A battlefield marker served both as a support for blood plasma and as a way to mark the body of a fallen soldier when his steel helmet was placed on top of it. In the position depicted here, graves registration could easily locate it when they picked up the bodies following a battle. During and/or after the battle, the fallen soldier’s rifle, whether a 1903 Springfield, an AR-16, or a Garand semi-automatic rifle fitted with a bayonet, was stuck in the ground alongside him. Sometimes his dog tags were placed on the rifle.