Dog Tags & Fashion

Normally I don’t care what an individual wears – be it a T-shirt with a strategically placed middle finger, an “offensive” phrase, revealing clothing or white socks and a suit. Yes, I’ll snicker and maybe make a joke to whomever I’m with if you’re dressed like a social leper, but it’s not usually done with malice; it’s more like pity. I’m not a style icon or even a metrosexual, but I like to think that I can at least assemble a decent looking closetful of clothes.

One fashion accessory that I have strong opinions (and they’re not very friendly) about is dog tags. There is no way in hell that anyone besides a military serviceman or a veteran should be wearing dog tags, and certainly not some 16-year-old douche who is so oblivious to the greater world around him that he thinks the conflict between Russia and Georgia is between Russia and the fourth state of the Union.

I’m frothing at the mouth about this because over the weekend and within two minutes, I saw two teens (who clearly didn’t know each other as they were back-to-school shopping with their respective mothers) exit a store proudly wearing their dog tags on the outside of their shirts. I also served in the US Army and have some understanding of the purposes, which can ultimately mean that a funeral is in your future, that dog tags serve – like informing a medic or doctor about your blood type, your religious preference and your service number.

I also know that a lot of men shed their blood, lost their sons, lost their fathers, became amputees, and even died for our freedom – which, yes, includes your freedom to wear dog tags whether you served in the military or you’re a self-absorbed fashion retard. But I just find it so disrespectful to those who’ve worn dog tags around their toes and to those who placed them there. Anyone who wears a dog tag without having earned the right to do so has about as much respect for his forefathers as President Bush has for being an American ambassador and representing our nation in a positive light to the rest of the world.

I don’t know if these kids think that wearing dog tags as a fashion accessory makes them feel empowered or if they think chicks dig it, but their ignorance deserves a punch in the mouth. They need to remember that those who’ve been initiated belong to the world’s biggest and greenest gang – the US Army... HUA! And to me, these kids look about as clueless as a 10 year old smoking cigarettes.

No blood; no glory.