My father, Albert Elkin, was a World War II veteran who helped liberate the Philippines in 1945, leading a mortar platoon up the Caraballo Mountains to rout out Japanese troops. The mountains, unlike the jungle below, were cold, so the Army air-dropped blankets of Australian wool to the soldiers. Dad kept his blanket, and I remember using it as a child in the even colder upstate New York winters.
Dad passed away last August at the age of 97. In cleaning out his house, I found the blankets, now full of moth holes but with “Lt. Albert Elkin” still clearly written on its label. I think it is a fitting tribute to my dad to make this blanket and its story part of this exhibition.