Someone you should know...

***Be sure to read the Uppestdate at the bottom of the post***

...through his obituary, if by no other way. I give you Private Léo Major:

After losing an eye to a grenade on D-Day on the beach in Normandy, he refused a medical evacuation. He claimed he could still sight a rifle with one eye.

“He always said doctors were a bunch of fools,” his son Denis said in an interview.

But it was his bravery on a cold, rainy April night in 1945 that won him his first medal and the lasting respect of the people of Zwolle.

On that night, Mr. Major single-handedly liberated the town.

It was April 13, 1945 when Pte. Major and another French-Canadian soldier, Willie Arsenault, were sent to scope out the German presence in the Dutch town, about 120 kilometres northeast of Amsterdam.

Mr. Arsenault was killed by German machine-gunners on the outskirts of the town.

But Mr. Major, using a combination of luck, cunning, and guts, was able to capture Zwolle from the Germans by killing them when he could and setting off enough grenades to create the impression a large Canadian force had entered the town.

By early morning, they had fled the town.

Apparently, such exploits verged on commonplace for this man:

Private Léo Major was a soldier from Montreal in the Régiment de la Chaudière in World War II. He was one of only three Canadian soldiers in the British Commonwealth to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the only Canadian to have been awarded the honour twice (Bar to the DCM), and the only allied soldier to be awarded two DCMs in two different wars (WW2 and Korea).

...

Leo single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers during The Battle of the Scheldt in southern Holland. During a Reconnaissance, whilst alone, he spotted two German soldiers walking along a dike. It was raining and it was cold. Leo said to himself "I am frozen and wet because of you so you will pay." So he captured the first one and used him as bait to capture the second one. The second one tried to use his gun but seconds later he was dead. Leo captured their commanding officer and forced him to surrender. The German garrison surrendered themselves (after three more were shot dead by Leo). In a nearby village, SS troops who witnessed German soldiers being escorted by a Canadian soldier shot at their own soldiers, injuring a few and killing seven. Leo disregarded the enemy fire and kept escorting his prisoners to the Canadian front line. A Canadian tank passing by was ordered by Leo to fire at the SS troops.

Leo marched back to camp with nearly a hundred prisoners. For this event he was chosen to receive a DCM. He declined the invitation to be decorated however, because according to him General Montgomery (who was giving the award) was "incompetent" and in no position to be giving out medals.

Léo Major was but one of many incredibly courageous Canadian veterans we lose every day in this country as the years finally catch up with them. They all played a small part in what was a great victory in the middle of the last century.

We can't highlight each and every one, although I wish we could. I've chosen M. Major because of the unique stories surrounding his exploits; he seemed to show some of the same qualities that made Smokey Smith such a larger-than-life character.

Requiescat In Pace, M. Major. You've earned it.

A tip of the hat to our Conception Bay Correspondent for pointing the way.

Update: I just realized I've completely neglected to tell you about M. Major's Korean DCM - you really need to read that story: twenty men against two Chinese divisions.

Upperdate: From the comments, where we rightly get taken to task for taking an excerpt from a demonstrably inaccurate Wikipedia article:

I know it's just a Wiki entry, but it must be noted that more than 3 Canadian soldiers "in the Commonwealth", whatever that means, who won the DCM in the Second World War. See this book: http://www.biggerbooks.com/bk_detail.aspx?isbn=9780889680494

M. Major may well have been the only one to get it in both the Second World War and Korea, but the Wiki entry is gibberish. Maybe there were 3 DCMs in his regiment, but there were sure as hell a lot more in the entire Canadian Army. He also ccouldn't have been the "only Canadian to win it twice"; VAC says there were "2,132 awards to Canadian Army and RCAF personnel, plus 38 first bars and 1 second bar." So that's 38 Canadians winning it twice from crimea to Korea, and one winning it three times. See http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group01/dcm

M. Major accomplished a lot and should be recognized as such; DCMs were considered "as good as" a VC in many regiments, so winning 2 puts him in elite company. It's just important to get the details accurate.

So it is. Thanks for the correction.

Uppestdate: Daniel-Aimé Major, Léo Major's son, has provided a definitive correction of the story in comments:

Léo Major is the only Canadian private to be awarded 2 DCM ( one DCM + Bar) in 2 different wars, WWII and Korea. Many officer have received the same award. Some may have received 2 in one war but in fact, only four soldiers around the world have received 2 DCM in different wars. Léo Major is one of them.

Again, I appreciate the correction - we're just trying to get it right!