For this weekends topic I have chosen to share two of my tattoos. My tattoos are nothing fancy. I received my tattoos back in the early 90s before tattoos were a fad and everyone was getting sleeves or the infamous tramp stamps.
The first one I would like to share is on my right shoulder. It is of a bulldog in a fighting stance with U.S.M.C. underneath. For those who do not know, the USMC stands for the United States Marine Corps. The bulldog is their mascot.
This was my first ever tattoo. I got this tattoo in 1991 at Tiger Jimmy's in San Diego. California. Me and another Marine I was attending Marine Combat Training with got one together. Of course it involved alcohol and a dare at the end of a long night drinking.
To end this tale, being a young tough guy filled with testosterone, I tore the bandage off as soon as we left the shop. Had to show of that tattoo with on my big guns you know. I woke up the next morning with a perfect imprint of the tattoo on my sheet because the ink had seeped out over night.
The hangover was massive, but the memory was forever and the USMC ended up being my life for 20 plus years.
This next photo is an unfinished tattoo. It is what we call in the Corps a "Meat Tag". It is a replica of my dog tag tattooed into the side of my left side rib cage. Most of it is unreadable as it is old as well. I received it back in 1993 and refined in 1995.
The top line is my last name, first and middle initial. For the purposes of sharing I have crossed out my service number as it is personal identifiable information. The third line is my blood type. The last line is my service branch and gas mask size.
They say the purpose of the meat tag is so that if your dog tag gets lost in combat and you are killed you can still be identified.
My meat tag was started in 1993 at a Malayasian Ranger camp outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Malay Ranger used a tattoo gun made of a bamboo stick, rubber band, sewing needle, and a toy car engine that you wind up. Yes, this involved alcohol too.
Needless to say the pattern was not all that dark when he was done. So in 1995 I had the outline darkened. I had intended to expand on this at one time by having the tattoo show my rib cage open and the tag hanging on a chain off one of the ribs. However, life happened that year and we had our first boy. It was after that year I never got another tattoo.
Note: Images are all my own
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