Symbols of Survival

Legions of veterans find healing from tattoos, from the conception of the tattoo design to the chosen tattoo artist, the tattooing process, and carrying the symbol for a lifetime. “Tattoos are such a huge part of the service member culture, and this goes way, way, way back,” said Wounded Warrior Project Physical Health and Wellness Vice President James Herrera.

In the modern era, the popularity of tattoos in the military has been widespread since at least World War I, from the famed anchor to signs of patriotism and pride. “Tattoos have so much symbolism for veterans,” Herrera shared. “They highlight places they’ve been, they highlight people, their units, special schools that they went to.”

Four military veterans injured in active duty, including one tattoo artist, shared with Inked that they turned to the Wounded Warrior Project when they returned home. The nonprofit provides free support services, such as physical health and wellness, career and VA benefits counseling, community engagement, and mental health and wellness.

“The military’s really good, I think, at making people feel like they are a part of the machine, and they’re important,” said Army Staff Sergeant Veteran Beth King in the 2024 WWP YouTube “Ink of Honor: Warriors in Focus” video. “(But) they’re not the best at reminding us that it’s ok to take time to step back and take care of yourself.”

In its 2025 “Warrior Survey,” WWP reported that 67% of surveyed veterans said that, in the past year, talking with another veteran helped with stress or emotional or mental health concerns. U.S. Marine Corps and Army Veteran Daniel “Marz” Wright, Jr., is one such veteran who wants to have those conversations, and who WWP selected to demonstrate this type of scenario.

From Tattered to Tattooing

When Wright returned home to have surgery for injuries he sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan, he visited one of his best friends and took a spin on his new motorcycle. The two planned to meet up later in the day, but while Wright was in the shower, his phone was blowing up with phone calls. On the other line were words of condolences — his friend crashed and died while riding his bike.

Wright was profoundly grief-stricken and soon after visited a tattoo artist to ink a dog tag on his right forearm with his friend’s name, “alive date,” and death date. “It’s a tear falling off one of the dog tags. It symbolized being sad,” he said. “That was my most painful, not as in pain, but it’s because of the meaning of it.”

The experience was emotional and educational. As he talked to the tattoo artist, Wright realized the profession could provide a respectable income and imagined a tattooing career of his own.

This ambition reemerged top of mind for Wright when he was an inpatient for 30 days in the hospital for PTSD episodes, anxiety, and depression. “They said I wasn’t very cooperative; I wasn’t very talkative because I didn’t trust these people,” he said.

Around halfway through his stay, Wright began drawing on a paper pad, triggering meaningful conversations and awareness that art therapy could benefit him. When he was released from the hospital, “I started taking tattooing seriously, looking for apprenticeships and stuff like that, and I just never looked back after that,” he shared. “I started tattooing people — started tattooing veterans. I found out that the art therapy helped me, so if it could help me, how can I make that help other people?

“When you’re out of the military, you’re forgotten, if that makes sense. You’re forgotten by all your brothers and sisters,” Wright continued. “You’re out of sight, out of mind. You lose that camaraderie. You lose that brotherhood, that connection. So, I wanted to fix that gap.”

It was a lightbulb moment for Wright. The artist-client connection and organic conversations could be therapeutic for veterans. “So, while I’m tattooing you, we’re talking about everything we used to do in the military: the things you’ve done, the things you’ve seen,” he said of his process, adding, “You feel comfortable talking to me about it because I can understand, I can relate.”

He approached the WWP and pitched his idea: free tattoos to wounded veterans. WWP’s people and programs had helped Wright since his initial injury, offering counseling, community engagement, and knowledge. “What better organization should I try to partner with to help me help people? Wounded Warrior was that, and we’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.

Today, Wright operates the Marzmade Mobile Tattoo Studio, driving his practice to clients in his tricked-out Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. “I went mobile because some of the veterans didn’t leave their house,” he explained. “Some of the veterans couldn’t go to a physical shop, and I was like, you know what? I got to find a way to reach those people as well.”

A Healing Process

King was on duty in Afghanistan in 2011 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit her helicopter. Tied with a tether between her shoulder blades, she backed up the ramp to escape the flames, hit her head, was knocked out, and was thrown backward, leaving her dangling out of the Chinook until they landed.

