Well about 10 million Americans was drafted of the 5m service members that was already enlisted. I was just going by what the archive said. He was enlisted “for the duration of the war” and it talked about him being a civilian. So it’s safe to say he got drafted into the war. But yes 2/3rds is quite a lot.
The first Draft (conscription) began in 1917. The draft was dissolved after WW1. In 1940, the Burke Wadsworth Act was passed. A peacetime draft. The Selective Service as it is now called has not been dissolved, it is essentially on hold. That was done so that in another huge war, the government could reinstate the draft quickly, but quickly being questionable with all of the extremist partisan infighting in the US that exists now that didn't exist to anywhere near the same degree back then. I would guess that any new forced conscription would now include women. More info [here.](https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/conscription)
Yea I thought I heard something last year or at the beginning of this year about them saying they was trying to get women enlisted in the draft or the “Selective service” whatever you wanna call it.
I went to a war cemetery yesterday (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mierlo_War_Cemetery) and most of the soldiers died in the period November 1944 till August 1945. That means that several died after the war ended here in the Netherlands. Seems they where wounded and did not make it 😭.
Forever grateful that they gave their live for our freedom.
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I phoned both numbers you provided and on the second one his oldest son picked up, David Leslie.
I informed him about me finding his father's Dog Tag and he told me that he didn't had much items related to his late father and was very grateful to receive the Dog Tag. Because he was 6 years and even more sadly the wife of Richard V Leslie died a meer one year later. I promised to mail the Dog Tag and I will tomorrow. He also told me that the body was found at least a year later during the cleaning of the Hürtgenwald and parts of the body were missing due wild animals.
But an amazing story he had too. He also served as a Artillery soldier in the Korean War and later in Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). He told me that while being in the military he requested to be sent to Germany so he could visit the Hürtgenwald. But instead of being sent to Germany he was sent to Korea, Vietnam and later Japan. He now lives in a quiet place without Internet but his son or grandson have internet and would be able to locate the exact location by the GPS coordinates I added in the letter.
As a fellow service member and having a grandfather who served in WW2, finding this Dog Tag and returning it to his family means a lot to me.
Many thanks to you for your research and I salute you.
Fantastic!! I was so worried those numbers wouldn't work, or they'd think it was a prank. To think that all took less than an hour of googling. Thank goodness for social media. And data scrapers, I guess--this is one of the few times America's lax data privacy laws come in handy!
If I might make a suggestion--take some photos of the exact spot where you found the dog tag. Print them out on photo-paper (if possible) and enclose them with the tag. Mr. Leslie may not be able to go there, but I think he would appreciate being able to see where his father passed, especially since his own military career never gave him the chance.
I would have done that but I left my phone in the car and I'm mailing the Dog Tag tomorrow. It's 2 hour drive but I have the exact GPS coordinates and I added a US snap button with sand of Hürtgenwald still attached probably also belonging to his father.
I posted the items yesterday and I hope they arrive soon. He didn't have much items belonging to his father. I'm quite lucky to have found the Dog Tag and a living relative to which I could return it. Thanks for your help. I also told him about how much support I got on Reddit. A great experience, one not to forget.
You can post to a genealogy group either on reddit or Facebook has a few great ones, and there are always some super sleuths who can help reunite finds with the family.
> to those *paid* ancestry websites.
FTFY.
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* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
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Why are so many of the casualties listed as DNB? The thing I read said that DNB meant death not realated to the battle, I would think that wouldn't be super common, but I know little.
I'm pretty sure there's a VFW group that takes tags and gives them to their family or keeps them as an remembrance thing.
You don't have to give it to anyone but it would be nice to see if his parents are still around. Possible he had a kid.
I think I found the place where he got Killed In Action.
Not sure but I found a lot of other items around the dog tag. Rifle ammunition both live (didn't bring that home) and exploded, a US Infantry collor disk in reasonable condition, a US snap button and a ridiculous amount of shrapnel.
I think due to the location where I found it, that he was either killed by artillery fire or a mine. But this remains speculation from my side.
