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Never forget
My new tattoo
For the past two years, I’ve been wanting to get a tattoo with a 9-11 theme. I wanted a constant reminder of that terrible day, to never, never, never forget. So yesterday, traci and I went to see my artist (Casey Cokrlic at the north Dallas/Montfort location of Fine Line Tattoos) to get some new ink.
She actually got two new tats: one representing her sons on her left wrist. And one commemorating 9-11 on her right. She wanted hearts for both of them. We did a lot of looking through tattoo magazines for inspiration and found something she really liked a lot. It was two hearts with some flowers as well as the scroll for the names. But she didn’t like the flowers in the one we saw. She liked the cherry blossoms I have on my half-sleeve and wanted to know the meaning behind the flowers. For the feudal samurai, the cherry blossom represented the fleeting nature of life. It was a symbol for how beautiful life is, and how the natural way of things can cause that beauty to be over so quickly. She reinterpreted it in light of the theme for her tattoo: that we only have our children for a short while and then they are out on their own. I thought it was a nice way of looking at it.
traci's 9/11 tattoo
Then for her 9-11 tattoo, she wanted the heart to display the Stars & Stripes in addition to the scroll with the date. Simple and sincere. And, of course, Casey did some incredible single-needle work on the names and a surprising amount of detail work in the shading. They both came out gorgeous, as expected. She spent about 90 minutes under the needle. And it was pretty damn painful. But at the end, it was all very much worth it.
My new ink went on my left wrist. I was originally gonna have it made a bit smaller, but after looking at some flash and working on it with Casey, I decided to have it large enough to show some detail. The inspiration is the snake from the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag of the Continental army. You probably remember it from the phrase “Don’t Tread On Me.” Well, that seemed to me to be the perfect symbol to honor those Americans who died in the cowardly attacks of September 11, 2001. In 1775, the Gadsden flag was created to declare our defiance of Britain. And to say, in no uncertain terms, “Nobody provokes me with impunity.” I liked the idea of the rattlesnake used on that flag. Benjamin Franklin also wrote an apt rationale for its use as our national symbol:
“She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. … she never wounds ’till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.”
That seemed particularly relevant to our present circumstances. So with that as the starting point, Casey drew up something for me that has its roots in that historical image, but updates it a bit. Add the date at the bottom, and we were all set.
I can still barely believe that it happened 4 years ago. Last night, I turned on the tube when we got home from the tattoo shop and watched “The Flight That Fought Back“. (I was amazed that the Discovery Channel was one of the only channels saying anything about 9/11… a fact Captain’s Quarters noted, too.) It was chilling to hear the actual recordings of folks on American Airlines flight 93, the phone calls they made to loved ones and emergency officials to let them know what was happening. The reenactments were distubing to watch. But I thought that it was good that the Discovery Channel had done something to honor the brave men & women on flight 93. I think too often we all remember those who died when the World Trade Center was destroyed, but forget those who also died at the Pentagon and especially those American heroes who brought down the plane in Shanksville, PA rather than allowing the Islamic psychopaths to destroy the Capitol building. I was glad to see their memory portrayed in a respectful light. Still, when they showed the footage of the smoking towers collapsing, it felt like someone plunged a dagger into my heart all over again. I hadn’t seen that footage in a while, and it kinda surprised me that it moved me so deeply again. It felt like it did that morning, as I sat glued to my TV, unable to look away at the horror unfolding right in front of my eyes. I’m still grieving for people I don’t know, and never met. I’m still crying over the courage of men and women who ran into those towers to help those who were running out.
Look over on Six Meat Buffet and Michelle Malkin’s blog to view some reminders from 9-11 as well as a good roundup of links to blogs that remembered 9-11.
It makes me angry that we still haven’t caught Osama Bin Laden. It makes me angry that Clinton had evidence of the 9-11 plan years in advance and did nothing about it. It makes me angry that Clinton even had Bin Laden on a platter and let him walk. It makes me angry that Bush now has us up to our eyeballs in Iraq in addition to everything else we should be doing to catch the Muslim anti-American terrorist asshat fuckwads. It makes me angry that we haven’t wiped out every terrorist training camp in existence, no matter its location. It makes me angry that we haven’t marched into Syria and Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and Pakistan and told them to just step the fuck back and let us find the motherfuckers who did this. It makes me angry that we didn’t pull out our fucking nukes and remind everyone on the planet just why they should NOT be fucking with the United States of America. Rational or not, that’s just how I feel. Good thing I’m not the President; our gasoline would be about 50¢ a gallon by now, but it’d glow in the dark, too. The wounds from 9-11 are still just so raw. Not only on my wrist, but also on my heart. And that’s the one I don’t know how to heal.
Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
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