Military tats

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hostler

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I know we have quite a few veterans here so this is as good a place as any to ask.
Who's got a military tattoo? What is it and where?

I've lived 53 years without marking my body (aside from a few accidental/incidental scars). Lately I've been thinking about a tattoo, specifically a Marine Corps tattoo. Why didn't I get one 30+/- years ago when I was in or shortly after I got out, you ask. I've always thought a tat should memorialize or symbolize something life changing or a change in life's path. I guess 30 years ago I didn't realize how much the Marine Corps shaped me. I didn't know that 30 years later it would still mean something to me.
Anyway I'm thinking about a simple Eagle, Globe and Anchor, something classic with some nice shading (very much like the one next to my handle), either on my upper arm or my chest. I was leaning toward chest because I think it would look better on my chest and I would see it every time I look in the mirror. The issue with putting it on my chest is I have several small red moles (Cherry Angiomas) on my chest that are rather unattractive and I don't want them to take detract from a good piece of art. So now I'm considering upper arm again.
Any thoughts?
 
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Can you get the.....

Cam you get the moles removed. My dermatologist carves something off me about every time I go.

As far as the tat goes, a Marine Emblem can't go wrong.

My son, in his gangsta years got tats at a young age. I told him that if he was going to do it, make sure he didn't get something that he would be sorry for one day. He listened and all of his tats are tasteful and on him, they look good. He's 18 now, much more mature and getting into business, but is a little concerned about what 'regular' people think about his tats at least their first impression.

You're probably asking why I 'allowed' him to get tatoos at such an early age. For one thing, it's commonplace among kids now but more importantly, compared to the drugs and guns it didn't seem like such a big deal. You have to choose your fights.:cool:

Now, me, I'm WAY to changeable to get a tat. I'd get one I thought looked great and a few weeks later I'd be, "Why did I get THAT?" Just wishy washy I guess.
 
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funny you should ask. i'm 68 and thinking the same thing. back in 71 there were 8 of us Air Force TACP attached to various Marine units around Khe Sahn. when we pulled out in May I had to go to the hospital but the other 7 went back to Danang for reassignment. they all went to a tat shop and got the same one they designed. I ran into one of the guys later and he showed it to me. every year on May 18th I think about it but have yet to pull the trigger. I wonder if a good artist can make on look almost 50 years old(LOL). go for it. lee
 
Nearly 25 years ago, when I was 19 years old, I went to the beach with a buddy of mine and two females. One night, in a drunken stupor, we decided to get tattoos. I just looked at a book and pointed to something I thought "looked cool". The right shoulder seemed like as good a place as any. I was supposed to get it colored in, but I made the guy stop after he did the outline in black. I hate needles and blood so it took a lot for me to even get that far, honestly. Plus I was really skinny back then and I could feel that tattoo needle ramming down hard on my shoulder blade bone. I turned pale green and started sweating profusely. Thought I was gonna pass out.

Anyway, unbeknownst to me at the time, the tattoo I had just randomly picked out happened to be a popular Marine Corps tat. It's that really common snarling bulldog design. I thought it looked like Spike the Bulldog from the old Tom and Jerry cartoons. I had no clue it was popular with the Corps. Needless to say, I regret even getting this one and only tattoo, but I have grown to regret it even more after having years to contemplate how it might be construed as me being some kind of USMC poser.

Big decisions - like putting a mark on your body for life - are best done with plenty of planning and while sober. I can attest to this. Anyway, it looks just like this, minus the USMC part, of course.

51NhYmcCOHL.jpg
 
I was in the Ordnance Group on Okinawa. The barracks right next to mine was a company of the 503rd Airborne. They were not good neighbors. The insults to us "legs" got old. Anyway, one thing that I'll never forget is a tattoo a lot of these guys got. It was a pair of jump boots with wings. Underneath it said "Born to raise hell in combat".

My grandfather travelled with carnivals in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. He did tattoos and everyone on that side of the family, aunts and uncles had tats.
I never got into it.

To me, seeing a young attractive lady with a bunch of tats is a turn off. To each his own.
 
The original post feels very familiar. Thirty years after getting out I had the same feelings. As you age you begin to see what you thought was just a job really had an impact on who you are.

I was not a marine, I was a submariner. At about your age I had a set of "dolphins" (submarine qualification insignia) tattooed on my chest right where the pin was worn. Some things leave a mark on you for life so I figured I would acknowledge that.

Fifteen years later that is still the only tattoo I have, always under a shirt, nobody knows it's there, but I know.
 
rwsmith said:
My son, in his gangsta years got tats at a young age. I told him that if he was going to do it, make sure he didn't get something that he would be sorry for one day. He listened and all of his tats are tasteful and on him, they look good.
Click to expand...

I wish my son had listened. He's a few years older now and has finally learned how to wear his pants...unlike in this pic.

i-qDsnGMc-X3.jpg
 
My story is most certainly one of the most common. First boot camp liberty; Our company commander gave us 3 rules. He made it very clear that they must ALL be followed:
. Don't get knee-walkin' drunk
. Don't go to Tiajuana
. Don't get ANY tattoos

I thought that last one was questionable because he had two "full sleeves".

Like most of the guys in my company I did all three. As far as the tattoo goes I'll never forget it. It was Painless Nell's Tattoo Emporium, on Broadway ST. in Downtown San Diego Ca.

The name of the shop was definitely a misnomer...shoulda been PainFUL Nell's Tattoo Emporium. I was sure glad I was drunk at the time.

