This Page Is Dedicated To
Rabaul War Cemetery
Roll of Honour
The Roll is in alphabetical order
Ma
MASI, Pata (Private), PN3526. A.C.M.F. 3 New Guinea Bn. 1. B. Australian Infantry. 28th June 1946. W.
MASIDUGU, Private, LAISIASA, 1336. 1st Bn. Fiji Infantry 13. A. Regt. Fiji Military Forces. 29th March 1944. Age 22. V.
From Peceli
Tomorrow is Anzac Day here when we remember the soldiers who gave their lives during the World Wars.
I always had a low key celebration to honour my big brother the late L Masidugu who died in the battlefield in the Solomon 62 years ago. I still vividly remember the day when they brought the news of his death to my father when I was a little boy. My father said it was honourable to die in the battlefield like a warrior.
Then I was dreaming to become a soldier and die like him in the battlefield but when I grew up I missed all the opportunity to become a soldier because I went to Davuilevu Bible School and the Theological Institution and became a Methodist Church Minister.
My family in Labasa gave me the L Masidugu honour scroll to keep for my grandchildren.
Dear Peceli,
ReplyDelete(Please delete the SPAM comment ahead of mine and try to forive whoever made it).
I found this post to be very poigniant. The loss of your brother when he was so young and yourself even younger. You must have hardly had a chance to know him.
How different your fates were. There is a lot to ponder in this. Your statement that you "missed all the opportunity to become a soldier" is so filled with irony.
I can only be grateful that your path was a different one and hope that someday all children will "miss the opportunity" to be a soldier. I think that such is an ideal that your brother and far too many others have died for.
Yes, that was a strange comment. I figured he/they didn't even read what Peceli wrote.
ReplyDeleteWe had a quiet day for Anzac Day. At dawn, Peceli went to the park where many people gathered. Some of our friends suffered in different wars so we know it's terrible.
In the afternoon we drove 20k to the beach because it was a sunny day. Did some drawings that I may post later.
Wendy