This Jacket is the Ike Jacket of 9th Armored Division veteran Carl L. Shell, I bought the jacket from his son-in-law through Ebay. When he noticed that the buyer was someone from Belgium he contacted us telling Carl Shell fought hard during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. I contacted Carl and this way a very special but wonderful friendship grew.

The Ike Jacket has an 9th Armored Patch on the right sleeve, this is the patch of Carl's former combat unit. On the left sleeve we find an 1st Infantry Division Patch, this was the unit Carl was in after the war. He reenlisted because he did not want to work in the coal mines like his father and ended up in A-Company, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. Also on the right sleeve there are 4 overseas service bars and one service stripe for 3-years of service.
Sewn over his left breast pocket are: Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 battle stars, WW2 Victory Medal, WW2 Occupation Medal and National Defence Medal. These are only the medals he had at the time he was wearing this jacket. By the end of his career he had 19 medals.

This Ike Jacket is one of the most precious items of my collection and I will treasure for my entire life. I am very happy that this way I got acquainted to Carl and that we became such good friends.