Families of war veterans who never received their medals are delighted with a new initiative an East Coast local has set up.
David Stone has spent a year-and-a-half identifying Māori battalion soldiers who often refused war medals because they wanted to receive them face-to-face instead of in the mail.
Almost 4000 men served in the Māori battalion in World War Two, and over 600 died across Greece, north Africa and Italy.
Within the battalion was 'C Company' from the East Coast. Many of those who won medals never received them when they came home because some veterans felt the medals should be presented to them personally. But the policy was for the men to write in and receive them in the mail.
Stone is now working to get those medals to the soldiers' descendents.
"The sacrifices they made for us and especially for their children since their dads are gone, they want anything to remind them of their fathers and grandfathers and their uncles," he said.
After investigating why his uncle was never acknowledged, Stone found it was a widespread issue at the time.
He found a list of 134 people who were owed service medals after dedicating 18 months of his own time.
"For these children and families who realise that their dad and their grandad have medals here, that's why the queue was out the door."
One of those men who visited Stone was Barney Tupara, who was looking for the medals of his grandfather's brothers.
"It's a solemn process, but also a very joyful one that these medals are recognition of the price that they paid," Tupara said.
Stone will be at C Company's memorial house in Gisborne until Friday, offering people a chance to come in and see if their family is owed a medal.
They'll be presented at a special ceremony to ensure the memories of the Māori Battalion continue to live on.
