World War II Dog Tag Washes Up At Madaket Beach

Robert Deal was on the island last weekend, all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah, to work the Nantucket Wine Festival, when he and a friend made a remarkable discovery.

As they were walking along Madaket Beach during some downtime, they noticed something in the sand. They pulled a small, thin piece of metal from the beach and quickly realized what they had found: a World War II dog tag.

The name inscribed on it was Ernest J. Gentile, of the United States Navy.

A quick Google search revealed that Gentile was a decorated veteran who had received the Navy Cross “for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty as a member of a demolition party attached to the Fleet Tug U.S.S. Cherokee (AT-66), during the assault on and occupation of French Morocco from 8 to 11 November 1942,” according to the Military Times’ Hall of Valor database.

“When we were exploring the island and walked the beach, that’s what he found,” Deal said of his friend, who has since returned to Georgia with the dog tag. “He plans to reach out to the family to return the tag when he gets back to Georgia.”

Additional online records of Gentile’s background and service in World War II are limited, but do reveal more information about him. According to another online database of U.S. military servicemembers, Special Forces Roll of Honour, Gentile was born on Nov. 16, 1909 in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard (although another source indicated he was born in Boston), and grew up in Leominster, Mass.

He married Serena Margaret Gonsalves before the war on July 10, 1935, and the couple had two children. Gentile enlisted in the Navy on May 13, 1942, and was discharged on June 22, 1945.

He died on Nov. 21, 1982, at the age of 72, in Palo Alto, California, and was buried at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside County, California.

Gentile's wife Serena had a sister named Zelmira Sylvia, who once lived on Nantucket before her death, according to Serena's obituary.

Gentile’s citation for the Navy Cross award reads: “Assigned the extremely dangerous task of cutting through an enemy obstruction in order that the U.S.S. DALLAS could navigate up the Sebou River in order to land raiders near a strategic airport, Machinist’s Mate First Class Gentile and his shipmates, on the night of 9 November, proceeded with grim determination toward their objective. Despite the treacherous surf, he and his comrades skillfully and courageously accomplished their hazardous mission of cutting the cables at the mouth of the river, as guns from the French fort opened fire. Countering the enemy’s attack until out of range, Machinist’s Mate First Class Gentile and the other members of his party, in spite of the enormous breakers which battered their boat, brought her back to safety. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

How did the dog tag end up on a Nantucket beach more than 80 years after the war? Can Deal and his friend locate Gentile’s surviving family members to return the dog tag to them? Those are the questions we’re working on now. Stay tuned for more.