get his F/A-18 Hornet home.
Enough said?
Jim Patterson's e-mail address is
pattconsult@msn.com.
Paper: Fresno Bee,
The (CA)
Title: This is no time to relax, get overconfident
Date: September 8, 2004
Section: LOCAL NEWS
Page: B9
