CROSBY, N.D. (AP) – Kent Throntveit lost his military identification in Vietnam 30 years ago. Now he has the dog tags back, through the efforts of a New Hampshire couple.
Throntveit is the third North Dakotan to be reunited with his dog tags with the help of Bob and Ann McMahon, of Hancock, N.H.
McMahon said Throntveit’s daughter, Teale, answered the phone when he called, asking her if her father had served in Vietnam. A short time later, she was able to give her father his tags.
McMahon and his wife have returned more than 900 dog tags to Vietnam veterans over the past three years. They got the tags, which were for sale in souvenir shops, on trips they made to Vietnam.
McMahon said the tags carry the soldier’s name, service number or Social Security number or both, as well as blood type and religious affiliation. Some slight changes in information were made during the Vietnam years, but all the information was important, he said.
McMahon said he and his wife also have returned dog tags to North Dakota Vietnam veterans Mark Wininger and Christian Frey, both of Bismarck, over the past two years.
Wininger, who spent 15 months in Vietnam, said he lost his dog tags 33 years ago in the DaNang area. “I never expected to see it again,” he said.
The McMahons are working on returning more dog tags to veterans, funding the project themselves. Bob McMahon said his wife uses the Internet to search for veterans whose names match those on the tags.
“We’ve had a total of 5,700 tags,” McMahon said. “We’ve made close to 20,000 phone calls.”
McMahon served in Vietnam as an Army combat engineer from 1969 to 1970.
He is disabled. He said he and his wife heard about military dog tags for sale in Vietnamese tourist shops during one of their first trips there about three years ago. “It sickened us,” he said.
The McMahons have purchased the dog tags for about $1 or $2 each. They also pay for packaging and mailing the tags to veterans.
“There’s no charge to veterans. They’ve already earned these tags,” McMahon said. “We’re blessed to be able to do it.”
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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.ndweb.com
AP-ES-04-28-04 0739EDT
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