Today at 4pm I went to Transcending Flesh on Chestnut St. in Lancaster to get my first tattoo! I got the 1st Armored Division unit patch on my right calf. It is very visible in a group of bicycles and invisible in a suit. Just right for me.
It took about an hour after 30 minutes of prep. Ben, the artist who did the tattoo, said it was going to itch like crazy and I am not supposed to scratch it.
When we were in Iraq, the commander of 1st AD put in orders to award the combat patch to the pilots who flew him on missions, mostly in Alpha Company and me for some things I did for 1AD. Then the orders were revised to include all of 2-104th Aviation. But so far the orders have not been finalized.
All the years I served in tanks (1975-84) I was in infantry divisions, so I never wore an armored patch. With the 1AD patch I finally got to wear an armored patch, but now it is on hold, maybe forever. So in the absence of orders, I can wear my 1AD patch where my bike buddies can see it.
Here's the actual patch:
