US Military Surplus Dog Tags Both tags have the same markings. Purchased about 40 years ago from a surplus store in Okinawa. There are some scratches due to long-term storage. Please understand. - Metal plates used by the military to identify individual soldiers. They are used to identify the deceased in case their identity is unknown on the battlefield. Usually, they come in a set of two. One is collected when a soldier is killed in action, and the other is left on the body.