Thirty-seven years ago, Vernon Biossat lost his military ID tag in Vietnam. Last December it arrived in the mail, with a note from a woman who was not even born when Biossat, a Marine, lay wounded after a firefight. "Thank you for all you went through over there," wrote Stacey Hansen of Santa Cruz, CA. Hansen, a 35-year-old firefighter, saw a bunch of tags for sale in Ho Chi Minh City. "I bought them all," she said. She's returned 225 tags, with 631 more to go. A list of names is posted on vietnamdogtags.com. Hey guys; if you know any Vietnam vets or have friends that know a vet, have them check out this web site and see if they recognize any of the names. [ vietnamdogtags.com. ]
It was sent to me? so I am passing it on to you... Stacey's intentions are good, but I think she may be an unfortunate victim of a scam. I don't know if she knows about this. I hope it is not a scam... A few weeks ago I saw an on-line auction for 1500 Vietnam War dog tags. Just a few minutes ago I found an Ebay page that has 100 Vietnam dog tags, buy them now! See the link below: http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320166846643 Many thousands of dog tags have flowed from Vietnam to the USA in recent years. The dog tags appear to be from the Vietnam War period but most were made recently. Many US veterans who have recently returned to Vietnam have reported Vietnamese entrepreneurs manufacture the dog tags, tarnish them with torches and acid, and sell them as souvenirs. I read a letter written by a vet who watched the manufacturing and "aging" process as he talked with the Vietnamese man who proudly described where he got the names and how he made the dog tags. One businessman who did not know the dog tags were made recently wanted to "return them" to the families back home. He bought some 340 dog tags and brought them back, making a newsworthy effort to "return" the dog tags. He never was suspicious about how one man who ran a little stall selling souvenirs came across 340 dog tags. Snopes.com, one of the web sites that investigates hoaxes, evaluated the "found dog tags" issue: http://www.snopes.com/military/dogtags.htm If I received an email note or phone call from somebody who told me he "found" one of my dog tags, I would say "Thank you, you may keep it as a souvenir." Unfortunately, the flood of new dog tags has hampered, confused, and delayed the search for real evidence of some 1700 men who are still missing in action. Several dog tags have been "returned" to relatives of casualties. It makes a heart-warming story, but I don't think it's fair to make relatives believe they are now holding something their loved-one once wore when it really wasn't. While there may be a very tiny probability the dog tag you have could be original, it is much more likely that the tag was made recently and has no more value than a souvenir trinket.
Lost dog tags are a scam. When the NVA over ran the Republic they acquired a lifetime supply of blank dog tags and the Addressograph machines to stamp them. All left curtesy of the U.S. when we handed over to the Republic. Ho here for more info. http://www.snopes.com/military/dogtags.asp This is an old story and isn't true.
Dog tags If you get a phone call from someone saying they found or have your dog tags or one of a family member, check with who ever has the tags and check the service number or SSN number but do not give them the number you have. I don't know if this has happened,but it would be one way to obtain that info. Be careful about the info you give out.
Please do better research. Try History.net .If you got a call from Stacey Hansen-- she indeed was returning a legitimate dog tag .Stacey is no longer involved with the project but the remainder of her tags ( all of which are authentic and free of charge to their owner or NOK) can be located at www.facebook.com/Projectdogtagreturn