Army Dog Tags WWII 1939-41

• Veterans order replacement sets of Dog Tags because they have lost their originals, they have been 'borrowed' by family members, or they want to give sets to their family as a memento.
• Family members and friends who want to create a little bit of history to celebrate and remember their loved ones who served.
• Veterans who never received Dog Tags (i.e. reservists).
• Historical re-enactors who are looking for period authentic uniforms.

The notch on the Dog Tag was there to align it on a handheld transcription machine called the Model 70 Addressograph which was used by field medics to quickly transfer the soldier’s information onto paper medical forms or burial records. This is also the reason why Dog Tags in this era were debossed so that they became in effect the printing press to record information on paperwork using an ink ribbon. Notched Dog Tags were standard issue until December 1964 until the Department of Defense officially switched to Dog Tags without notches in early 1965. However, military bases with older notched-style tags in inventory still issued them for a while from 1965 up until 1966. Some soldiers colloquially refered to it as a "tooth notch".

Dog Tags from WWII up until the Korean war included the year that a tetanus toxid vaccination shot was administered, in the format of T## where the ## represents the year i.e. T43. The subsequent vaccination booster shot usually followed one year later at which point it would also be added to the tag.

Recognizing that the world was heading to war in 1939 the US Army wanted a better system to identify their soldiers. Up until then the Dog Tags used during and since WW1 were variations on a round tag made of aluminum and then later Monel, a metal alloy. The information stamped (mostly by hand) was usually limited to the soldier’s name and serial number. The new Dog Tags called for in 1939 were machine embossed on Monel based on commercial store credit plates, developed by the Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation of Cleveland, that could transfer information from the tags to paper records using carbon pages. The size and shape of the new Dog Tags could hold much more information than the previous styles. The notch of the Dog Tag was designed to align and hold the Dog Tag in place in a hand held printer called the Model 70 Addressograph which was used in the field to quickly transfer the soldier's name and serial number to medical and other paper based records.

1. In 1940 the US Army issued Dog Tags with the top two lines for the soldier’s name and serial number respectively. Lines three to five were used to record the emergency contact information, usually their next of kin’s name, address, city and state.
2. Beginning in November of 1941 regulations greatly improved the value of the identification tags by including critical medical information. The second line, in addition to the serial number, now included the years of the wearer’s tetanus shots and their blood type. This new information greatly assisted with medical treatments in the field. A letter code was also added to the fifth or fourth line to indicate their religious preference.
3. The next major change to the information on US Army Dog Tags came in July of 1943 when the emergency contact information was removed from issued tags for a good reason... Soldiers heading overseas to fight in Europe with existing tags were issued new tags minus their next of kin information. This change was done to prevent the enemy from intimidating captured soldiers by threatening their family with the information carried on their Dog Tag.
4. The last change to US Army identification tags during WW2 in 1944 was essentially an administrative one. New tags issued would follow a standard layout of Last Name, First Name Initial.. Prior to this the regulations called for the 'Name of Wearer' and would be embossed by the machine operator as they saw fit. Soldiers with tags issued before this would not get new ones as there was not a functional change to the use of the tags.

During this era the Dog Tags were made from a variety of metals, often changing as a result of wartime resource rationing. Regulations initially called for the tags to be made of Monel which is a nickel-copper alloy that had a yellowish tinge to it because of the copper. As these metals were in high demand during the war access to Monel became limited and tags were made of number of different metals such as brass and stainless steel. Later during the war they were made exclusively of stainless steel.

Originally Dog Tags were issued with a variety of fabric materials for necklaces. A specialized chain for tags was produced which had two sets of "J-clasps" or "Sister-Hooks" that would clamp around the hole in each Dog Tag and suspend one below the other. It require 2 hands to open and close the clasp. Beaded chains became available for purchase and soldiers began to prefer them over the J-clasps and they quickly became the standard that is still used today.

This method deforms the metal so that the letters are sunken below the surface (indented) into the Dog Tag. It is the opposite of embossing where the letters are raised above the metal, which is the modern method. They allowed for making carbon copies of the soldier's information with the M70 Addressograph discussed above. Sometimes the letters would darken over time as the result of an accumulation of dirt and grime. This effect can be replicated on newly made tags by rubbing in black shoe polish, letting it dry for 30 seconds, and then wiping the surface of the tag with a cloth.

Enter your info into the form below to easily create replica Army Dog Tags 1939-1941 (WWII Era). You can often find this information on DD 214 discharge papers. Watch this YouTube video for a demo. You can also design your tags without a template, or use our pen-and-paper mail/fax order form, or just send us an email with a photo of the original Dog Tags.

Overwrite the light grey text with your particulars and then click the Preview button. You can then make optional changes to your design (i.e. hole/notch location) or choose difference chains and silencers.

Our replica Army Dog Tags 1939-1941 (WWII Era) have Debossed (indented) text on a 2" x 1⅛" dull stainless steel notched Dog Tag, rolled edge down, hole on right with the suggested regulation format:

1. [First Name] [Middle Initial] [Last Name]
2. [Serial No.]
3. [Next of Kin Name]
4. [Next of Kin Street Address]
5. [Next of Kin City & State]

Next of Kin info is for contacting in event of emergency or death. Tetanus Toxoid shot (T), Blood Type, and religious preference (C,H,or P) are not added until 10 November 1941.