Vietnam Marine John Leavister’s dog tag returned to son
December 2011 – John Early Leavister, a Marine, served his country in Vietnam – leaving behind a piece of his history behind – his dog tag.
Last week, his son, John, got a surprising friend request on Facebook – a woman claiming to have his fathers dog tag. His father had passed away in 1996, at the age of 51.
She went on to explain that his fathers dog tag was brought home from Vietnam by retired Chief of Police (Deptford, NJ) who was there as logistics support coordinator for a group called Operation Smile. In the streets outside his hotel, he met villagers who had what appeared to be old, rusty American dog tags. He later (2010) gave them to us to locate and return the dog tags to the veterans.
At John’s request, his fathers dog tag was mailed to him.