My apologies to you on that subject, because the Navy had a rich tradition of tattoos.
Tattoos are a lot more complex that people are making them out to be, of this I am very aware.
What ships did you serve on?
I did not serve in the Navy. My father was a career NCO, so the Navy tradition of tattoos is the one with which I am most familiar.
I did not mean to imply that I had served and I apologize if I came across as doing so.
My father served on the Destoyer Charles F. Adams, Cruiser Newport News, Destroyer Escort Elmer Montgomery and on the Battleship Missouri when it was re-commissioned during the 1980s. He also served on several other ships before I was born, whose names I cannot recall.
I do have a tattoo, and I suppose my exposure to them as I was growing up around my father and his friends/fellow sailors probably affected my decision to get one - although I suppose The REAL reason is that I am one of those "low-life biker-types". I haven't been in prison, though, or ever even close to being sent there.
The bottom line is: there are many reasons people CHOOSE to get tattoos and I think it is great that we live in a country where people can CHOOSE to decorate (or NOT decorate) their bodies as they see fit.