Navy Veteran's Dog Tags Found On Nantucket, Family Hoping To Get Them Back

CBS Boston

May 27, 2025

A food and wine festival worker on Nantucket stumbled upon the dog tags of a decorated Navy veteran who passed away in 1982. Now his family is hoping to get them back.

Ernest Gentile Sr. was part of the first Navy SEAL frogmen demolition team in American history. His family says he was at Pearl Harbor, and also earned the Navy Cross for cutting submarine netting in French Morocco. For the most part, he kept his war stories from his family, but the ones that he did tell are now retold by his children and grandchildren.

"He would go underwater. One of the medals he received, from what I understand, is him and a buddy were cutting some of the mines underneath, clearing the way for some of the ships to go through while they were under enemy fire," said his granddaughter, Anne Gardner.

Dog tag for Ernest Gentile Sr. found on Nantucket/CBS Boston

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