OT WW2 dog tag

[Major Tom]

A friend of mine in the French Army sent me some dug battlefield relics. Among them is a dog tag with legible stampings. How do I go about locating the owner and possibly returning them to him? My French friend will be emailing me the battle location so that I may find the American units who were there. Alongside the dog tag, was found an aluminum tray about 7 inches long by 4 inches wide and 2 inches deep. It has 2 shrapnel holes, one possibly a bullet hole. A German helmet was nearby.

Information

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[Bill Hollinger]

Contact JPAC at JPAC - Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command JPAC would be your best bet. I worked with them on a 1944 B24 crash site two years ago out in the Mojave Desert and recovered a number of bodies. They are great folks.

[Tom Doniphon]

That sounds quite interesting, Bill. Where in Mojave was the crash site?

[Litt'le Lee]

half of a GI field mess kit

[Bill Hollinger]

Tom, the site is west of the town of Mojave. I will not say exactly where because I was asked by JPAC not to. I will say that the town of Mojave can easily be seen from the crash sight and how it was lost for so many years is really crazy. The reason it was is the Army had the site listed as three miles to the south west from where is was. Read the story and see some photos at The Mojave B-24D

The crash is listed on Aviation Accident Database (Partial list) under Sothern California 1940-prior on the date of 4/09/44 Aviation History of Southern California

There were a number of items found like the pilots ring and (lucky coin) 1878 silver dollar, really not so lucky I guess and a navigator's stop watch were found as well. The sister of the pilot IDed the ring and coin as her brother's. The coin was given to him by his grandfather.

I ended up with a lot of stuff off that crash. Engine rocker levers, a spent 43 head stamped .50 brass shell casing, a small data plate for an onboard camera, bits of the engine cylinders and cylinder head, parts from the Norton bomb sight and some other small stuff.

Look for my friend's book. His name is Don Jordan. I don't know the title of the book yet. I'm waiting for my signed copy. Don has written another book about plane crashes, Aircraft Wrecks of the mountains and deserts of California. Don's page is Aircraft Wrecks In The Mountains And Deserts Of California Order his book, it is great!

[Bill Hollinger]

One more thing, Don has a new book coming out as I mentioned but he updates his stories on his site all the time. Please check out some of the stuff he has on there. TIA