Mansfield resident presented with Vietnam dog tags

October 20, 2025—By Donna LeSchander dleschander@tiogapublishing.com

MANSFIELD — The long-lost dog tags of a Vietnam veteran were returned to his family on Saturday, Oct. 18, more than half a century after they were stolen during the war.

David Bonner served in Vietnam from 1969-1970 and was the father of Mansfield resident Karri Verno. Bonner died in 2020 and was someone who never talked very much about his Vietnam experience, Verno said.

“He said that he signed up because the recruiter told him that only draftees were sent to Vietnam,” Verno said. “That turned out not to be true.

“As a teenager, I asked him about his dog tags, because I thought it would be cool to wear them,” she said. “He only replied that they had been stolen, and he left it at that.”

Mike May of the Nam Knights, left, presents Verno with her father's missing dog tags on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Mansfield VFW.

Verno located the missing dog tags through the Patriot Connections Dog Tag Project, a volunteer effort that reunites missing dog tags from all wars and conflicts with the veteran and/or their families.

“The (Dog Tag Project) had a searchable database and I just entered my dad’s name,” Verno said. “It popped right up. They’ve actually had the tags since 2007.”

Patriot Connections Dog Tag Project obtains the tags in many ways, primarily from American visitors to Vietnam who purchase the tags from Vietnamese vendors and collectors. The tags are very inexpensive and are sold as souvenirs. The Project’s stated mission is “to reunite these precious symbols of service with their rightful owners or their families” and all services are free.

The Project works with veterans’ motorcycle clubs to hand-deliver the dog tags to families.

On Saturday, the Nam Knights of America, Independence Chapter made a trip from downstate to present Bonner’s tags to Verno, her husband Jeremy and their two children at Mansfield VFW Post 5767.