“All my injuries were internal,” she explained. “So, in the moment, I didn’t even realize I had an issue.” King went back to duty, but experienced brain fog, a stutter, and had headaches and facial pain. Her neurological symptoms progressed, and 18 months later, she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and had trauma to her spine, caused by the tether that saved her life. She had nerve issues in her feet, and her right foot was dysfunctional, which eventually led to the amputation of her right leg in December 2023.

She immortalized the experience in 2024 with a tattoo of an eye with a huddling soldier embedded. “There are some things that you just can’t unsee. There’s some things that happen in life that you just can’t un-feel,” she explained. “I like the idea of that image in the eyeball because it’s kind of like… it was burned in my retina.”

Marine Corps Veteran Phil Krabbe carries his most important tattoo on his left hand. After years of suffering from PTSD, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and nightmares, everything came to a head on November 30, 2020 when his depression attempted to seize control. “I can’t count how many gunfights I’ve been in. I’ve been blown up twice. There’s not a whole lot I’m afraid of, and I was deathly afraid to go to sleep at night, because I would relive that day over and over and over again,” he explained.

He loaded his .38-caliber pistol and stuck the barrel in his mouth, but before he put full pressure on the trigger, thoughts of his son finding him in the aftermath and a tattoo of an oath intervened. He promised his good friend Ray Pizarro he would have the courage to survive, forgive himself for past deeds, and remember his pain and sacrifice throughout his life. The tattoo reads “PAIN, SACRIFICE, FORGIVENESS, COURAGE.”

Krabbe met Pizarro in the WWP program and credits him for helping him become the man he is today. “I got it tattooed on my left hand specifically, because I knew if I was holding a gun in my right hand, I would be able to see it, and that’s what saved my life that night,” he shared.

When he joined the military in 2010, Army Veteran Marco Solt was already enamored with tattoos, but said his service provided purpose for more ink. He was deployed in Afghanistan in 2012 when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, resulting in injuries that caused him to become a double amputee. A memorial piece on his left arm — an eagle set against the American flag and a depiction of a roadside blast — is his most meaningful, paying tribute to the incident.

“Getting inked gives me an opportunity to express myself and tell my story,” Solt shared. “I’ve gotten multiple tattoos throughout my military career, and each one is like a snapshot of who I was at the time as a soldier.

“That was the worst and best day of my life all at the same time,” he continued. “(It) reminds me of all the bad things that happened, but also all the good that came from it, such as coming to Christ with my wife and starting a family.”

Continuing Treatment

WWP’s suite of programs is offered for free to those who served in the military on or after 9/11 and who sustained a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound. Programs such as family services, independence resources, adaptive sports, and support groups can be essential for wounded veterans. To illustrate, Herrera, whose body is also adorned in ink, leads the team behind Soldier Ride, an annual multi-day biking event.

“A lot of times we get these veterans who have not been on a bike since they were 9, 10 years old, and it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go ride 20 miles today,’” Herrera said. He explains to the veterans that challenges could occur, and that it is ok. “Sometimes you’re going to be carried, (but) sometimes you’re going to carry one of your brothers and sisters because they’re in a tough spot and they need your help.”

The tattooing process can provide emotional significance to anyone who settles into a tattoo artist’s chair, including veterans. California tattoo artist Bill “Wild Bill” Hill (@wildbilltattoo) had some advice for Krabbe: explain to the tattoo artist why you’re getting your tattoo and what it represents.

“If your tattoo artist doesn’t know the meaning of what he’s tattooing, then he can’t put the love and compassion and everything into that tattoo. Then it just becomes a tattoo,” Krabbe shared. “When I get a tattoo, it’s like a weight that’s lifted off my shoulders because I no longer have to carry it because I have it immortalized on my body.”

Whether the wounds are physical, psychological, or financial, anyone who has sustained injury or illness while in the military on or after 9/11 is encouraged to reach out to the Wounded Warrior Project at 888.997.2586 or by visiting woundedwarriorproject.org. Daniel “Marz” Wright, Jr., offers one free tattoo to wounded veterans. Visit marzmade.com.