War Paint
Tattoo Culture & the Armed Forces
Kyle Cassidy (Author-Photographer)

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
June 28, 2012/ ISBN 978-0764340864
Arts & Photography, Body Art & Tattoo
Amazon

Reviewed by Beth E. McKenzie

The people in this book reminded me a lot of my dad. He was in Korea in the 1950’s when they kept saying there was no war. He would watch Alan Alda in M*A*S*H and laugh and say that it was just like that over there. Then the show would go an inch too far or one of us kids would ask the wrong question and his eyes wouldn’t match the rest of his face. There were some things that he didn’t want to talk about and never did. He had a small tattoo of his name on his right shoulder. He tried to have it removed but it scarred so you could still glimpse it, just like that shadow behind his eyes.

The storytellers represent all of the branches of the US Armed Forces and a continuous sweep across time from WWII to our current contingent of men and women stationed throughout the world. Their tales range from the heart-wrenching reality of not getting time to grieve for the fallen to the humorous morning after liberty song, “Hey there’s a tattoo under here”. As diverse as the stories are the images that mark their telling, but there are common lines that bind the 90-year old sailor to the airman of today, the Pearl Harbor radioman to the mess cook in the sand: pride, respect and memory. Pride in who you are, what you are doing and where you belong. Respect for the job and those who do it. Memory of the experience and those who were there with you, were there before and those that will follow. It gets personal from there.

The son of a friend of mine is a Marine who is, by the grace of God and his Mother’s prayers, safely back in the States after another tour in Afghanistan. And as he is very personally aware, this isn’t the case for everybody. He has been considering getting some ink (we don’t call it “getting a tattoo” anymore, not cool), but he can’t quite put his finger on why he wants it or what it should be. I’m hoping that the images and testimonials in War Paint will help his thoughts coalesce and be seen.