Dogs Tags Returned To Family After 80 Years. Granddaughter Wears Replacements
“Dennis was a corporal in the 556th Bombardment Squadron of the 387th bomb group at Stoney Cross. He was a mechanic on the B-26 Marauders. He served in Chipping Ongar, Stoney Cross, Normandy, the Ardennes and the Rhineland and was awarded a Distinguished Service Badge.
I often walk my dog Doodle on Stoney Cross and look around the old site locations. On this occasion, which was Easter Sunday 2026, I was exploring Site 6. There were a few brick hut foundations still visible, and I was trying to identify what the site layout was.
I caught Doodle pawing at something and saw this white cord, so I pulled him away. Then I noticed the metal, which was quite hard to see at first. Then I realised what it was. A set of dog tags!.
The name, address and service number were still visible. So, I enlisted the help of my friend Chris ‘Dapper’ Brown (Wimborne Town Crier) as I knew he had an Ancestry account. Chris got me the names of Dennis’s surviving family members. I used this to search for contact details on the internet and came across a possible match for one of the granddaughters (Sarah Cooper). I reached out to her, and she confirmed immediately that Dennis was her grandpa and sent me a photo of his replacement tags that she carries with her. We had a few exchanges, and I found out more about Dennis.
Before I sent the originals to the family in Buffalo, New York, I approached the AUB (Art University Bournemouth) Innovation Studio to see if they could make a reproduction set with FONFA in mind. They scanned the tags and managed to do a pretty good job showing the decay, etc.
Dennis’s son Scott, a Vietnam vet himself, recalled Dennis saying that it was hard when planes didn’t come back and that quite a few didn’t”.
Nik Brown 23rd September 2026
“Replica WWII Dog Tags of Dennis Cooper. Placed on display to honour his service. The originals were proudly returned to his family.”
