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What To Do
With Found Dogtags...

      Lost dogtags are the Property of the United States Government. Lost dogtags are not the Property of the veteran who wore them, nor are they the property of the veterans family

      OFFICIAL POLICY:
      LOST UNITED STATES MILITARY PROPERTY

      1. Found U.S. Military items remain the property of the United States Government and the Department of Defense as official custodian.

      2. Found military items should not be retained by the finder who is seeking, for whatever reason, to make personal contact with the GI who lost the item, or a member of the GI's family, or seeking to trade the dogtags for US citizenship. By law, found military items must be mailed immediately to:

      Secretary of Defense
      Room 3E880
      The Pentagon
      Washington DC 20301

      3. The Dept of Defense has many resources at its disposal to return and/or preserve lost U.S. military items.

      4. When sending items to the Secretary of Defense the finder should include a letter describing the place and circumstances in which the item was found, and the finders personal contact information for Department of Defense investigators:

      WHERE WAS THE ITEM YOU HAVE ENCLOSED FOUND
      _________________________________________________________
      DATE THE ITEM WAS FOUND
      _________________________________________________________
      NAME OF FINDER
      _________________________________________________________
      FINDER'S ADDRESS
      ____________________________________________________
      CITY
      ____________________________________________________
      STATE/ZIP
      ____________________________________________________
      PHONE
      ____________________________________________________
      EMAIL
      ____________________________________________________

      Found dogtags must be mailed to the Department of Defense or the nearest United States Embassy.

      Mailing address for
      the Department of Defense:

          Secretary of Defense
          Room 3E880, The Pentagon
          Washington DC 20301

      Mailing addresses of
      United States Embassies:

      Thank you!

      Counter established 15 November 2008