Chris joined the Navy in December of 1998 when he was 19 years old. He served a little over 10 years. He says his father influenced him to join the military.

“You do a lot of maturing, especially pre 9/11… that’s when things changed. It went from being a peacetime military to constant deployments and really testing our skills.”

Chris says he remembers his RDC telling them, “Alright guys, you guys are sailors now… What do sailors do? They drink, they fight, and they get tattoos.”

Chris has five tattoos:

• His wife’s name, Karen, which he got right out of Bootcamp

• A swallow on his chest with his son’s initials on a nameplate because he didn’t know if he would make it back from Iraq

• Caduceus on his right calf 

• An anchor with his father’s nickname, “Georgie,” who was also a sailor

• A gypsy’s head with his mother’s name, Josephine

“Every tattoo has a story, and I can always remember where I was and why I got this tattoo.”