Can they really do that?

As of last week, there has been a drastic change in the uniform policy of the United States Marine Corps. They are banning tattoos either below the elbow or the knee because of the clean cut image the marines are supposed to portray. To us, this may not be a big deal -- but for those involved it certinally is. Men of uniform see tattoos as a rite of passage, or a permanant way to honor a comrade fallen in battle, and because of this new rule, many marines are thinking about not reenlisting. They feel as if the little things are bogging down on them, they are fighting for their country, but are not allowed to have tattoos?
This makes me recall a rule that has been in place far before my time, and still reigns true today. People are allowed to die for their country at the tender age of eighteen, just entering the threshold of adulthood. There is nothing wrong with that, but that fact that at that age one is allowed to go to war, but if they would like to have a drink...no siree!