thedrifter
04-25-07, 07:39 AM
More Marines' body art memorializes their fallen comrades
More servicemen use tattoos as a way to ensure the soldiers they served with won't be forgotten.
Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times
FALLBROOK, Calif. -- The anniversary of Marine Cpl. Brian R. St. Germain's death in Iraq was approaching, and Gunnery Sgt. Jason Alderman was making sure his buddy wouldn't be forgotten. He was getting a tattoo in his honor.
The design was one that Alderman had chosen after looking at a Marine-themed Web site, www.grunt.com. The 11-inch tattoo being permanently inked on his left calf, near his shrapnel wound, included a Marine Ka-Bar knife, the Marine eagle, globe and anchor emblem and the inscription "SAINT 4-02-06."
Alderman, 31, said he wanted to show the tattoo to St. Germain's parents to assure them that their son would be remembered.
Marine Corps culture holds that Marines who die in combat must never be forgotten. An increasing number of Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton and other bases are living that ethic by getting memorial tattoos to commemorate comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
St. Germain, a mechanic and martial arts instructor, died in a vehicle accident outside the base at al Asad. The Rhode Island native was 22 and on his second combat tour in Iraq.
"He was strong all the way through," Alderman said of St. Germain at the tattoo parlor. "That's how I remember him. He was a great Marine."
Tattoos have long been an integral, although unofficial, part of the Marine Corps. But the widespread preference for memorial tattoos may prove to be a distinguishing mark of this generation of Marines.
"Before Iraq, guys wanted all sorts of crazy stuff," said Kraig Santos, proprietor of Fallbrook Tattoo, where Alderman was getting his tattoo. "Now it's all crosses and angels -- memorial stuff."
Some of the tattoos list the names of the dead, others include mournful sayings such as "Never Forget," "Fallen But Not Forgotten," and "R.I.P." Some tattoos are meant to remember a particularly popular or heroic Marine.
"They come in here with their own ideas about memorials," said Dan Kuns, owner of Pairadice Tattoo, outside the base at Twentynine Palms, Calif. "Everything has to be perfect. Every little bit means something to them, reminds them of the Marine who died."
Just why today's Marines may favor memorial tattoos more than Marines of the past remains unclear. One suggestion -- by a senior officer without tattoos -- is that they show the influence of rap music, since some rap stars also get them to honor friends.
What veterans are doing
When Cpl. Jason Dunham died in 2004 after diving on a grenade to save his buddies, several members of his platoon got tattoos in his honor.
At Camp Pendleton, Cpl. Christopher Shelhamer, recuperating from a sniper wound, has the names of five Marines killed in Fallujah on his back. "I want my guys with me, always," he said.
Cpl. Brian J. Reimers, 21, has what he calls his Lost Brothers tattoo on his upper left arm to honor the 11 Marines in his battalion killed in Fallujah in 2006.
Many of the survivors of the terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut have tattoos that say, "Oct. 23, 1983.
Beirut, Lebanon. 241." The 241 refers to the number of service personnel who died in the blast.
Ellie
More servicemen use tattoos as a way to ensure the soldiers they served with won't be forgotten.
Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times
FALLBROOK, Calif. -- The anniversary of Marine Cpl. Brian R. St. Germain's death in Iraq was approaching, and Gunnery Sgt. Jason Alderman was making sure his buddy wouldn't be forgotten. He was getting a tattoo in his honor.
The design was one that Alderman had chosen after looking at a Marine-themed Web site, www.grunt.com. The 11-inch tattoo being permanently inked on his left calf, near his shrapnel wound, included a Marine Ka-Bar knife, the Marine eagle, globe and anchor emblem and the inscription "SAINT 4-02-06."
Alderman, 31, said he wanted to show the tattoo to St. Germain's parents to assure them that their son would be remembered.
Marine Corps culture holds that Marines who die in combat must never be forgotten. An increasing number of Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton and other bases are living that ethic by getting memorial tattoos to commemorate comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
St. Germain, a mechanic and martial arts instructor, died in a vehicle accident outside the base at al Asad. The Rhode Island native was 22 and on his second combat tour in Iraq.
"He was strong all the way through," Alderman said of St. Germain at the tattoo parlor. "That's how I remember him. He was a great Marine."
Tattoos have long been an integral, although unofficial, part of the Marine Corps. But the widespread preference for memorial tattoos may prove to be a distinguishing mark of this generation of Marines.
"Before Iraq, guys wanted all sorts of crazy stuff," said Kraig Santos, proprietor of Fallbrook Tattoo, where Alderman was getting his tattoo. "Now it's all crosses and angels -- memorial stuff."
Some of the tattoos list the names of the dead, others include mournful sayings such as "Never Forget," "Fallen But Not Forgotten," and "R.I.P." Some tattoos are meant to remember a particularly popular or heroic Marine.
"They come in here with their own ideas about memorials," said Dan Kuns, owner of Pairadice Tattoo, outside the base at Twentynine Palms, Calif. "Everything has to be perfect. Every little bit means something to them, reminds them of the Marine who died."
Just why today's Marines may favor memorial tattoos more than Marines of the past remains unclear. One suggestion -- by a senior officer without tattoos -- is that they show the influence of rap music, since some rap stars also get them to honor friends.
What veterans are doing
When Cpl. Jason Dunham died in 2004 after diving on a grenade to save his buddies, several members of his platoon got tattoos in his honor.
At Camp Pendleton, Cpl. Christopher Shelhamer, recuperating from a sniper wound, has the names of five Marines killed in Fallujah on his back. "I want my guys with me, always," he said.
Cpl. Brian J. Reimers, 21, has what he calls his Lost Brothers tattoo on his upper left arm to honor the 11 Marines in his battalion killed in Fallujah in 2006.
Many of the survivors of the terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut have tattoos that say, "Oct. 23, 1983.
Beirut, Lebanon. 241." The 241 refers to the number of service personnel who died in the blast.
Ellie