Skin deep: Former medic seeks to remember fallen in book of tattoos

A red moon with a dragon. That was the first tattoo inked into James Elmer's skin at Flat's in Groton.

Almost 20 years later, two sleeves of tattoos cover his arms. He has a back piece and more ink designs on his chest, stomach and lower legs.

Elmer also has other permanent marks. A scar runs from his belly button and down his lower abdomen. Another crosses his left arm. And his foot - from his big toe to his fourth toe - is scar tissue.

A former Army medic, Elmer is now medically retired, considered by the military to be 80 percent disabled from wounds he sustained in Iraq in 2005.

But even though he can no longer serve, Elmer is using his passion for tattoos to memorialize fellow fallen service members, more than 5,000 of whom have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 38-year-old Mystic native, who now lives in Alabama and works at Fort Benning, Ga., is collecting photographs of military tribute tattoos for a book he will call "Scars of War." He plans to donate the proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that helps soldiers transition to life after combat.

The idea grew from one of his own tattoos, dedicated to Michael Robertson, the only soldier Elmer lost in his 15 years of service.

Robertson died Oct. 25, 2005, after an improvised explosive device went off near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Samarra, Iraq.

"I spent more time with him than I did with my wife in preparing to go," Elmer says. "He was always happy, even when things were going really crappy. He was a great medic; he'd do anything for his guys."

Elmer got the tattoo - his own version of a Purple Heart wrapped in a banner bearing Robertson's name - a year after Robertson was killed.

"In a way it kind of helped me deal with it, but more, it helped get him out there," Elmer says. "I could tell (people) about him."

Elmer knows it could easily have been his own name tattooed on another's chest.

A medical platoon sergeant in Iraq in 2005, Elmer served with the 1st Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Benning, in charge of 44 men. He was riding in the second of a three-vehicle convoy when the third vehicle was hit by an IED.

The convoy stopped because the gunner had taken a large amount of shrapnel to the face. As Elmer was treating the soldier, he was hit by shrapnel in the arm, and a bullet went through his arm and into his stomach.

He jokes about the dubious honor of coming from a long line of military men and being the only one that earned a Purple Heart.

"They call it the slow movers' badge because you didn't get out of the way in time," he says.

Elmer spent time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, recovering and dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

"It took me awhile to admit to that, since there's such a stigma attached to it," he says.

Two years later, after being told he was no longer deployable, he retired.

Now, after completing a nursing degree, Elmer works as a forensic nurse with a dismounted incident analysis team. That means analyzing medical reports of soldiers killed in action on the ground (outside of a vehicle) to determine how they died.

The team also examines intelligence, types of explosives and personal protective equipment, such as vests and helmets, to help develop lighter, stronger body armor.

Still, he misses the organization that he joined two days after he turned 19. The Army kept him out of trouble, he says, and it took him around the world.

"It's by far the best thing I've ever done in my life," he says. "My biggest regret is that I had to get out. I miss my soliders, I miss the comradery."

And so he hopes his project can evoke that bond.

He hopes to get photographs of at least 100 tattoos memorializing service members from any military branch who have died since Sept. 11, 2001.

The most popular type of tattoo is the memorial done in a combat zone, Elmer says - an M-16 rifle with the barrel stuck in the ground, a helmet and dog tags hung on top, and boots alongside. A Marine at Fort Benning tattooed skulls at the base of the rifle for a fellow Marine he had lost, Elmer says, but others he's collected feature American flags and the images of soldiers.

"It's pretty important to me that it's done right and done respecting (the soldiers)," he says of the book.

Sam Vaden, of the Wounded Warrior Project, says the organization normally requires a higher level of commitment, through contracts and donation levels, before sponsoring a project, but made an exception in Elmer's case because of his story. The nonprofit is leaving the work to Elmer, but has agreed to receive whatever funds he raises.

"We are definitely honored that he approached us," Vaden says. "It speaks volumes to the mission of the organization, enabling one soldier to pay homage to his fellow soldiers."

Elmer can be reached at james_d_elmer@yahoo.com, on Facebook or at (706) 587-7996. Businesses who wish to donate are also welcome to sponsor the project.

k.warchut@theday.com