Maori Sergeant Is Fit For Overseas Service
(New Zealand Press Association)
WELLINGTON, May 1. Sergeant Percy Retimana. a Rotorua Maori, who completed last week’s gruelling 100-mile Army route march in record time, is medically fit for overseas service. His flat feet are characteristic of his race, but in no way impair his mobility, said an Army spokesman today,. Commenting on published reports that Sergeant Retimana had flat feet and was classified unfit for overseas service, the spokesman said: “He is medically fit in every respect to serve overseas.”
Persons with flat feet were not automatically downgraded unless the foot was rigid, the spokesman said. Although Sergeant Retimana’s medical reports showed him to have flat feet, it was a type of condition common to all Polynesians, and in no way impaired mobility. “In the case of Polynesians. their feet remain completely flexible, and unlike most Europeans with flat feet, do not become stiff and painful when subjected to a hard march,” he said. “Sergeant Retimana's record march bears this out, as have the marching accomplishments of many other Maori soldiers in the past.’’
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Press, Volume C, Issue 29502, 2 May 1961, Page 12
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182Maori Sergeant Is Fit For Overseas Service Press, Volume C, Issue 29502, 2 May 1961, Page 12
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