My dad had the tatoo approved by the military, he earned it. It was his identifier. It used to be signifying a life defining moment.
The name of the ship that went down, the landing craft that carried Marines to their eternal reward. Marks of survival and pride.
I touched it and looked at it every night, and he told me his stories. How could I get a tatoo that meant the same or more? I could never do that. What he went through gave him the right. Every silly tatoo and piercing.
How many still remember Pearl Harbor? The wives, mothers and brothers at home excited for mail, and fearing the telegram?
Tatoos are cultural appropriation of people who have actually done something in my book.
Totally agree