I got the Navy shield and anchor with the banner across the front saying U S N and anchor rope around it. I was really proud of it. Had bright reds and blues and greens. Sadly the last 56 years have taken their toll. The reds are long gone. The blues are 99%gone. A small spot of some of the green is visible here and there.

Oh well, nothing lasts forever....sigh.
 
In my early years in the Navy, most common among bosunsmates in the deck gang, were tattoos of anchor chains around both wrist, swallows or anchors in the web between thumb and index fingers, swallows on both pecs, a pig on one calf and a rooster on the other calf.

Seabees commonly have the Seabee " bee" on their forearm. Never had the urge for a tattoo during my 24 years of service. My uncle with 34 years in the Navy had a huge tattoo on his forearm, some kind of classic Navy tattoo common during WWII. Never could tell exactly what it was because it was simply a large blob of blue ink. Killed any desire that I might have had for a tattoo of my own.
 
I got one in San Diego in 1969...my high school girlfriend's name in a wreath surrounded by hearts and flowers, on my upper arm (seems like at the time no tats could be visible while in uniform.) Anyway, as of course will happen, she and I broke up. One evening, while well along in our cups, a buddy and I decided that the tattoo just had to go...so we cut out the name part. Now I have a scar in a wreath surrounded by hearts and flowers, which are now mostly faded to indistinct colors. I kept the strip of flesh in a bottle of alcohol for a while, but the alcohol leaked out and the flesh deteriorated, so I threw it away...I had intended to send it to her.

For the longest time, I wanted to get a few more, but I never got around to it. After I retired, I did get my ear pierced (left lobe) but after wearing an earring for a few weeks, I felt so foolish I took it out and haven't worn it since. In fact, the hole in my ear lobe grew closed and now you can't even tell there was one there. Like I needed another hole in my head...
 
Walkin' Jack said:
My story is most certainly one of the most common. First boot camp liberty; Our company commander gave us 3 rules. He made it very clear that they must ALL be followed:
. Don't get knee-walkin' drunk
. Don't go to Tiajuana
. Don't get ANY tattoos

I thought that last one was questionable because he had two "full sleeves".

Like most of the guys in my company I did all three. As far as the tattoo goes I'll never forget it. It was Painless Nell's Tattoo Emporium, on Broadway ST. in Downtown San Diego Ca.

The name of the shop was definitely a misnomer...shoulda been PainFUL Nell's Tattoo Emporium. I was sure glad I was drunk at the time.

I got the Navy shield and anchor with the banner across the front saying U S N and anchor rope around it. I was really proud of it. Had bright reds and blues and greens. Sadly the last 56 years have taken their toll. The reds are long gone. The blues are 99%gone. A small spot of some of the green is visible here and there.

Oh well, nothing lasts forever....sigh.
Click to expand...

Haven't thought about this for a long time. The years since I got this tat have dimmed the memory some. Soon as I posted the above another part of the experience pushed it's way through the clouds and I'll add it here.

Painless Nell was about 5' tall and about 5' wide. Sores all over her face. Tats all over all visible skin below the neck (which, mercifully, was mostly only her arms). When I sat down on the stool and she stepped up close my air was suddenly cut off by an odor so foul it defies description.

She asked me if I thought I might pass out from the pain. I said no but I might throw up (I didn't mention why). If I had been sober I may have sprayed the room. As it was I was able to hold it down to a few gags.

I have never before or since smelled anythig that bad coming off a living creature, not man nor beast. I'll remember that smell long years after the memory of getting the tattoo is lost in time.
 
Dress it up......

Walkin' Jack said:
My story is most certainly one of the most common. First boot camp liberty; Our company commander gave us 3 rules. He made it very clear that they must ALL be followed:
. Don't get knee-walkin' drunk
. Don't go to Tiajuana
. Don't get ANY tattoos

I thought that last one was questionable because he had two "full sleeves".

Like most of the guys in my company I did all three. As far as the tattoo goes I'll never forget it. It was Painless Nell's Tattoo Emporium, on Broadway ST. in Downtown San Diego Ca.

The name of the shop was definitely a misnomer...shoulda been PainFUL Nell's Tattoo Emporium. I was sure glad I was drunk at the time.

I got the Navy shield and anchor with the banner across the front saying U S N and anchor rope around it. I was really proud of it. Had bright reds and blues and greens. Sadly the last 56 years have taken their toll. The reds are long gone. The blues are 99%gone. A small spot of some of the green is visible here and there.

Oh well, nothing lasts forever....sigh.
Click to expand...

You can get it dressed up I've seen some amazing things, even turning a tattoo into another pictures. If done well, good results. If not, wellllll.
 
Walkin' Jack said:
Haven't thought about this for a long time. The years since I got this tat have dimmed the memory some. Soon as I posted the above another part of the experience pushed it's way through the clouds and I'll add it here.

Painless Nell was about 5' tall and about 5' wide. Sores all over her face. Tats all over all visible skin below the neck (which, mercifully, was mostly only her arms). When I sat down on the stool and she stepped up close my air was suddenly cut off by an odor so foul it defies description.

She asked me if I thought I might pass out from the pain. I said no but I might throw up (I didn't mention why). If I had been sober I may have sprayed the room. As it was I was able to hold it down to a few gags.

I have never before or since smelled anythig that bad coming off a living creature, not man nor beast. I'll remember that smell long years after the memory of getting the tattoo is lost in time.
Click to expand...

...you must have had a good immune system...
 
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