Do the Right Thing, Veterans Affairs!

It could be just another apartment building in the heart of Winnipeg. But it's not.

Verna Sinclair sits in her modest home with her son Tommy Prince Jr. and step-daughter Joyce Hourie on a hot June afternoon.

They have invited me here to tell a story of their late father Tommy Prince Sr.

Many Canadians know him as Sgt. Tommy Prince, the most decorated Aboriginal soldier in Canadian history. They have read about his exploits in the field, often going alone to scout enemy movements in both the Second World War and the Korean War. They have heard about his leadership abilities.

Some may even know about what happened to Tommy after the wars. Tommy Prince Sr., some will say, succumbed to alcoholism and died a drunk.

What they leave out is Prince's dedication to his family after the war. He had five children in a common-law marriage with Verna Sinclair. They lived together for 13 years beginning in 1952 and during that time Prince brought his family along where and when he could find work.

Places like Red Lake, Ontario, Dorothy Lake, where he worked for a time at the mill and Selkirk, Manitoba where he put in some time at the Manitoba Rolling Mills.

His family went with him and to them he was a good father.

They had no idea that he was a war hero because he didn't speak of what he did in the wars.

But sometimes they would catch glimpses of what that he had experienced was.

Prince Jr. says he remembers awakening to the sounds of their father screaming for people to take cover and keep their heads down.

At other times he would ask his son Tommy Jr. to run and get some alcohol for him. His knees were keeping him in constant pain and the alcohol dulled it some. Getting hit with machine gun fire will do that to you. Prince didn't believe in painkillers from doctors. The pills cost too much and visiting doctors just kept you going back for more appointments.

But the emotional scars remained. It was only when Prince Sr. was drinking with some old war buddies that things seemed normal. There he found support with the comrades who knew what it was like and, more importantly, the horror that remained.

The federal government never offered any type of support for veterans at that time and post-traumatic stress disorder had not been identified yet.

For the good of the family Tommy decided that Verna and he should live separately because Prince Sr. had no idea how to deal with the ghosts that haunted him.

That brings us to today. The federal government decided to put a package together totalling $20,000 for each first nations veteran (or their surviving spouses) who took part in the First or Second World War or the Korean conflict. The payment was for compassionate reasons and not as an acknowledgment of the treatment of Aboriginal soldiers before, during or after the war. To collect the money they have to sign an agreement, which prevents them from suing the federal government in the future.

All of this for a measly $20,000.

Verna Sinclair and Tommy Prince Sr. lived common law for a period of 13 years. Even after the break up Prince came to see her and her children as often as he could.

But that initially wasn't good enough to satisfy the requirements for the benefit.

After some nosing around by The First Perspective, Veterans Affairs couldn't get a hold of Verna fast enough. They wanted to let her know that the money was on the way.

Apparently they didn't want to suffer through the potential public backlash of Canada not being gracious enough to indeed take care of its most decorated Aboriginal war veteran's wife. It's funny just how efficient bureaucracy can be when it needs to be. What Tommy Prince is most remembered for is not wanting any more than anyone else, but his ex-wife and their children fought also to ensure that Tommy and his didn't get anything less than anyone else either

Let's just hope that Veterans Affairs sees fit to treat the cases of other aboriginal veterans or their surviving spouses and children as expeditiously and fairly.

The country that our aboriginal vets fought and died for owes their memory this much at the very least.