Crocus library honours Tommy Prince

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/02/2023 (1042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon School Division is the latest Manitoba institution to honour the memory of Sgt. Tommy Prince, officially naming a local high school library after the decorated Indigenous war veteran Friday.

A dedication ceremony took place at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School, where the institution’s library now prominently features Prince’s name and a three-panel display that highlights his various military accomplishments.

Friday’s event attracted dignitaries from different segments of the Westman community, including BSD board trustees, CFB Shilo members and City of Brandon officials such as Mayor Jeff Fawcett.

Some of Prince’s surviving family members even made the trip to Brandon for the unveiling ceremony, with son Tommy Prince Jr. and nephew Jim Bear both thanking the division for putting together such a worthy tribute.

“I just have to acknowledge the school division for their reconciliation efforts,” Bear told the Sun.

“To me, I love seeing these gatherings and the participation of all people. That’s exactly what Tommy fought for.”

BSD officials originally approached Crocus Plains principal Chad Cobbe with the project last June, highlighting how it would be a perfect fit for a school that boasts a high number of Indigenous students and complementary programming.

“It is our sincere hope that the generations of young people who avail themselves of this library will take some time to try and understand his life,” BSD trustee Jim Murray said Friday.

“He was serving with valour for his country and for generations of Canadians that he would never know. He did this at a time when his people were treated so poorly and with such disrespect by that very country.”

Prince, who was a member of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, remains Canada’s most decorated Indigenous veteran, having served as a scout and a forward combatant in both the Second World War and the Korean War.

After enlisting in June 1940, Prince would eventually join the Devil’s Brigade, a specialized commando unit composed of Canadian and American soldiers who fought throughout France and Italy.

Because of Prince’s heroic actions on both fronts, where he inserted himself deep behind enemy lines to collect critical intel, the sergeant was awarded the Military Medal and the American Silver Star, making him only one of three Canadian soldiers to receive both awards.

In 1950, Prince re-enlisted in the military to take part in the Korean War, this time joining the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry that currently operates out of CFB Shilo.

During this conflict, Prince earned several other medals throughout the course of two tours, although some shrapnel wounds sustained during the Second Battle of the Hook took him out of action until the war came to a close.

Once his military service ended in 1953, Prince had to confront a totally different kind of war on the home front, given that Indigenous veterans faced racist federal policies at virtually every level of society.

Because of this, Prince dedicated much of his post-war life to advocating for better educational and economic opportunities for Indigenous communities, having previously lobbied the federal government to abolish the Indian Act.

Prince, who later suffered from alcoholism and experienced homelessness, died in 1977 at age 62. Over the years, his legacy as a soldier and activist has gradually returned to the public consciousness.

In November 1989, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry helped create a statue of his likeness and installed it at Kildonan Park in Winnipeg.

Since then, several other Winnipeg landmarks have adopted Prince’s name, including a street and a recreation centre located in the city’s Old Exhibition Grounds.

Last October, Canada Post unveiled a new stamp featuring Prince, with Friday’s naming ceremony at Crocus Plains serving as a continuation of this awareness campaign, according to Prince Jr.

“It’s a real honour to have everyone pay tribute and recognize him,” he told the Sun on Friday. “It makes the family feel proud and sometimes it’s just overwhelming.”

Outside of his military service and post-war activism, Prince Jr. would also like the country to know that his father was a kind-hearted man who didn’t take himself too seriously.

Prince Jr. even recalled two different instances when his father dressed up as Elvis Presley and Roy Rogers just to make members of his community laugh.

“There’s more to him than the war side,” he said. “He was a loving, caring man and it’s important people remember that.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson