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How do I trace a 1966 Marine from his dogtag?


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I have the dog tags of D. E. Murphree USMC which I acquired at the Tulsa flea market several years ago. I would like to return them free of charge to the Marine or his family.


I have 2 dog tags. One with his enlisted service number [2193208] and one with his service number as an officer [O94945]. From those service numbers I believe both tags were issued in 1966, so he apparently enlisted and then went to OCS or otherwise was commissioned as an Officer.


Without a first name I have been unable to identify or track the Marine on the WWW. Does anyone have any references or sources which might provide information on this Marine so I can contact him or his family to return the 2 dog tags?

 

Paul

Murphree.jpg

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Prior to the pandemic it would have been a simple matter of submitting a FOIA request for his records from the NPRC and going from there, but they aren't processing requests anymore it seems. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a searchable database of veteran burial locations but I've found it to be incomplete in the past. I did a quick search and didn't see any Marines named D. Murphree, so he may be still living or just not in their system. https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ngl/ngl#results-content You could also check Findagrave.com to see if any of the results might fit your Murphree and then request the obituaries for the possible matches and see if they mention USMC service and next of kin. If he is still living you might be able to find him through Whitepages.com: https://www.whitepages.com/name/D-E-Murphree?fs=1&searchedName=D E Murphree&searchedLocation= There are a few Murphree's that might be your guy or his son, I saw at least one Jr. on the list. 

 

I've never tried it but I've heard that you could just pack them up and send them to the Veterans Administration with a note about how you'd like them forwarded to the next of kin, if any, and they will take care of it from there. 

 

Hope that helps, 

-Ryan 

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Ryan,

Thanks for the reply, but with the NPRC still closed I have tried all those other places except sending them to the VA.  I was hoping that some Marine in the forum would have a reference book that might list him. Such as an OCS class year book, or a unit year book, etc. Or because of the 1966 enlistment date he might have served in Vietnam, so another Marine from Vietnam might remember the name.

 

Paul

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