I think the OP should keep it until/unless he finds a member of the soldier’s family. Someone may be really pleased to have it, and if not, the OP has a nice souvenir. Even if the soldier did bury it on purpose, he got whatever emotional satisfaction he was going to get out of it (and now he’s dead and won’t know that it’s not there), so the OP (or the soldier’s family) having it increases the overall emotional benefit.
If the tag is post 1959, I would guess that it was a different C T Wolfe. The guy whose SS / Army records have been given would have been 37 then. Not impossible, but a bit old for military service unless he made a career out of it post WWII, and switched branches as well. Wolfe is a common name.
Another vote for a different C.T.Wolfe. And he’d kick your ass for calling him Army.
I strongly suggest you contact the USMC Museum, who will most likely be able to date the tag, tell you if it’s a WWII casualty, and may wish to add the tag to their collection.
I am very disappointed to see that your government does not have a free, online casualty database (like the Commonwealth War Graves does–if i have the name or the service number of a British or Commonwealth casualty, I can look up all sorts of information about him: CWGC
You would have to contact Bureau of Naval Personnel Combat Casualty section, and send them $5 to find out if he was killed in WWII.
My dad was in the navy in the early 60’s, and I’ve got his dog tags. My dad’s has a six digit number on it. I’m guessing that’s the service number.
Did you find both of them, or just the one?
Well damn, I must have just dreamed that movie… Hey, ya think my whole military experience was a dream? Nightmare more likely.
Snopes can not be wrong. It is not allowed.
Oh well, I still have mine…
If your concern is to see they get back to the owner or family you should never surrender the original.
The problem is if you do you have no guarantee the rightful owner would get them.
I found a wallet with some money in it, but when I phoned the police, they said I would turn it over to them and they’d give it to the owner, and that was it, I had no follow up ability.
So I turn the wallet over, they keep the money and say it was turned in as empty.
Instead I found a bank card and told the manager I found a wallet and if he could have the account owner email me. That way I returned her wallet.
They best way is to say you have something with an ID number and if the USMC or whatever will contact that person, if they want it back they can email you.
Don’t tell them what it is 'cause by law you may be required to turn it in, then you have no control over who gets it.
A lot of people just don’t care and your good intentions will get tossed into a drawer.
My father (who served in Vietnam in '69) told me the same story when I was kid. I can’t vouch for whether it was used in a training video, or if it was just some Army lore passed down, but you’re not the only one to have heard it. There was no mention, though, of the notch being there for that purpose. Just the tag-in-the-teeth bit.