Brooklyn 1944 (Marcus Cumbie Story)

(This is a story from my Uncle Marc, who at age 16 followed his two older brothers into the Navy and World War II.)

“Course Daddy never did say much about it, but he made one thing, told it to my brothers and I: ‘you’re goin’ in the Navy, I was in the Army, and it’s up to you to go into what branch you
want, but you’re in the Navy, and if you come back here with a bunch of tattoos on your body, you stop and say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to your mama and just keep on walkin'.”