4. Francis Pegahmagabow
The exploits and accomplishments of World War I sniper Francis Pegahmagabow read like something out of a comic book or summer blockbuster movie.
Pegahmagabow, an Ojibwa warrior who fought with the Canadians in battles like those at Mount Sorrel, Passchendaele and The Scarpe, is credited with 378 kills as a sniper.
As if that wasn't enough, he was also awarded medals for running messages through heavy enemy fire, for directing a crucial relief effort when his commanding officer was incapacitated and for running through enemy fire to get more ammo when his unit was running low.
The
Toronto Star suggests that Pegahmagabow applied the skills he honed during his childhood on the Shawanaga reserve on Georgian Bay to the war, but historian Tim Cook has another theory why Pegahmagabow and other native Canadians joined the war effort and fought so hard overseas. "They felt that their sacrifice (would) earn them a right to perhaps push for more rights in society," Cook said.
Not so for Pegahmagabow. Though he was a hero among his fellow soldiers in Europe, he was virtually forgotten once he returned home to Canada.
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