this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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I watched the video. I'm not arguing that it is the same skull used by the Nazi SS. I'm arguing that specific skull wasn't created by the Nazis (here it is on an 18th century pirate flag)
and it wasn't used last by the Nazis (here it is on a US special forces patch used in Vietnam) 
.
The US military has used all sorts of eagles, swords, crosses, skulls, double lightning bolts, etc over the years that were also used by Nazis at some point. I just don't think it is reasonable to say he's a Nazi based on this tattoo alone in the absolute absence of any other evidence of any sort.
that one is an entirely dissimilar skull and cross bones
that one is 100% intentionally the SS-Totenkopf
I'm not saying he necessarily secretly considers himself a Nazi, but he does have an unambiguously Nazi tattoo and his explicit claim that he was totally clueless about its meaning for 18 years is simply not believable (especially in light of other evidence, like his reddit posts defending other solders' double lightning bolt tattoos).
Yea, it is unambiguously a Nazi tattoo. It is also just as accurate to say it is a pirate tattoo or a Vietnam era special forces tattoo. Personally, I just don't see it as automatically damning in itself.
There's just no way the US military allowed Nazi symbology to proliferate amongst its ranks. That's certainly never happened before. We're the good guys /s
It could be that, or it could also be that the Nazis copied some of this stuff from the US. They admired our treatment of black people and borrowed a lot from us.
No, totenkopf was symbol used in XIX century by Prussian hussars. They were pretty badass so it spread a little in different forms in the region, but it only made a world career by being symbol of SS.
The pirate flag I posted earlier was from the XVIII century. The skull and crossbones in general was used by pirates from the XVIII century onward. In general it was used in Europe since the late middle ages, originating in Spain. The Hussars were just the first military regiment to officially use it.
The skull of Adam at the foot of the Cross: detail from a Crucifixion by Fra Angelico, 1435
Here is a grave in Ireland, likely from around 1730 with the symbol.
And I'm just sticking to depictions with the left facing 1/4 turn that the SS most often used. I guess my point is that the association of the symbol with death far elipses it's association with the SS.