Reposting Mike's Marine in Honor of Memorial Day

<i>The following post is from four years ago, and was shared then to commemorate Memorial Day. It seems appropriate to revisit it again:</i><br /><br />It only seemed fitting that, on this Memorial Day, we feature a tattoo that honors our men and women in uniform.<br /><br />A week ago, I was fresh off of my experience at the <a href="http://www.nyctattooconvention.com/">New York City Tattoo Convention</a>, and everything I saw on the street was uninteresting. Until I passed by Mike and did a double-take.<br /><br />This is the tattoo on Mike's inner right forearm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdohFyCzMhTfu7Czpdyklqi2wHLJAFMdtBVzJN7ORBDCZYGUe4z0HOiQ7-8W6IuaBBBUFVKRQYggcKqKrymxuJpzf2TTcPXE0x_F0d9nPX1K67GhOdhnDyOkxifl0tgiHDpjWYRqw_4BY/s1600-h/marine.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339372132223045362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdohFyCzMhTfu7Czpdyklqi2wHLJAFMdtBVzJN7ORBDCZYGUe4z0HOiQ7-8W6IuaBBBUFVKRQYggcKqKrymxuJpzf2TTcPXE0x_F0d9nPX1K67GhOdhnDyOkxifl0tgiHDpjWYRqw_4BY/s640/marine.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="315" /></a><br />Mike explained that, as a <a href="http://www.marines.com/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=G_09_MARINES">United States Marine</a>, he was choosing to honor the corps by building a sleeve of iconic military photographs.<br /><br />If you think this is an impressive tattoo (which it is), seeing the source material further magnifies how phenomenal a replica the artist has created on Mike's flesh:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6lxVpJIaN4RMf3_Og6WVt5rFiMGlw9zfbbLxsAFog2QVD5fktJPblS72y64qC-9KrjUQK5ZET0muSa3Tjzy_0kA6CJFgNgvpQEL5ZSWpVLxlaXuSLXg5KaHakDWL3-fYJ4RjCFRvNvc/s1600-h/korean67.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339374300620639538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6lxVpJIaN4RMf3_Og6WVt5rFiMGlw9zfbbLxsAFog2QVD5fktJPblS72y64qC-9KrjUQK5ZET0muSa3Tjzy_0kA6CJFgNgvpQEL5ZSWpVLxlaXuSLXg5KaHakDWL3-fYJ4RjCFRvNvc/s400/korean67.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 319px;" /></a><br />A page on About.com explains this image further:<br /><blockquote>"While units of the U.S. Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command made an all-out effort to aid embattled units of the First Marine Division and Seventh Infantry Division, the men fighting in Korea were trying desperately to link up in their battle for survival. This marine is shown just as he reached the crest of the ridge at the link-up point. Wet, stinging snow and ice made the operation the most difficult sort, as unleashed hordes of communist troops charge again and again into the United Nations forces. (circa December 1950) "</blockquote>In addition to this tattoo, Mike has a Vietnam-era photo of a Marine sniper inked on his right biceps.<br /><br />This astonishing tattoo was created by <a href="http://randyprause.com/home.html">Randy Prause</a> at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/PERMANENTBUZZ-TATTOO/315640083375?fref=ts">Permanent Buzz Tattoo</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denville,_New_Jersey">Denville, New Jersey</a>.<br /><br />A hearty thanks to Mike for sharing this tattoo with us here on Memorial Day. More importantly, Tattoosday expresses even more gratitude to Mike and all his fellow soldiers and who have so bravely served our country to ensure the freedoms we enjoy each day.<br /><br />Have a safe and pleasant Memorial Day!<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is © 2009, 2013 Tattoosday.</span></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-388b3fbd-e625-36d8-7f49-e6875445ac57"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></div>

Reposting Mike's Marine in Honor of Memorial Day

The following post is from four years ago, and was shared then to commemorate Memorial Day. It seems appropriate to revisit it again: It onl...

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Delphine Shares a Lucky Cat and a Sailor Jerry Design

