Top of page

Film, Video Dog Tags: History, Stories & Folklore of Military Identification

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • Dog Tags: History, Stories & Folklore of Military Identification

Summary

  • The 100th anniversary of the official use of American personal identity tags, affectionately known as "dog tags," recently passed without fanfare. Dog tags are highly personal items to warriors of every service and to their families as well. Each dog tag carries its own human-interest story. The acts of receiving the dog tag, hanging it around the neck, and feeling it against the body constitute a silent statement of commitment. The tag itself individualizes the human being who wears it, despite his or her role as a small part of a huge and faceless organization. While the armed forces demand obedience and duty to a higher cause, dog tags, hanging under service members' shirts and close to their chests, remind them of their individuality. They bring comfort and help calm the fears of soldiers facing death: "I do not want to be forgotten; I do not want to become an 'unknown.'"

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • American Folklife Center, sponsoring body

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 2012-01-26.

Headings

  • -  Biography, History
  • -  Government, World Affairs
  • -  War, Military

Notes

  • -  Classification: Military Science.
  • -  Ginger Cucolo.
  • -  Recorded on 2012-01-26.
  • -  Researchers.

Medium

  • 1 online resource

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021688793

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

While the Library of Congress created most of the videos in this collection, they include copyrighted materials that the Library has permission from rightsholders to present.  Rights assessment is your responsibility.  The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may also be content that is protected under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.  Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Whenever possible, we provide information that we have about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. However, the information we have may not be accurate or complete.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body American Folklife Center. Dog Tags: History, Stories & Folklore of Military Identification. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -01-26, 2012. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688793/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress & American Folklife Center, S. B. (2012) Dog Tags: History, Stories & Folklore of Military Identification. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -01-26. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688793/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body American Folklife Center. Dog Tags: History, Stories & Folklore of Military Identification. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -01-26, 2012. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021688793/>.