R & R in Japan, August 1951

Mike Gray of Omemee, Ont., shares a photo of his father, Lawrence Reimer (centre), enjoying a draft while in good company at the Ginza Beer Hall, Tokyo.

Gray points out that his father had just turned 19. “I recall him telling me that they were so young, all of them”…and while engaged in military operations in Korea with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a lot of the boys “owed their survival to the skill, talent and ability of platoon Sergeant Tommy Prince.”

Prince was Canada’s most decorated aboriginal war veteran. During the Second World War he was summoned to Buckingham Palace where the king presented him with the Military Medal and—on behalf of the United States president—the Silver Star with ribbon. Prince did two tours of duty in Korea before he was wounded in the knee.

We thank Mike Gray for his contribution to Find-Share-Discuss, and invite readers to share similar memories of wartime or peacetime service, including memories of serving with such notable heroes as Tommy Prince.