Colonel’s SHAEF Jacket
During WWII, the Soviet Union, Mongolia, the United States, United Kingdom, China, Poland, France, Saudi Arabia, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Greece, Iran, Ethiopia, and Denmark were the members of the Allies, an alliance of nations opposed to Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and their puppets. The Allied Expeditionary Force was the single largest military organization ever, and commanding it fell to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. Coordinating millions of troops and countless planes, tanks and ships, required an administration of huge proportions. Led by Dwight Eisenhower, SHAEF was in charge of turning the armies and war efforts of over 20 countries into an effective fighting force.
SHAEF brought men from almost every country into one force. I find this very similar to the way that my family came together. The representation of my background as (in technical language) a mutt is united in this jacket with the American ideal of service to our country. Taking disparate elements and incorporating them into a new, unique force is the essence of America, and this is reflected in me and this jacket. This heirloom, given to me by my grandmother, is exemplary of the synthesis of these distinct elements into a whole greater than the sum of its parts, which perfectly sums up myself. In short, this jacket explains my American identity as a referential, unique experience.

– ASM

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