WWII dog tag finds from NC. There are a lot!

[mmerc20]

Seeing this today really made me think. How many of these names did not return from the war. How many received decorations for valor. How many are still alive today.

 

I am continuing to find interesting things in storage here for the future Camp Butner museum. Just when I thought I located all the cool dug stuff over the years from the yards and gardens around town, I found a large cabinet full of boxes that someone seperated out. There were razors and razor handles in one small container. Bottles both glass and of other materials in another. One had just things made of brass. One had small vehicle parts. Well, and one had dog tags. LOTS OF DOG TAGS. This photo is not all of them. It is only two chains worth. There was probably one more I found later.

 

Once we get closer to the museum being a reality, I plan to have my Butner Dog Tag Project in place. I want to have each and every one of them cataloged so if a veteran or relative comes to visit, they can search the names and if they can prove they are related, the tag is theirs.

 

I wish I had brought some home to start working on them already but I didn't I am really excited about this endeavor!

 

Mike

[p2tharizo]

Wow. Keep us updated on the project, it's good work you're doing.

[Jack's Son]

That is a very commendable goal....GOOD LUCK!

[TLeo]

That is really wild finding all those dog tags. Any idea at all about them being there? If I get a chance to see my uncle I'll try to remember and ask if he has any thoughts about them. He was in the 309th IR of the 78th Div and told me they trained at Butner before going over to Europe.

[mmerc20]

That is really wild finding all those dog tags. Any idea at all about them being there? If I get a chance to see my uncle I'll try to remember and ask if he has any thoughts about them. He was in the 309th IR of the 78th Div and told me they trained at Butner before going over to Europe.

 

 

For the number of soldiers that went through Butner, I am not surprised there are that many tags out there, I am just surprised someone actually found them. I am really regretting not grabbing a handful to start working on. Of course there are so many projects that need to be done, I guess that is minor compared to others. It will be a lot of fun and really rewarding to complete though.

 

Mike

[mmerc20]

I picked up the tags today. I am a bit overwhelmed. There are more than I thought. I just finished the first "ring" of tags from the initial photo (there are two rings there). This one was the smaller one and there were 164 on there. It seems as if a large majority are from Kansas, Minnesota and Ohio, but there are plenty of other states. For the later style tags that did not have a HOR, I got on NARA and was able to determine where they were from. A rough guess now, I would say there are 500 more tags that are legible.

 

I have to wonder how many of these were trashed because of errors. I did find a few with numbers that were wrong, or misspellings in the name. Some are very clean and don't look dug at all, others are burnt or deteoriating or partials or caked in crust.

 

So far there are two that have stood out. One has a home of record as Syria and the other was a tag meant for a sweetheart that never made it to her. It is stamped like any other tag but it says:

 

DARLING, I'M ALL

YOURS. YOU CAN HUG

LOVE AND KISS ME TO

YOUR HEARTS CONTENT.

START NOW: DAVE

 

 

 

Mike

[House of Stuart]

I picked up the tags today. I am a bit overwhelmed. There are more than I thought. I just finished the first "ring" of tags from the initial photo (there are two rings there). This one was the smaller one and there were 164 on there. It seems as if a large majority are from Kansas, Minnesota and Ohio, but there are plenty of other states. For the later style tags that did not have a HOR, I got on NARA and was able to determine where they were from. A rough guess now, I would say there are 500 more tags that are legible.

 

I have to wonder how many of these were trashed because of errors. I did find a few with numbers that were wrong, or misspellings in the name. Some are very clean and don't look dug at all, others are burnt or deteoriating or partials or caked in crust.

 

So far there are two that have stood out. One has a home of record as Syria and the other was a tag meant for a sweetheart that never made it to her. It is stamped like any other tag but it says:

 

DARLING, I'M ALL

YOURS. YOU CAN HUG

LOVE AND KISS ME TO

YOUR HEARTS CONTENT.

START NOW: DAVE

Mike

 

 

Funny that this came up here all of a sudden. I am onto a hoard of tags that were found at "Ghost Ridge" just off the bluffs of the U.S. Cemetery there. I have heard at least one story of a group of Dutch diggers that found a cache of crickets as well as tags there sometime in the 80's or 90's. The ones I know about were found there in the early 50's or just before.

[mmerc20]

I am day two into cataloging the tags now. It's much slower today, but I am digging into the officer tags (there aren't many). However, the first one I researched was Frank R Maerdian. It turns out he was the CO of the 353rd Infantry Regt (89th Inf Div) near the close of WWII. He is a recipient of a legion of merit, bronze star and a purple heart. Very cool find!

 

Mike

[Bluehawk]

I plan to have my Butner Dog Tag Project in place. I want to have each and every one of them cataloged so if a veteran or relative comes to visit, they can search the names and if they can prove they are related, the tag is theirs.

Beautiful idea... genuine museology.

[mmerc20]

Ok. It appears that I have somewhere around 700 tags suspended on chains and maybe another 200 tags that have their holes damaged to prevent hanging or they have other damage.

 

I am about 1/4 way through cataloging them.

 

Mike

[mmerc20]

Egh! It is getting tiring, but worth it.

 

I am 510 tags into the catalog and I have found not only the "inventor" of the infamous Thunderbird fortified wine (he was a sales manager for Ernest and Julio Gallo) but also Jules Irving a movie director who was the ex father-in-law to Steven Spielberg. His daughter actress Amy Irving was married to Spielberg in the 80s. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0410295/bio

 

Mike

[fstop61]

What a great project! Enjoy the updates. Keep 'em coming. Thanks!

[CNY Militaria]

Yes very cool project! What else have you found?

 

Following this one with interest.

 

Justin

[Shep1943]

I found this thread and I am so fascinated by it.  I see where it is several years old but still a worthwhile endeavor.  I trust the process was completed.  My father went through basic training at Camp Butner in 1943-44.   Hope to visit the Camp Butner site someday.