September 15th, 2010 
judowolf 
Passing a gentleman displaying a clipper ship on his right arm, the older remembered his father’s tattoo. It was also a clipper ship with the initial USN printed at the bottom and the movement of his arm rocked the ship as if it was in the ocean.
He got the tattoo in San Diego at 17 before shipping out to fight the Japanese during WWII. Youth played a large part when he got the tattoo, but everyone was getting one, he was half-intoxicated, and it seemed like the right thing to do.
The tattoo indelibly imprinted into his skin became the symbol of the ocean he crossed to fight oppression, and his life changing experience involving war. He never spoke of the war and when questioned gave the look that ended the conversation.
The tattoo faded over the years and when he moved his arm, the ship was motionless. The older man will never get a tattoo, as many are only fancy decorations without meaning.
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