The Stories Soldiers' Tatoos Tell

It's a common sight in the combat arms - young soldiers, male and sometimes female, with elaborate tatoos on the arms, neck, and torso. This piece from the US Department of Defense daily news digest tells the story of what those tatoos mean to one soldier.



By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service


EN ROUTE TO DENVER, May 12, 2009 – The 22-year-old soldier, dressed down in a black T-shirt and jeans on a flight to his new unit at Fort Carson, Colo., is the face of the 21,000 additional troops flowing into Afghanistan as part of the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.

The heavily tattooed arm of Army Cpl. “KC” reveals the history, loyalties and dreams of a soldier who’s seen two combat deployments during four and a half years of service and is preparing for another one, to Afghanistan, in June.

But it’s his muscular arms, heavily adorned with tattoos as they cradle a portable video game system on his lap, that tell the true story of where he’s been, what he’s done and what he dreams for the future.

Read the whole story here.