I found this dog tag 20 years ago while in Guadalcanal with the Navy. At the time I made a copy of it and forwarded it to the command Master Chief, not sure what he ever did with it. Anyway, I lost it and found it again but I suppose it's too late to find any surviving family members as this really belongs to them.

When I got home from Guadalcanal, I showed the dog tag to my grandfather who served throughout the pacific in WWII, as well as extensive combat in Korea with the Marines. He was suspect of the authenticity, thought there was reasons it might not have been real. He told me it'd be wise to not try and find surviving family, as he visited surviving family members of men that died in combat and he said it got really ugly. He didn't elaborate, but said you're best just not trying to do it. that was a very long time ago, however.

So if there's any historians here that can shed some light on this, I would be grateful. Like I said, if it belonged to a marine on Guadalcanal, it should go back to his family.

It looks genuine to me, but I am no expert on WWII dog tags, as I served 20 years after Guadalcanal. However, if you contact Headquarters Marine Corps in Wash., D.C., they can help you by using the service number and name on the tag. BTW, his blood type was O, but I have no idea what the "T. 1/44" means.

RIP my Brother, Semper Fi!

The T. 1/44 indicates the date of tetanus immunization, the C on the far right indicates religion, Catholic.

USMC dog tags:
http://www.leatherneck.com/for...C-Dog-tags-1916-2002

Blood type would be A and yes the C (rather than O) would indicate religious preference; in this case Catholic.

We didn't list Tetanus date but did have gas mask size, and Catholic was spelled out.

BTW, the USMC was still issuing service numbers in 1965; mine is 2181730. Service number seniority was based upon the recruiting district in which you enlisted, so I presume blocks of numbers were issued to districts and active districts produced higher numbers at any given time. It was some years before the SS# was put into universal use by all U.S. military services.

Mike,

Navy/Marine Corps used service #s all the way thru 71 and started using SSNs in '72. I went in in '68 and mine was 2619xxx.

How long have you been in Silicon Valley? I grew up there, back in the day when it was still known as Santa Clara Valley.

Semper Fi

I am a native of the Valley of Hearts Delight, as Santa Clara County was known before the two Steve's started their computer club in Cupertino. The only time I have lived outside the valley was during my 3 years in the Corps; MCRD SDiego - MCB CamPen - 3rdMarDiv (410 days in RVN) - MCRD SDiego.

I hated to see the Navy and Corps do away with their service numbers. They were essentially sequential and a means of determining length of service and seniority. None of us has ever forgotten our service number. I served with senior enlisted Marines over 20 who had fought on the Canal and Iwo, and they were the real deal. Maybe the fact I have a USMC service number qualifies me now as "Old Corps".

BTW, I love the lost coast. Where are you located?

Semper Fi,

The oval shape with holes at each end are authentic shape for early WWII.

Wounded in WWII:
KELLEY, Riddick Lamon, Jr
Pfc., USMCR.
769 N. Watkins st., Memphis.

Birth: 12 JUN 1925 in Memphis (Shelby Co.) TN
Death: 3 JAN 1988 in Escondido (San Diego Co.) CA
Marriage: 1 PEGGY JEAN RYAN / Married: 06/12/1948

Father: RIDDICK LAMON KELLEY b: 03/14/1895 in FAYETTE CO, OAKLAND, TN
Mother: MARGARET LOUISE COOPER b: 08/11/1897 in LAFAYETTE CO, ETTA, MS

Thank you, I did a white pages search and found a Riddick Lamon Kelley III living in Memphis TN, I thought it might be his son, correct?

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Wounded in WWII:
KELLEY, Riddick Lamon, Jr
Pfc., USMCR.
769 N. Watkins st., Memphis.

Birth: 12 JUN 1925 in Memphis (Shelby Co.) TN
Death: 3 JAN 1988 in Escondido (San Diego Co.) CA
Marriage: 1 PEGGY JEAN RYAN / Married: 06/12/1948

Father: RIDDICK LAMON KELLEY b: 03/14/1895 in FAYETTE CO, OAKLAND, TN
Mother: MARGARET LOUISE COOPER b: 08/11/1897 in LAFAYETTE CO, ETTA, MS

Related:
Riddick Lamon ("Lamon") Kelley, III
ADDR: West Hills, CA
Birth: 12 MAY 1949 in Memphis (Shelby Co.) TN
Death: AFTER 2010 ? Simi Valley (Ventura Co.) CA

Looks like there may be some grandchildren and great grandchildren, some named Kelley.

Grenadier, you are the MAN!!! I just got off the phone with Riddick Kelley the 3rd! I swear I've got chills, goosebumps and damn near started to get watery eyes. I've been carrying this dog tag for 21 years and always wondered about who it belonged to, what type of family he had, the story the dog tag could tell. Today I found out, his son is a fine person, Marine veteran and sounds very grateful.

Thanks Grenadier, you brought me to tears!

A better pic:

Nice to see it all play out. You are a good man, Rub Line.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
I am a native of the Valley of Hearts Delight, as Santa Clara County was known before the two Steve's started their computer club in Cupertino. The only time I have lived outside the valley was during my 3 years in the Corps; MCRD SDiego - MCB CamPen - 3rdMarDiv (410 days in RVN) - MCRD SDiego.

I hated to see the Navy and Corps do away with their service numbers. They were essentially sequential and a means of determining length of service and seniority. None of us has ever forgotten our service number. I served with senior enlisted Marines over 20 who had fought on the Canal and Iwo, and they were the real deal. Maybe the fact I have a USMC service number qualifies me now as "Old Corps".

BTW, I love the lost coast. Where are you located?

Semper Fi,

Yeah, your "Old Corps" 'cause you ain't young anymore, just like me. I'm in Ferndale.

I have driven the lost coast from Petrolia to Ferndale, although the last time was some 25 years ago. Ferndale is a lovely little town.

This was a good deed that needed doing. Thank you.

What an amazing story! It seems that after all, the internet is still good for something.