Born on St. Peter's Reserve, Manitoba, into the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Sergeant Thomas (Tommy) George Prince, ΠΌΠΌ (1915-1977), was one of Canada's most decorated Indigenous non-commissioned officers and war veterans. In 1940, during the Second World War, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Engineers, training as a sapper. Two years later, he joined the 1st Special Service Force (known as the Devil’s Brigade), a joint Canada-U.S. specialised reconnaissance and raiding unit in which he was known for his marksmanship, stealth and tracking skills, not to mention sheer nerve. He once repaired the broken telephone line he was using to report on enemy positions by posing-in full view of German soldiers - as a farmer weeding his crops. Pretending to tie his shoelaces, he rejoined the wires and strolled back to the abandoned farmhouse to resume his reports, which resulted in the destruction of four German posts. His bravery and service earned him the Military Medal, Silver Star (U.S.) and nine other decorations, including three (one posthumous) from the Korean War, where he did two tours of duty. Between the wars, Prince waged a different battle when, as vice-president of the Manitoba Indian Association, he spoke out in favor of abolishing the Indian Act and respecting existing treaties.
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Adjusting to civilian life was not easy for Prince after World War II and Korea, and with painfully arthritic knees as a result of the long, harsh conditions during his military service, his capabilities were limited. Although he had been granted a small military disability pension due to his knee injuries, as a First Nations member he was unable to access other programmes. Prince was effectively denied access to the special Canadian armed forces WWII veteran benefits programmes, which included WWII veterans employment programmes, WWII veterans educational support, land purchase support for WWII military veterans, and supplementary income support programmes for WWII veterans. The information and application forms for these programs were available only at local Royal Canadian Legion chapters. First Nations members were forbidden entrance to Royal Canadian Legion locations under the terms of the Indian Act, as alcohol was present on Legion premises. For this reason, Royal Canadian Legion chapters maintained their own bylaws forbidding the presence of First Nations members due to alcohol on the premises. These bylaws were formally removed nation-wide in 1966, some 20 years after the end of WWII. The requirement by the government to access special war veterans programmes solely through Royal Canadian Legion premises, where First Nations veterans were forbidden entrance, appears to have been designed as a ruse to exclude First Nations from participation.
He died at age 62 in 1977 at Winnipeg's Deer Lodge Centre, a health care facility specialising in geriatric care and treatment of veterans, and was interred in Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg. Despite the reduced circumstances of his later years, he had retained his fame and he was given a provincial state funeral, a notable event with significant official representatives and more than 500 people in attendance.
Source: Canada Post and Wikipedia
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