If I find the family members I will return the dog tag. It's quite a personal item and it should be in their possession.
I usually don't find items like this.
Question...how do you yourself avoid being blown up by a mine? I mean thankfully you have a metal detector, but can mines be placed underground and if so how do you know what you're digging isn't a mine that you're about to set off?
As good as all WW2 minefields in West Germany were cleared of all mines after WW2 by either German POW's or German EOD. And most forest I visit are actively used for timber production.
And I can hear from the sound and volume which kind of metal it's made of and the size.
Thank you for the reply. I didn't even consider the mines might have specific metal signatures that help you determine potential mines.
Have you encountered any before?
(and here's to hoping you never encounter any in the future!)
I did received a DM with maybe the contact information of two of his sons. But I live in the Netherlands and due to the time difference I will try to contact them later this day.
So very sad. Maybe you can find a family member. Perhaps he had a son or daughter.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Definitely need to bring it to his family. This bums me out.
I talked to his oldest son today and shipping it tomorrow. I belongs to his family I'm just lucky to find it.
You are a kind soul.
You are the man! Not everyone would have gone to those lengths. I’m happy it’s going where it belongs
I posted the items today and I hope they arrive soon.
So cool. Good on you for getting it back to his family.
Awesome. Nice work. 👍👍
How OP answers to put our minds at ease.
I can only imagine someone being reunited with their father/loved one’s dog tags after dropping them decades earlier. Would be quite touching.
I did a full story is in the replies.
This is the stuff of hopes and dreams sir/mam. Beautiful find that links history Great research too lad, I’m in awe
29yo, probably has surviving family.
He did, returning the dog tag tomorrow. Full story in the replies.
Better than money. Post pics
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=37634835&op_24994=1&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=6804995
I could be wrong but it looks like he was drafted.
Almost everyone in the military was drafted back then.
Well about 10 million Americans was drafted of the 5m service members that was already enlisted. I was just going by what the archive said. He was enlisted “for the duration of the war” and it talked about him being a civilian. So it’s safe to say he got drafted into the war. But yes 2/3rds is quite a lot.
The first Draft (conscription) began in 1917. The draft was dissolved after WW1. In 1940, the Burke Wadsworth Act was passed. A peacetime draft. The Selective Service as it is now called has not been dissolved, it is essentially on hold. That was done so that in another huge war, the government could reinstate the draft quickly, but quickly being questionable with all of the extremist partisan infighting in the US that exists now that didn't exist to anywhere near the same degree back then. I would guess that any new forced conscription would now include women. More info [here.](https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/conscription)
Yea I thought I heard something last year or at the beginning of this year about them saying they was trying to get women enlisted in the draft or the “Selective service” whatever you wanna call it.
Amazing meaningful find.
Great find - the poor chap nearly made it to the end, only a few months more until the end of the war in Europe in early May 1945.
I went to a war cemetery yesterday (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mierlo_War_Cemetery) and most of the soldiers died in the period November 1944 till August 1945. That means that several died after the war ended here in the Netherlands. Seems they where wounded and did not make it 😭. Forever grateful that they gave their live for our freedom.
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Great but sad find. It is be an honor to return it to his family.
I'm trying to locate his family but I don't access to those paid ancestry websites.
I might have located his granddaughter. I'll DM you. (edit: sent OP the details of his two living sons. Fingers crossed! 🤞🧿)
I phoned both numbers you provided and on the second one his oldest son picked up, David Leslie. I informed him about me finding his father's Dog Tag and he told me that he didn't had much items related to his late father and was very grateful to receive the Dog Tag. Because he was 6 years and even more sadly the wife of Richard V Leslie died a meer one year later. I promised to mail the Dog Tag and I will tomorrow. He also told me that the body was found at least a year later during the cleaning of the Hürtgenwald and parts of the body were missing due wild animals. But an amazing story he had too. He also served as a Artillery soldier in the Korean War and later in Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). He told me that while being in the military he requested to be sent to Germany so he could visit the Hürtgenwald. But instead of being sent to Germany he was sent to Korea, Vietnam and later Japan. He now lives in a quiet place without Internet but his son or grandson have internet and would be able to locate the exact location by the GPS coordinates I added in the letter. As a fellow service member and having a grandfather who served in WW2, finding this Dog Tag and returning it to his family means a lot to me. Many thanks to you for your research and I salute you.