I met Delphine last week and she shared two of her tattoos with me. First is this piece:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekV_L84OpSJqdzgGWKv66XGCKlYINAKqjijDeawO1kTF1CVsegNktgCHx7NlkbF1wvW29iCny7uftwQ8Vglr0hyphenhyphenppIKmt776n980d1CznaZbY2Ol1zVaCoicGt0Hs5uSWoZV-vJlY6Q0/s1600/Lucky+Cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekV_L84OpSJqdzgGWKv66XGCKlYINAKqjijDeawO1kTF1CVsegNktgCHx7NlkbF1wvW29iCny7uftwQ8Vglr0hyphenhyphenppIKmt776n980d1CznaZbY2Ol1zVaCoicGt0Hs5uSWoZV-vJlY6Q0/s640/Lucky+Cat.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br />For those of you who do not recognize this image, it is a common piece of ceramic sculpture popular in Japanese culture called the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko">Maneki Neko</a>," or Lucky Cat. It is a good luck charm, and is often seen in Asian-owned stores as a totem of good fortune. Delphine explained further that this was her most recent piece and that "I have always loved the Japanese Lucky Cat.  I felt that this would be a great time to get it (due to the economy - cat has a prosperity in Kanji) and as a tribute to the Japanese that were affected by the Tsunami)."<br /><br />She credited her Lucky Cat to artists <a href="http://sftattoo.com/artists/megan-wilson/">Megan Wilson</a> at <a href="http://sftattoo.com/">Picture Machine Tattoo</a> in San Francisco.<br /><br />On her other forearm is this tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVestwzYj5RJ75KrB8IbISFruaP8dghxVjc6zzcbiombieoDe1fbzKMojw3BnADMmVRughyod2LTd2tfKeDCtB2IIaS13EKPKzq9Qyw-A3GDbVOzXbJBGKI_cbPvNnJ8PHo7eNIv2MA-0/s1600/USMC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVestwzYj5RJ75KrB8IbISFruaP8dghxVjc6zzcbiombieoDe1fbzKMojw3BnADMmVRughyod2LTd2tfKeDCtB2IIaS13EKPKzq9Qyw-A3GDbVOzXbJBGKI_cbPvNnJ8PHo7eNIv2MA-0/s640/USMC.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><br />This tattoo is attributed to <a href="http://www.luckystarstattoo.com/artist/anthony">Anthony Gonzalez</a> at <a href="http://www.luckystarstattoo.com/">Lucky Stars Tattoo</a> in San Jose, California. Delphine explains, "My father and I are Marine Vets.  I saw this <a href="http://www.sailorjerry.com/">Sailor Jerry</a> piece and loved it to honor my father and me.  On the original piece it says 'Never Again'.  I updated this to 'Never Forget' - the 'forget' is done in red to look like spray paint."<br /><br />Thanks to Delphine for sharing these two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Delphine Shares a Lucky Cat and a Sailor Jerry Design

I met Delphine last week and she shared two of her tattoos with me. First is this piece: For those of you who do not recognize this image, i...

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Mike's Marine: A Tattoo for Memorial Day

It only seemed fitting that, on this Memorial Day, we feature a tattoo that honors our men and women in uniform.<br /><br />A week ago, I was fresh off of my experience at the <a href="http://www.nyctattooconvention.com/">New York City Tattoo Convention</a>, and everything I saw on the street was uninteresting. Until I passed by Mike and did a double-take.<br /><br />This is the tattoo on Mike's inner right forearm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdohFyCzMhTfu7Czpdyklqi2wHLJAFMdtBVzJN7ORBDCZYGUe4z0HOiQ7-8W6IuaBBBUFVKRQYggcKqKrymxuJpzf2TTcPXE0x_F0d9nPX1K67GhOdhnDyOkxifl0tgiHDpjWYRqw_4BY/s1600-h/marine.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339372132223045362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdohFyCzMhTfu7Czpdyklqi2wHLJAFMdtBVzJN7ORBDCZYGUe4z0HOiQ7-8W6IuaBBBUFVKRQYggcKqKrymxuJpzf2TTcPXE0x_F0d9nPX1K67GhOdhnDyOkxifl0tgiHDpjWYRqw_4BY/s400/marine.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 197px;" /></a><br />Mike explained that, as a <a href="http://www.marines.com/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=G_09_MARINES">United States Marine</a>, he was choosing to honor the corps by building a sleeve of iconic military photographs.<br /><br />If you think this is an impressive tattoo (which it is), seeing the source material further magnifies how phenomenal a replica the artist has created on Mike's flesh:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6lxVpJIaN4RMf3_Og6WVt5rFiMGlw9zfbbLxsAFog2QVD5fktJPblS72y64qC-9KrjUQK5ZET0muSa3Tjzy_0kA6CJFgNgvpQEL5ZSWpVLxlaXuSLXg5KaHakDWL3-fYJ4RjCFRvNvc/s1600-h/korean67.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339374300620639538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6lxVpJIaN4RMf3_Og6WVt5rFiMGlw9zfbbLxsAFog2QVD5fktJPblS72y64qC-9KrjUQK5ZET0muSa3Tjzy_0kA6CJFgNgvpQEL5ZSWpVLxlaXuSLXg5KaHakDWL3-fYJ4RjCFRvNvc/s400/korean67.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 319px;" /></a><br />A page on About.com explains this image further:<br /><br /><blockquote>"While units of the U.S. Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command made an all-out effort to aid embattled units of the First Marine Division and Seventh Infantry Division, the men fighting in Korea were trying desperately to link up in their battle for survival. This marine is shown just as he reached the crest of the ridge at the link-up point. Wet, stinging snow and ice made the operation the most difficult sort, as unleashed hordes of communist troops charge again and again into the United Nations forces. (circa December 1950) "</blockquote>In addition to this tattoo, Mike has a Vietnam-era photo of a Marine sniper inked on his right biceps.<br /><br />This astonishing tattoo was created by <a href="http://randyprause.com/home.html">Randy Prause</a> at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/permanent-buzz-tatooing-denville">Permanent Buzz Tattoo</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denville,_New_Jersey">Denville, New Jersey</a>.<br /><br />A hearty thanks to Mike for sharing this tattoo with us here on Memorial Day. More importantly, Tattoosday expresses even more gratitude to Mike and all his fellow soldiers and who have so bravely served our country to ensure the freedoms we enjoy each day.<br /><br />Have a safe and pleasant Memorial Day!

Mike's Marine: A Tattoo for Memorial Day

It only seemed fitting that, on this Memorial Day, we feature a tattoo that honors our men and women in uniform. A week ago, I was fresh off...

Read more »