President Jioji Konrote had the honour of bestowing Fiji’s 50th commemorative medal on a doctor who accompanied him on the then Royal Fiji Military Forces first peacekeeping mission to Lebanon in 1978.
“Mr Konrote showed me, taught me how to shoot a pistol, that was one of the highlights of my trip,” said Dr Monsoor Ali.
“He is our president now but back then he was one of us. He looked after me and he taught me how to hold the pistol and how to adjust my elbow to support my hand.”
Dr Ali who was awarded the 50th commemorative medal yesterday said he was fortunate enough to accompany the first group of Fijian soldiers.
He vividly remembered how he was selected to be part of the peacekeeping mission.
“They needed a dentist there and I was a specialist back then and had just come back from New Zealand.
I went there without knowing what was going to happen and a lot of people thought that I was going in the army and that a lot of things could happen, but when I went there, the situation was different.
“Everywhere you go there, you find dead bodies and people used to block their nose and keep away from the site but I found it very interesting in terms of my work.”
He said he was grateful to have been awarded the medal yesterday.
“I am just so happy that whatever I did for this country is being recognised.”
