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VETERAN: Looking for families tosFrom A1mg, and I s{k*nt all my money. 1 lifted off with $1 in my pocket,he sa id.Whiteley was only able to purchase 46 of the 1(H) tags. So before leaving, he made a deal with his guide; Whiteley would send him money and the guide would send the rest of the tags.Whiteley received a packagewith a bundle of 52 dog tags twoweeks ago and avs he has beenworking diligently to locatenames on the tags and match them to veterans listed on theVietnam Wall Web site * Out of the W1 had. 1 found onthe Internet (that) 12 of themdied in action, Whiteley said.Each battered tag bears a name, Social Security or service number, blood type and religion. Whiteley said the only way topositively identify the personthe tag belonged to is by SocialSecurity number.The memorial wall’s 70 panels are engraved with the names of 38,ooo veterans who were either killed in action or determined missing in action.That breaks down to about 700 or boo names per panel,Whiteley said. It takes me about four hours per name toeven verify because there are three or four people sometimes that have the same first name, middle initial and last name.” Whiteley's efforts paid off in a big way with one particularmatch. He called Albuquerque, N.M., and reached the man’s mother. She confirmed it was her son Whiteley learned the man w ho died in Vietnam had amet and taikeWhiteley said once the name has been confirmed, he presents the tag to the family.The whole purpose is to give the tags back to the families, he said. “When I get all of them ID’d, as many as 1 can. I’m going to put all of them on the Veterans Wail site.Whiteley said the site allows for comments under each name, and if visitors to the site log onand find it, they can recover thedog tag. He also hopes to set up an arrangement with the localVeterans Administration, to help with matching Social Security numbersThat way if people see it on tin* Net, we can confirm it, and if it’s a match, I’ll send (the dog tag) to them,” he said. That’sbrother in Yuba City and they why I’m
Newspaper Details
Marysville Appeal Democrat
Marysville, California, US
Tue, Oct 01, 2002
Page 6
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USA 06 Sep 2020
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