Devil's Brigade vet Ralph Mayville to get congressional honour

Windsor veteran Ralph Mayville and the rest of the Devil's Brigade are receiving the United States Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C. Tuesday afternoon.

The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest American military honours bestowed on a non-U.S. citizen.

Mayville, 92, served in the First Special Service Force, nicknamed the Devil's Brigade, an elite American and Canadian commando unit that fought in Europe during the Second World War.

Soldiers underwent intensive hand-to-hand combat and mountain warfare training that would later come to define the unit.

The Devil's Brigade later became a model for the U.S. Navy SEALS.