[1] Major earned his first DCM in World War II in 1945 after a successful reconnaissance mission during the liberation of the Dutch city of Zwolle.

Born on January 23, 1921, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to French Canadian parents, Major moved with his family to Montreal before his first birthday.

This relationship, combined with a lack of available work, led Major to join the Canadian army in 1940 to prove to his father that he was "somebody to be proud of".

Major was serving with the Régiment de la Chaudière, which landed on Juno beach in the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944.

In a nearby group of houses, SS troops, witnessing the company surrender, opened fire on them, killing seven and injuring some others.

[7] However, Dirk Staat, conservator of the Nationaal Militair Museum, has done research on Major for two years and doubts the usual telling of the events, arguing that there were no reports of a DCM recommendation[8] and that one person escorting 93 prisoners is unfathomably difficult: "Die verhalen gaan rond inderdaad, dat hij voor de Slag om de Schelde ook een medaille ontving.

En vergis je niet; als iemand tien minuten te laat bij het avondappèl was, dan staat dat in de verslagen.

"[8]In February 1945, Major was helping a military chaplain load corpses from a destroyed Tiger II tank into a Universal Carrier in Keppeln, Germany.

They did not answer his question, but transported him on a truck to a field hospital 30 miles (48 km) away, stopping every 15 minutes to inject morphine to relieve the pain in his back.

[9] At the beginning of April 1945, the Régiment de la Chaudière were approaching the city of Zwolle, which was shown to have strong German resistance.

On April 13, the regiment's commanding officer asked for two volunteers for a reconnaissance mission into Zwolle, their tasks being to scout the German force and, if possible, make contact with the Dutch Resistance, before an Allied artillery barrage could commence.

[4] That night, Major and Arsenault entered the farmhouse of Hendrik van Gerner, who gave them rough positions of German emplacements near the railway tracks.

[2][4][13] Thanks to Major's efforts, the planned shelling of Zwolle was called off, and the Régiment de la Chaudière entered the city the next day without firing a single shot.

[2][4] Certain versions of the story add or change details of what Major encountered in the city, such as him taking the driver of a German military vehicle hostage or assaulting the local SS headquarters.

According to Major's official recommendation for the Distinguished Conduct Medal, written 20 May 1945:To save as many Dutch lives as possible, it was necessary to know exactly the location of the enemy positions, many of which were not known.

Private Leo Major and a Corporal Wilfred Arsenault from the scout platoon volunteered to enter the town and contact the underground movement to obtain the necessary information.

At 0400 hours 14 April 1945, this gallant soldier waded across a canal, after posting numerous patrols of the Dutch Resistance Movement at strategic points.

For several hours, Major moved through the streets in this manner, shooting at any target he could find, making an impression that a large Canadian force had arrived.

[7]A 2017 article in Jonge Historici offers a similar account, stating that Major simply "walked through deserted streets and established contact with the underground resistance.

Similarly, in an interview with De Stentor, Nationaal Militair Museum curator Dirk Staat, who had researched Major for two years, argued that much of the popularly-accepted story is a myth with no records or proof of any incident happening that night in Zwolle.

[8] [B]eschrijvingen dat hij als rambo de stad in vuur en vlam zette, terwijl hij om zich heen schoot en granaten door de stad gooide; dat beeld klopt denk ik niet.

We hebben politierapporten van die nacht gelezen, en daarin lezen we niks terug over de onrust.

He stated the first thing he did was go to the railroad station, because he "thought that's where the Germans would come in", and he had "heard from Hendriks van Gerner that some of the bridges were destroyed."

[2] When the Korean War broke out, the Canadian government raised a force to join the United Nations Command in repelling the communist invasion.

Major was called back and ended up in the Scout and Sniper Platoon of 2nd Battalion Royal 22e Régiment (R22eR) of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade,[15] 1st Commonwealth Division.

Major fought in the First Battle of Maryang San, where he received a bar to his Distinguished Conduct Medal[16] for capturing and holding a key hill in November 1951.

Hill 355, nicknamed Little Gibraltar, was a strategic feature, commanding the terrain for twenty miles around, so the Communists were determined to take it before the truce talks came to an agreement that would lock each side into their present positions.

Armed with Sten guns, Major and his 18 men, wearing running shoes to silence their movements, passed through enemy lines and crept up Hill 227 from the Chinese side.

Major died in Longueuil on October 12, 2008 due to natural causes related to aging, and was buried at the Last Post Fund National Field of Honour in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe, Canada Post issued a stamp in honour of Major, "The one-eyed ghost", on April 29, 2020.