In the 1950’s, the F.P. Miller Company was open for business on East Michigan Avenue in Jackson, Michigan Germany’s William II was described by his English uncle, King Edward VII, as “the most brilliant failure in history.” William loathed Great Britain and had imprisoned his English mother (Queen Victoria’s daughter) after his father’s death. He had a mania for a huge naval fleet and envisioned an armada so large that it would be able to destroy Britain’s Royal Navy. The Prussian warrior king wanted to make Germany a world power. Under Grand Admiral Alfred van Tirpitz, Germany undertook a massive ship building program. It had two purposes: solve internal political problems and whip up enthusiasm for the fleet as a whole generation of little boys were forced into sailor and merchant marine uniforms. One of those boys was Francis Paul Miotk...