I think he got it in New Orleans while attending Tulane. He joined the ROTC - though he had offers to play professional football. Back then (late 40’s) players got paid per game rather than a salary, per se. He wanted to fly airplanes so he joined the Air Force. I’m guessing he realized officers weren’t supposed to have tattoos. He retired as a Major after 20 years and he flew A1 Skyraiders in Viet Nam and then F4’s once back home. He was an instructor for the F4 Phantom until he retired. I’m proud of his service.
The F-4 was affectionately known as “the Sled” I think. It was extremely loud and left a huge trail of smoke. The enemy Viet Cong (or Russians in N. Vietnamese aircraft) could spot it far off, but it was a lot more capable than the F-100s it replaced, and to some extent the F-105s that were around mostly at the same time.
The Thunderbirds also flew them for a while - the best airplane for sneaking up to the crowd and surprising them with the sudden roar while they were distracted looking in another direction.
In my experience, the guys who retired as majors after 20 years were the officers who just wanted to fly and didn’t care so much about being promoted. Being promoted meant you had to quit or cut back on your flying long enough to fill all the squares with PME (professional military education). Nobody who really loved to fly wanted to do the PME.
Yes- you should be proud of him.