An honorary tribute was paid to a war hero 43-years after he died on duty in the Solomon Islands.
The Fiji Times published an article highlighting this event on December 7 of 1986.
This brave soldier was Able Seaman Timo Puamau was posthumously awarded four World War II medals by the then Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau at Government House.
Receiving the medal on his behalf was his brother Tevita Vakaloloma, who was 66-years-old at the time and a villager of Narocivo, Lau.
Mr Puamau was 22 years old when he died after the naval ship he was in was torpedoed in Solomon Island waters during the peak of World War II in the Pacific.
The Able Seaman was a crew member of the HMNZS Leander, which was reported missing in battle on July 13,1943, in the Kula Gulf.
After joining the Royal Fiji Naval Volunteers in January of 1942, Mr Puamau was then transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Inoke Bainimarama, a comrade who served with him, said the young man was farewelled from Fiji when he left for New Zealand on May 23, 1943.
“Puamau was not only a man about the sea, but he was also a man about the ship,” said Mr Bainimarama, a retired civil servant living in Samabula.
“This was because he was an all-rounder aboard the ship. He was at home in the galley as well as the deck.
“The man was popular with everybody — a guy who was always laughing.”
Mr Bainimarama said Able Seaman Puamau was not honoured earlier because he had been reported missing and then confirmed dead later.
But this was then sorted by the Fiji Naval Association, the article stated, and they were instrumental in getting the posthumous award for the late Seaman in that year.
The article stated that Able Seaman Puamau was posthumously awarded four medals — the Pacific Star, the 1939-45 Star, the War Medal and the Defence Medal.
Mr Bainimarama added that a war veteran who served with Able Seaman Puamau, Jona Qio, was living as a villager in the upper reaches of Namosi.
Mr Qio was the only local seaman who survived the battle at the Kula Gulf where Able Seaman Puamau lost his life.
The article concluded that as many as 13 citizens received awards at Government House.
