[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13870-13871]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DOG TAG . . . LEFT BEHIND

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 18, 2013

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it was 2010 when Australian John 
Naismith traveled to Vietnam, a country rich with history, to teach 
English. During his fascinating time there, Naismith explored an old 
abandoned airstrip where the Battle of Khe Sanh took place in 1968. It 
was one of the bloodiest, most violent, and longest (January-July) 
battles of the Vietnam war between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and 
the Americans--primarily U.S. Marines, Soldiers, and Airmen and South 
Vietnamese soldiers. In this mountainous, rainy, hot region of the 
former South Vietnam, Naismith discovered an old discolored aluminum 
dog tag shining lightly underneath the dirt. He picked it up. He held 
the dog tag in his hand, looked curiously at it, and wondered about the 
history of it.
  The war had ended long ago; life started all over again for many. The 
area of the battle had changed. A museum had been built where the 
battle was once fought. But a dog tag remained where it was left 
behind--for 43 years--presumably belonging to an American marine, 
likely a casualty of the Vietnam war.
  It represented someone's past. It wasn't something that Naismith 
could put down. He carried it with him in hopes of putting together an 
image of a young American warrior who had worn the dog tag into the 
battle of Khe Sanh. Thus the search for history of the dog tag began.
  The U.S. entered into the Vietnam war to prevent Communist North 
Vietnam from taking over South Vietnam. However, the number of U.S. 
casualties grew significantly during the war. Some Americans never 
returned home. Some returned with the wounds of war. Those wounds were 
both physical and mental. Until the war in Afghanistan, Vietnam was the 
longest war in U.S. history.
  American bodies of the fallen and wounded were sometimes difficult to 
identify, so every member of the military wore, as their fathers had 
done in previous wars, dog tags. In Vietnam, one tag was put around the 
neck and the other laced onto the boot. The dog tags listed the 
American's initials, last name, blood type, serial number, gas mask 
size, and religion--everything anyone would need to know in order to 
identify the individual who fell in battle.
  But this dog tag found 43 years later . . . to whom did it belong? 
Was the warrior dead or alive? Naismith was determined to find out. His 
first source was the United States Government, but after months of 
looking, it could provide no clues where the owner of the tag was or if 
he was alive or dead. Naismith poured through casualty lists and could 
find no record of the individual who owned the dog tag. He had hit a 
wall.
  The Government continued to search its own records. Meanwhile, 
Naismith left Australia and traveled to the U.S., where he found others 
interested in finding out what had happened to the U.S. marine. 
Naismith met up with his friend Charlie Fagan, owner of Good Time 
Charlie's Motorcycle Shop, in California. Motorcycle shops like 
Charlie's were aware of numerous motorcycle groups made up of old ``war 
horses'' from the Vietnam war. Naismith told Charlie the story of the 
dog tag and his two-year quest to find the dog tag's owner. Charlie 
knew of Tanna Toney-Ferris, a woman who worked intensely with Vietnam 
vets on numerous issues, including locating them. So, using social 
media, Tanna told the story of the dog tag. The dog tag saga spread 
rapidly across several online social networks and websites. Finally, in 
June 2013, ``Sparky'' in Florida posted the following message to an 
online Marine network: ``[H]elp me locate the owner of the USMC Vietnam 
Veteran's dog tag. [ . . . It was] found in Khe Sanh Vietnam 2 years 
ago by an Australian teacher. The name is L.P. Martinson. His name is 
NOT on the WALL, so he made it out of Vietnam.''
  Finally, half way around the world in Afghanistan, Marine Staff 
Sergeant Joshua Laudermilk, on active duty, saw the post, called 
Information, and obtained Martinson's phone number. He then contacted 
Martinson by phone. The marine had finally been located.
  U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Lanny P. Martinson, from Minnesota, was a 
part of the Khe Sanh Battle of South Vietnam. On June 4, 1968 his leg 
was blown away during the fighting. The 23-year-old marine was carried 
off the battlefield and immediately taken to surgery. When he woke up, 
he did not realize neither of his dog tags were with him. Time passed 
and Lanny Martinson dealt with his war wounds best he could. He became 
successful in construction management in Minnesota. He worked until the 
VA granted him 100% disability in 1998 and he took up art and portrait 
painting. Four years ago, he and his wife Delphine moved to Texas.
  When his daughter Bobby was 16 in 1998, she asked Martinson for his 
dog tags. She admired her warrior father and wanted the tags to wear to 
show he was part of the rare breed of Vietnam fighters. Martinson 
looked in his ``war chest'' and was surprised that they were not there. 
He surmised that the dog tag on the boot had been destroyed and the 
other tag was left behind on the battlefield. His guess had been right. 
It remained on that same battlefield for 43 years, until Naismith found 
it.
  On August 20, 2013, Naismith and some of the other searchers got on 
motorcycles, left California and headed east--to Sugarland Texas. They 
took L.P. Martinson's dog tag with them. Three days later--45 years 
after Martinson was wounded in battle--Martinson and Naismith met for 
the first time at Martinson's home. The day after they met, a special 
ceremony was held in Missouri City, Texas, in honor of Sergeant Lanny 
P. Martinson, United States Marine Corps. More than 100 people attended 
the event, including motorcycle club members, Vietnam vets, citizens, 
and City Councilmember Danny Ngyuen--who was a young child living in 
South Vietnam during the war. Naismith presented Martinson the dog tag 
that had been left behind.
  The Australian teacher and the U.S. marine--now friends--plan to 
travel to Vietnam together. They will visit the battlefield of Khe Sanh 
where Martinson and his buddies valiantly fought, where he was wounded, 
and where a dog tag . . . was left behind.
  Lanny Martinson intends to bequeath his dog tag to his daughter.
  And that's just the way it is.

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