Sergeant Tommy Prince Mural
Municipality/Province: Winnipeg, MB
Memorial number: 46012-039
Type: Mural
Address: 1069 Sgt. Tommy Prince Street
GPS coordinates: Lat: 49.923079 Long: -97.1674603
The Sergeant Tommy Prince Mural was unveiled on 17 September 2011. Fred Thomas designed the mural and his co-worker at the time, Nereo Eugenio, painted the mural with the help of some youth at Graffiti Art Programming. From left to right, the images in the mural include:
1. Prince as one with the land. He is dressed in uniform, but still a warrior as represented in the image behind him;
2. Devil holding First Special Service Force (Devil’s Brigade) shoulder patch;
3. United States Combat Infantry Badge which Prince received with the First Special Service Force (Devil’s Brigade).
4. Prince wearing a backwards beret as a Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) soldier in the Korean War. The PPCLI Cap Badge on his beret would either be the 1933 or 1948 version he wore in Korea;
5. Jump Wings - the basic style worn for basic Para Qualified personnel. Prince was Jump Qualified from the Second World War;
6. PPCLI Cap Badge, the 1965 pattern which is current from 1956 to today;
7. First Special Service Force shoulder patch worn by the combined Canadian/United States troops;
8. 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade badge worn by troops in Korea;
9. Medals that Prince was entitled to.
Donald Mackey, chair of the Tommy Prince Military Medal Memorial Fund Committee, first met Prince in 1953 when they were both stationed in Winnipeg. An existing mural of Prince, who lived in the North End, was the target of repeated vandalism over the years and to help sustain the memory of Prince, Donald began fund raising for the new mural. Donald founded the Tommy Prince Royal Army Cadet Corps, located at 200 Isabel Street, for inner city youth in October 1999. He was also instrumental in the Tommy Prince Veteran's Park being established in 2007.
Sergeant Tommy Prince was a prominent Anishinaabe activist who served in the Second World War and Korean War. His story is one of the most widely known examples of the wartime contributions of Indigenous soldiers in the mid-20th century and the poor treatment they received upon their return to civilian life in Canada. His accomplishments attracted national media attention during his lifetime and earned him a great many posthumous tributes.
Prince was born in October 1915 in St. Peter's Reserve, Manitoba. He was the great-grandson of respected Ojibwa Chief Peguis, and one of eleven children born to Elizabeth and Henry Prince. In 1920, they moved to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Scanterbury, Manitoba. At age five, Prince was forced to leave his community and attend Elkhorn Residential School, where he joined the Cadet Corps. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the residential school before he joined the military.
In 1940, he volunteered to fight for Canada in the Second World War. He rose from sapper to lance corporal with the Royal Canadian Engineers before volunteering for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in 1942. Soon after, he was assigned to the elite 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion, which was attached to the First Special Service Force (Devil’s Brigade). He reached the rank of sergeant by war’s end, and was one of three Canadians to receive both the Silver Star (United States) and the Military Medal. King George VI presented him with both honours during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1945, shortly before Prince’s discharge from the army.
He wanted to prove his people were as good as any white man and restore their good name. One way to achieve this was to acquire as many medals as possible and he did so without putting his men at risk. Before any patrols he would ensure they were camouflaged and everything was secured. Often he would patrol alone because there would be less noise. Prince was a natural warrior and he excelled as the military developed the skills he learned on the reserve while living off the land. He loved the Devil's Brigade and was always praising his men, "If it wasn't for my men, I wouldn't be who I am today." He was a caring man who loved to joke around and make people laugh.
He was a prominent leader in the Indigenous rights movement of the 1940s. After the war, he served as spokesperson and vice-president of the Manitoba Indian Association, and appeared on its behalf before a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons, tasked with studying the Indian Act. During his testimony in 1947, he advocated for the abolition of the Indian Act and respect for existing treaties, and presented submissions from Indigenous in Manitoba, which called for improved schools, better living conditions, and expanded hunting, trapping, and fishing rights.
In 1950, Prince re-enlisted in the Korean War. He contributed to the defence of Hill 677 in the Battle of Kapyong in 1951, for which the United States awarded the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry the Distinguished Unit Citation—the only time a Canadian unit has received this honour. Military service took a heavy toll on his health and, following his honourable discharge from the army, he faced a difficult return to civilian life in Manitoba. Prince endured discrimination, illness, and poverty in the years that followed and died in 1977. He fought many demons after residential school and the horrors of combat, but he never lost his humility, self-worth, sense of humour and pride of being Anishinaabe.
Inscription found on memorial
[plaque]
THIS STREET WAS RENAMED
TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF
SGT. TOMMY PRINCE,
MILITARY MEDAL AND SILVER STAR
CANADA'S MOST DECORATED
ABORIGINAL SOLDIER
OCTOBER 1915 - NOVEMBER 1977
ERECTED BY THE SGT. TOMMY PRINCE, MM
MEMORIAL FUND COMMITTEE 01 JUNE 2002
Street view
Note
This information is provided by contributors and Veterans Affairs Canada makes it available as a service to the public. Veterans Affairs Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the information.
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