Tommy Prince

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Thomas George Prince, MM (October 25, 1915 – November 25, 1977) was an Indigenous Canadian war hero and the most decorated soldier in the First Special Service Force or Devil's Brigade, an elite American-Canadian commando unit, during World War II. He is Canada's most decorated First Nations soldier, serving in World War II and the Korean War. Prince was one of only three Canadians to receive both the Canadian Military Medal and the American Silver Star during World War II. Prince's military deeds as a scout and as a forward combatant were unique and of major strategic importance. He has been described as "perhaps Canada's greatest soldier". Prince was descended from chiefs of the Peguis First Nation (Saulteux or Ojibwe). Prince's grandfather had negotiated treaty rights in Manitoba with representatives of The Crown. Prince himself would also represent First Nations concerns in Ottawa as Chairman of both the Manitoba Indian Association (currently Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs) and the First Nations of Canada national delegation. He advocated for the abolition of the governing Indian Act in Canada and proposed respect for the traditional Crown treaties as the basis of First Nations rights. Prince's position, although considered radical at the time, has been vindicated in subsequent decades by Supreme Court of Canada rulings in support of the Crown treaties and is now accepted as government policy.