Nearly every graduate of Navy Diver School has a similar tattoo somewhere on their body. I would guess 95 to 97 percent.

My buddy and I stayed up all night drinking and ended up at a sketchy Aryan tattoo artist’s shop. The artist free-drew this tattoo. This is called the Marka or Mark V dive helmet. This was the dive helmet divers used until the late 1980s. This is also the insignia for the uniform of a Navy diver.

Only two people in the world have this exact tattoo — my buddy and me.

This tattoo is the Egyptian Ankh. This was done by a friend of mine about 17 years ago. It was because I also loved Egyptian mythology. The Eye of Ra is the middle, but you can’t really see it. My friend has since passed away. It is very special to me. I will never touch it up in any way.

The T Rex is my second tattoo. That is because I have always been short, and my arms are short. At work, I can’t reach everything because I have T Rex arms. I decided I might as well put the T Rex on the arm. I get a lot of compliments on this tattoo.

The next tattoo I got was the Boba Cat tattoo. I love boba. I got the tattoo for my late cat Stitch. We had Stitch for 10 years, but he died of cancer. Stitch was my first kitty. I got this to remember him. Stitch used to like to share our treats with us.

This is a moon with the rose of Sharon, the Korean flower. I love the moon, and I am a night owl.
I want to go to Korea someday — I love the culture.

This tattoo is a symbol of praying to keep Cameron safe. Cameron is my firstborn.

This is a picture of me expressing myself by cutting hair. It is a picture of scissors, a barber pole, and clippers.

At the top of the mountain, there is a dragon. At the bottom, an angel is riding a motorcycle. Along the way down, there are rocks and debris. I was born in 1988, the year of the dragon. I used to ride motorcycles all the time. It was my way of life. A few years back, I had my motorcycle stolen from me. Additionally, I got hurt in the military. I was not able to ride. If I had forced myself to continue riding, I most likely would have gotten myself killed. It was as if fate had taken the bike away from me. I went through a lot of hurdles and hardships that year. This is what the rocks and debris are for. The skull on this side of the mountain comes down to the POW tattoo. That is to remind me of my deployment in Afghanistan.

Grim Reaper. This is an older tattoo. When I was in the infantry about a decade ago, they gave me a weird nickname on one of my deployments. I was a good shooter. I got this not because I was proud of this. I just needed to remember when I was with this unit with two IDs.

This is the archangel of wisdom, Malthael. If you look at the lore, Malthael transforms into the Grim Reaper after being tortured and brutalized by Satan for a long period of time when he was stuck on earth. He was never able to return to heaven. He is not considered a demon. He is a fallen angel, which is what the grim reaper was.

The writing on both the two tattoos spells cicisbeo. This is the Italian male word for mistress. I had a long affair with a married woman several years ago.

I got the Poison Mushroom around the same time I got the Zombie Tiger. This was right after I got Dead Love. I was falsely imprisoned for a little while. I had a lot of issues with family and friends. People I trusted turned against me. These represent those people so that I can remember them.

The chess set was from when I was incarcerated. I played a lot of chess while incarcerated.

This is a Celtic warrior symbol. I got it after my brother-in-law, a former Marine, took his life. I got this for my 40th birthday. He took his life earlier that month. He was covered head-to-toe in tattoos. I wanted something to reflect the fact that I had risen above adversity. This tattoo symbolizes me rising above adversity.

This is a moon with some stars. I went to college late. I was in my mid-30s. I would sit behind all these young people who had tattoos. I wanted one, too. I figured I would get one on my ankle. I expected a whole lot of pain, but there wasn’t that much pain. I wanted it in a spot where I could enjoy it. If I had known that it wouldn’t hurt, I would have gotten a full ankle bracelet.

This tattoo means father; it’s a Japanese Kanji. I have lost both of my parents. I lost my father to homicide when he was in his 30’s.

This tattoo means mother. I lost my mother unexpectedly, two years ago. She was in her 60’s.

This tattoo was a birthday present.

I got this one 15 years ago after a nasty breakup.

This tattoo watches my back.

I got this because someone needed money to leave town. I gave him $50 to give me a tattoo.

I got this dragon tattoo to cover up a bad grim reaper tattoo. I walked into a random tattoo shop in Wilmington, NC. A friend of mine worked at the tattoo shop, but I didn’t know it. He asked if the size was a problem, and I said no. I got something that took up a quarter of my back.

Fiery Aries. This is the fire sign and Aries under it. I was born under an Aries sign.

Blogger note: It has been some time since I’ve asked about tattoos. I did not get the story of these last two tattoos.

I believe the peace tattoo story was that the person walked into a tattoo place, liked it, and just got it. However, this may be incorrect. If this is your tattoo, please contact me for any corrections.