Sgt. GRIT, I am the youngest living son ( at age 61) of Lt. (j.g.) Thomas H. Hogan, USN. He was a Naval Aviator flying off Carrier Escorts, Pacific, WWII. I flew to St. Louis in 2007 for his funeral…. Awaiting a connecting flight at Midway Airport in Chicago I observed two ‘very old’ gentlemen, (in wheelchairs, accompanied by their wives)….both clearly WWII Veterans. By their attire, one was Army, and the other wore a Navy cover reading “USS Montpelier, CL-57. ” I planned on looking that ship up after returning home, being in the midst of an on-going effort to learn all I could about Dad and his Pacific Service. (BTW, had become enthralled by the Marines since reading “Marine”, many times since 1979;. Wow! What fortitude! I was looking at something great…. which I had missed out on. I’ve been reading military stuff ever since…and have concluded that MOST of the fortitude out there is TRAINED INTO Marines! Long story short. Arriving in St. Louis, as I exited the plane, there was the ‘NAVY’ guy, just inside the airport. As I was headed to conclude some somber business, I rested my hand lightly on “Navy guy’s” shoulder and said…”Thanks, Sir….”. His reply? “Semper Fi”! Holy sheitt moment! This man was a Fleet Marine! A week later, awaiting my flight in the St. Louis Airport…there was the guy! Walking! I caught up with him to talk a bit, and with little prompting from me, launched into what had to be the most vivid sight in ever all his born days. Here’s his story. The USS Montpelier is off Okinawa, May, 1945. So is my Dad’s ship. The Montpelier was out of ALL ammo except 20 mm (might as well throw a Coke can at a bus doing 70mph)….and there were a boatload of Kamikazes headed their way. Seventy-five Marine and Naval Aviators appear in the skies above and BLEW THESE PEOPLE AWAY! Small world…My Dad may have had that man’s six that day. I never got his name, and I could kick myself! During an on-line search for the Montpelier, I came across a photo of about 21 young Marines, 17,18,19 years old, all of whom served on the Montpelier. All their names were listed…and they were all seated in a 20 mm Gun Tub…..grinning like crazy. In the years since I have spent much time at the local Marine Corps Recruiting Office…never having been in The Corps….I can still hang out with them. I have ALWAYS been received there as a welcome guest…I do PT, running and pullups with the poolies…challenge them with questions (when appropriate: I’m a guest). And asked the question, and received the answer, which is the whole thrust of this post. After getting advice and counsel from some highly respected ( by me) SSgts. and one GySgt…the consensus was…”.of course you can get a tattoo”. So here’s the photo of my ‘Tribute’ tattoo. And, as a Navy son… Fair winds and following seas. Kirk Hogan Manchester, NH
Another All Gave Some Tattoo
