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MineralMan

(149,611 posts)
1. Personal Story about a Jewish Chaplain Who Helped Me
Sat Nov 3, 2018, 11:05 AM
Nov 2018

In USAF Basic Training at Lackland AFB, when I got my dog tags, they said "PROTESTANT" on them, despite my checking off the NONE box. I pointed this out to the drill sergeant and said that I was an atheist, and wanted that on my dog tags, so they'd correctly reflect my status.

"Take it up with a Chaplain, Airman!" he shouted at me, since that was the only way he ever spoke. So, I did. I found the Jewish chaplain, and told him my story. He said, "I'll see what I can do for you, but don't get your hopes up."

About halfway through Basic, I was called into the Orderly Room, where I was given an envelope. My new dogtags were in it, with ATHEIST embossed on them in an irregular line. Apparently, someone had to hand stamp each letter. At my next opportunity, I visited the Jewish chaplain again and thanked him for interceding.

"Well," he said, "That was an interesting thing. It was also not easy. As far as I can tell, you may be the first Airman to ever have dogtags like yours. I had to make a 1st Amendment argument with the Base Commander to get it done."

I thanked him again. Sadly, I can't find those old dogtags from 1965 anywhere. They disappeared during one of my moves, I guess.

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