I chose this artifact because it is important in my family's history. It is made out of an ancient metal that had to be carefully carved into a star surrounding it with a small layer of gold. And on top of it is a red outline with blue and white in the middle. This is my great grandfather's bronze star. My great grandfather traveled to England in March 1942. When America entered WW2, he was going to London to be a code breaker on the side of the Allies.  He moved into his friend's house in London. The Nazis were sending coded messages to the Code Breakers who tried 24/7 to break the Nazi code. In December 1943, the allies needed fresh oil to run their tanks, mobile artillery and armored vehicles. They knew the Nazis had plenty and that could turn the tide of the war to Hitler’s favor. On December 20, 1943, the Germans sent messages coded in dots. This is where Harold Joseph Berman came to work on December 23, 1943. He was trying to break this code. 24 hours later he had it. The Germans were dumping their oil at the port of Dunkirk in Belgium. 34 hours later on Christmas Eve, an American PDY flew across the English Channel with a metal rod attached to 10 oil crates and came in and picked up the rest. On Christmas Day 1943 my great grandfather got a great present. It was an invitation to the US military base in a town near the English Channel. Obviously he went and the Commander there awarded him the bronze star for breaking the most important German code. 1 year later Germany surrendered and Berlin fell. My great grandfather came back to The US in 1948.

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Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more