Dog tags: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:54, 7 April 2010

All Colonial Fleet personnel wear hexagonal "dog tags" around their necks.

These identification tags bear the name and serial number of the servicemember.

In the event of a servicemember's death, the tags on his or her body aid in identification, particularly if the remains are difficult or impossible to identify otherwise. The tags are taken from the body if recovery is not immediate or likely, as Chief Galen Tyrol does for Tarn, Socinus and Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo on Kobol (TRS: "Valley of Darkness", "Fragged").

Captain Kelly is the somber recipient of nearly 85 tags from dead Galactica crewmen trapped in the port flight pod after it was vented to space by order of Colonel Tigh to prevent a catastrophic ship explosion (TRS: "Miniseries").

When Kara Thrace leaves Samuel Anders on Caprica to return to Galactica, she gives him her tags as a promise of her return (TRS: "The Farm"), which she receives after their reunion (TRS: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I").

Related imagery[edit]

Kara Thrace's dog tag.
Alex Quartararo's dog tag.

Notes[edit]

In "Exodus, Part I", Samuel Anders refers to Sharon Agathon's ID tags as "dog tags", establishing this modern military slang term in the BSG universe.
Real-world practice is to take one tag for casualty registration and to leave the other with the remains for later recovery and identification. In some instances, personnel opt to wear two sets of tags in case of dismemberment.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Id_wings.jpg|thumb|[[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]]'s identification tags]]
-All soldiers in the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] wear hexagonally shaped '''"dog tags"''' around their necks.
+All [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] personnel wear hexagonal '''"dog tags"''' around their necks.
-These identification tags presumably contain the rank, name, and serial number of the soldier, as well as their ship or troop assignment.
+These identification tags bear the name and serial number of the servicemember.
-In the event of a soldier's death, the dog tags on his or her body aid in identification, particularly if damage to the body renders it difficult or impossible to identify. If possible, soldiers remove the tags from a body during combat if they are unable to return with the dead soldier's body, as does Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] for [[Tarn]], [[Socinus]] and [[Crashdown]] on Kobol ("[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[Fragged]]").
+In the event of a servicemember's death, the tags on his or her body aid in identification, particularly if the remains are difficult or impossible to identify otherwise. The tags are taken from the body if recovery is not immediate or likely, as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] does for [[Tarn]], [[Socinus]] and [[Alex Quartararo|Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo]] on [[Kobol (RDM)|Kobol]] ([[TRS]]: "[[Valley of Darkness]]", "[[Fragged]]").
-Captain [[Aaron Kelly|Kelly]] is the somber recipient of nearly 85 dog tags from dead ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' crewmen trapped in the port [[flight pod]] after it was vented to space by order of Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] to prevent a catastrophic ship explosion ([[Miniseries]]).
+Captain [[Aaron Kelly|Kelly]] is the somber recipient of nearly 85 tags from dead ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' crewmen trapped in the port [[flight pod]] after it was vented to space by order of Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] to prevent a catastrophic ship explosion ([[TRS]]: "[[Miniseries]]").
-<div style="clear: both;"></div>
-[[Image:NBSG_Colonial_ID_Tag1.jpg|left|thumb|Kara Thrace's Colonial ID dogtag]]
+When [[Kara Thrace]] leaves [[Samuel Anders]] on Caprica to return to ''Galactica'', she gives him her tags as a promise of her return ([[TRS]]: "[[The Farm]]"), which she receives after their reunion ([[TRS]]: "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]").
-When [[Kara Thrace]] has to leave [[Samuel Anders]] on Caprica to return to ''Galactica'', she gives him her ID tags as a promise that she would return ([[The Farm]]).
-Thrace is able to keep her promise ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]).
+== Related imagery ==
-<div style="clear: both;"></div>
+<gallery>
+Image:NBSG_Colonial_ID_Tag1.jpg|[[Kara Thrace]]'s dog tag.
+Image:Alex quartararo dog tag-watermarked.jpg|[[Alex Quartararo]]'s dog tag.
+</gallery>
 ==Notes==
-* In "[[Exodus, Part I]]", [[Samuel Anders]] refers to [[Sharon Agathon]]'s ID tags as "dog tags", establishing that this modern military term is also used in the BSG universe.
+* In "[[Exodus, Part I]]", [[Samuel Anders]] refers to [[Sharon Agathon]]'s ID tags as "dog tags", establishing this modern military slang term in the BSG universe.
-* In real-life militaries, personnel often wear two sets of dog tags. In the event they are killed, one set is collected for casualty reporting while the other is left with the body.
+* Real-world practice is to take one tag for casualty registration and to leave the other with the remains for later recovery and identification. In some instances, personnel opt to wear two sets of tags in case of dismemberment.
 [[Category:A to Z]]