To follow the crowd, or not to follow the crowd, that’s the question?

When getting a tattoo changed from what sailors did in the navy to what young people did to be accepted in a desired social circle, my curiosity was arisen.

My dad was in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II. He left home as a fresh 18-year-old who was average size. He spent nearly two years on active duty, and traveled across the Pacific Ocean. Contrary to the reputation borne by sailors, he doesn’t have one tattoo.

The paradox never troubled me until I started seeing a large number of teenage girls with tattoos just above their buttocks, behind their shoulder blades, and who knows where else.

Then I couldn’t resist the temptation to discover how dad avoided getting any tattoos as part of an initiation, shore leave experience, or as a way to ward off harassment from a larger or higher ranked seaman.

“Dad, how in the world did you avoid getting a tattoo while you were in the navy?” He told me that on his last shore leave in Honolulu before he was to be discharged, that he and four other young sailors were going to celebrate their pending discharges and get their first tattoos.

Before they left the ship, one of them disclosed their plan to the ship’s chief gunner’s mate. A large man, with several years of experience at sea, he told them without hesitation, “If you get a tattoo, I’ll do to you what your daddy would do to you!”

As a result, the celebration went on, but none of the five were tattooed.

Yes, today there appears to be a more universal acceptance to tattoos. Yes, it’s a free country, and an adult can choose to be tattooed, pierced, branded, or any one of several other ways to amend their bodies.

But, how many young people are tattooed to “follow the crowd?” How many will want to eventually have their body art removed? According to Web MD in collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic as many as 50% of those with tattoos will eventually want to have them removed. The tattoo removal industry is growing in parallel with the tattoo industry. Doesn’t this indicate that a great many of those who are tattooed do so for short-term motives. Wouldn’t it be easier to change one’s style of clothes or hairstyle?

General Billy Mitchell successfully led all American air combat units in World War I, and is one of the most recognized names from that era. After the war, Mitchell disagreed with conventional wisdom in the military that the World War as it was called then was, “the war to end all wars.” While others pursued worldwide disarmament or sought to emphasize naval power, Mitchell advocated the need for preparedness for a future war he was certain would occur, and the absolute importance of air power to win any such war.

General Mitchell did not follow the crowd, but fiercely promoted air power to his own personal and professional detriment. He was eventually court-martialed and suspended from the army, which motivated him to resign his commission. The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and influence of air power on World War II vindicated Mitchell, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I know that if I would have come home with a tattoo that my father would have done to me what his father would have done to him. In the same vein, I am working to make sure my daughter understands the consequence of permanently marking her body and getting caught up in following the crowd. I hope that I can love her enough, and earn a level of respect from her that will make it easier for her to fend off the peer pressure to get a tattoo or other item that will certainly upset me and that she may eventually regret.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle