‘Medals useless and 65 years too late’

THE son of a Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel claims that the upcoming Fuzzy Wuzzy Day and its medal presentation is meaningless.
Fr Roderick Vana, who claimed to represent more than 600 descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, said that the proposed Fuzzy Wuzzy day commemoration and medallion presentation was “useless and too late” because most of the people who were supposed to receive the medals had already died.
He said his late father, Waraho Orotu, of Ambene village, Kokoda, was a stretcher bearer and war carrier who served the allied from Buna to Port Moresby and Lae but was not recognised for his efforts.
Vana said he was happy to know that the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ contributions were finally acknowledged by the Australian and PNG governments.
However, he said that the acknowledgement and recognition should have been done immediately after the war, not 65 years on, after most of them were dead.
Vana said the medals presentation was a mockery and meaningless for 65 years of non-recognition.
He said the Australian and PNG government must address the real issue was to compensate the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and their descendants sustained and the work they did for the foreign fighters.