Rgc7,
Two of the three men I mentioned also had the great privilege of serving with, as well as befriending the legendary Tommy Prince, among Allies greatest War Heroes, who you may or may not know about? In case you don't Thomas Prince was an Ojibway Indian, born and raised in Manitoba, Canada. He was the direct descendant of one of the fiercest Indian War Heroes in North American history. He was the chief scout and original member of the Famous Devil's Brigade, and considered by many American, British, Canadian and French military men, as the the finest tracker they had ever come across. I learned, through my grandfather, that Prince use to track wolves through the night with his father, a hunter and trapper, on plains of the Canadian Prairie and that he was so good at it that that he'd often catch them asleep, before they smelled him. He was also known to be among Canada's finest marksman.
In World War 2, Prince was often referred to as a ghost. An animal of the night that the Germans feared. He would often go off on his own, deep behind enemy lines, and scout enemy positions. His work was stuff legend (but very real). He was know to have a fun side to him and he would toy with the enemy. On multiple occasions it was documented that he would sneak up on sleeping Germans during the night and tie their boot laces together, so that they would know he'd been there. I could tell you dozens of stories that barely seem real about what what he accomplished, but he became the only member of the Devil's Brigade to be awarded the Military Medal by the British King, the Croix de Guerre, by the French Crown, the Silver Star (with ribbon)by General Koening, on behalf of the President of the United States. In total, he took home 9 medals from World War 2, six beyond the three I listed... His most famous action was setting out on a trek without food or water, for 72 hours to find an enemy position. He returned after 3 days and so accurately detailed the position that it led his Brigade to capture of 1000 German soldiers, who surrendered after being completely surrounded and totally unaware of how the Allies had flanked them from multiple positions.
Sgt. Prince enlisted again in Korea and led a rifle company from the Princess Patricia's light infantry and was again awarded numerous presidential citations and awards. He was known as the "wolf" and the "ghost" by the Chinese that he tormented during the night. My grandfather said the guys use to joke that he had night vision and that even if he was blinded, he would be able to attain a headshot at hundreds of yards, based on smell alone.... Wound up being one of the West's most decorated soldiers in history and so much of what he did was classified or not able to be verified, because he was off doing what he did alone, where nobody could slow him down or blow his cover. We'll never know the depths of his accomplishments because he was incredibly quiet and humble, but merciless in his duty, and anyone who ever met him said that he was born and bred for combat.
Would have made one hell of a Navy Seal, a MARSOC or an Army Delta, today.
Just a cool story I thought I'd share.