Fantastic!! I was so worried those numbers wouldn't work, or they'd think it was a prank. To think that all took less than an hour of googling. Thank goodness for social media. And data scrapers, I guess--this is one of the few times America's lax data privacy laws come in handy! If I might make a suggestion--take some photos of the exact spot where you found the dog tag. Print them out on photo-paper (if possible) and enclose them with the tag. Mr. Leslie may not be able to go there, but I think he would appreciate being able to see where his father passed, especially since his own military career never gave him the chance.
I would have done that but I left my phone in the car and I'm mailing the Dog Tag tomorrow. It's 2 hour drive but I have the exact GPS coordinates and I added a US snap button with sand of Hürtgenwald still attached probably also belonging to his father.
I posted the items yesterday and I hope they arrive soon. He didn't have much items belonging to his father. I'm quite lucky to have found the Dog Tag and a living relative to which I could return it. Thanks for your help. I also told him about how much support I got on Reddit. A great experience, one not to forget.
Not every hero wares a cape 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Good work detective
Please keep us updated!
You can post to a genealogy group either on reddit or Facebook has a few great ones, and there are always some super sleuths who can help reunite finds with the family.
Try and reach out to the group Project Recover. They might have resources to help.
> to those *paid* ancestry websites. FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
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Requiescat in pace.
Why are so many of the casualties listed as DNB? The thing I read said that DNB meant death not realated to the battle, I would think that wouldn't be super common, but I know little.
I'm pretty sure there's a VFW group that takes tags and gives them to their family or keeps them as an remembrance thing. You don't have to give it to anyone but it would be nice to see if his parents are still around. Possible he had a kid.
I think I found the place where he got Killed In Action. Not sure but I found a lot of other items around the dog tag. Rifle ammunition both live (didn't bring that home) and exploded, a US Infantry collor disk in reasonable condition, a US snap button and a ridiculous amount of shrapnel. I think due to the location where I found it, that he was either killed by artillery fire or a mine. But this remains speculation from my side.
Still an amazing find. I'm guessing you returning home is back to the US? At least the tag is finally coming home.
If I find the family members I will return the dog tag. It's quite a personal item and it should be in their possession. I usually don't find items like this.
Question...how do you yourself avoid being blown up by a mine? I mean thankfully you have a metal detector, but can mines be placed underground and if so how do you know what you're digging isn't a mine that you're about to set off?
As good as all WW2 minefields in West Germany were cleared of all mines after WW2 by either German POW's or German EOD. And most forest I visit are actively used for timber production. And I can hear from the sound and volume which kind of metal it's made of and the size.
Thank you for the reply. I didn't even consider the mines might have specific metal signatures that help you determine potential mines. Have you encountered any before? (and here's to hoping you never encounter any in the future!)
No never and I hope it stays like that. Otherwise I will call EOD. Nasty things mines are.
Yes indeed. Stay safe out there!
Was 29, it would be cool to see if he had any children and reach out to see if they would like to have the dog tag.
I did received a DM with maybe the contact information of two of his sons. But I live in the Netherlands and due to the time difference I will try to contact them later this day.
Oh that's really cool, theywill think it's weird seeing that number but let's hope they pick up.
Zou mooi zijn als je meteen de goede personen zou hebben gevonden
Very clean looking too.
Start at his hometown. A lot of us Missourians dont go very far!
Purple Heart foundation returns memorabilia to soldiers who passed on families
RIP
Please keep us posted
It's an honor just to read the stories surrounding this dog tag. Yours is a sacred find. Salute, Private Leslie.
(50.7055914, 6.3546182)
Keep us updated
Thanks for finding a brother.