Fijian Peacekeepers Receive Posthumous Award

Three (3) Fijian Peacekeepers have been posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarsjöld Medal as the United Nations (UN) honored the lives of soldiers who had fallen whilst on peacekeeping duties. The ceremony is held annually and is continuously conducted during the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

The three Fijian peacekeepers included Warrant Officer Class Two Kolinio Mocevakaca, Corporal Sakiusa Vakalala Vukivuki, and a former soldier of the RFMF Staff-Sergeant Seniloli Tabuatausole.Since 1978, more than 20,000 Fijians have participated in United Nations peacekeeping, and 64 Fijians have paid the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless Our Peacekeepers!

Warrant-Officer Class-Two (WO2) Kolinio Mocevakaca:

 WO2 K.Mocevakaca hails from Korotolu, Moce in Lau, and had enlisted into the RFMF on the 2nd of October 1987. WO2 Mocevakaca was an instructor with the Force Training Group (FTG) and took part in various training and courses organized within the RFMF. WO2 Mocevakaca passed away on the 30th of August 2019 while serving in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) as a Platoon Commander for the Fiji Contingent.

 Corporal (Cpl) Sakiusa Vakalala Vukivuki:

Cpl S. V. Vukivuki who hails from Navunievu Village in Bua joined the RFMF on the 10th of September 1985 as a Rifleman with the Third Battalion Fiji Infantry Regiment (3FIR). Cpl Vukivuki spent a total of 34 years in the RFMF and like WO2 Mocevakaca; Cpl Vukivuki also served in various peacekeeping missions before he was called to rest during his mission with the United Nations Dis-engagement Observers Force (UNDOF) on the 8th of May 2019.

 Staff-Sergeant (SSgt) Seniloli Tabuatausole:

SSgt S.Tabuatausole hails from Suvavou, Rewa, and served in the RFMF from 1987 to 2005 in the Logistics Supply Unit (LSU) before resigning to join the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) as a Personal Protection Officer. Mr. Tabuatausole and two other colleagues were killed in a car bombing incident in Benghazi on the 10th of August 2019. In addition to this, SSgt Tabuatausole also served in several peacekeeping missions in UNIFIL, UNAMI, and MFO (Sinai).

 Dag Hammarskjold Medal

The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal was established in December 2000 as a posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations. Each year on Peacekeeper’s Day, this medal is awarded to any Member State who has lost one or more military or police peacekeepers at a ceremony at UN HQ.

The Medal created by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi A. Annan on 22 July 1997 to mark the 50th anniversary of peacekeeping operations, was named after Secretary-General Dag Hammarsjöld who died in the service of the United Nations when the plane in which he was travelling crashed on 18 September 1961 while visiting the UN mission in the Congo.

A clear colorless lead glass crystal ellipsoid approximately 73 mm wide, 57 mm deep and 38 mm thick, grit blasted with the name and date of death of the recipient on the top, the United Nations logo on the bottom and the inscriptions “THE DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD MEDAL – IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE” and “MEDAILLE DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD – AU SERVICE DE LA PAIX” on either sides.

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Reference

Canada Veterans Affair. (2020, Jan 14). Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from Medals and decorations: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/228

Peacekeeping, U. N. (n.d.). United Nations Peacekeeping. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from United Nations Medals: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/united-nations-medals

Click onto our website to see the latest number of personnel deployed in Peacekeeping Mission: https://www.rfmf.mil.fj/fiji-peacekeeping-mission/