My Grandpa is on the right and his brother, my Uncle Wally on the left. Grandpa (Ernie) served as a radioman in a tank in Italy. Wally was younger so he was late to WWII, he travelled with the brass as he had set a Commonwealth teletype speed record so was assigned to get the word out. He was there for the Nuremberg trials and noted of executions of war criminals taking place very near his workplace. He noted about carrying his pistol everywhere while off duty even after the war had ended, lots of desperate folk were about. Uncle Wally survives to this day in Winnipeg. Grandpa passed in 1983, Uncle Leo in the following photo passed on in 1997.
Their other brother, Leo, is on the right in this pic that I found randomly on a First Special Service website, last year I emailed it to his daughter who had never seen it before. Leo was awarded a US Silver Star for his actions against the Nazi's at Monte Cassino. For those who don't know, the First Special Service was a joint Canadian/ American commando unit trained for small unit tactics, mountain warfare, demolitions, etc. They were among the first 'special forces' whose lineage can be traced down to JTF2 and the US equivalents. Training for the unit took place outside of Helena, Montana and that is where this photo was noted as having been taken when I found it online. The FSSF soldiers were typically recruited from other branches of the services from fellows who were outdoorsy types; they may have been farmers, trappers, lumberjacks, etc. Hardy fellows each and every one, well known for night raids using knives to maintain stealth.
Born into our family tailoring and fur business, they transitioned into founding and operating a successful construction company in Winnipeg.