World War II veteran Pu Bordy Weeku, who died last week, is being remembered as an inspirational and spiritual man.
Bordy, as he was known, died in his sleep on Tuesday, July 27 at his Wyndham Vale home. He was 101 years old.
In 1937, at the age of 17, Bordy – a member of the Karen people of Myanmar – joined the British Army in Burma, as it was then known.
He was too young to train with guns, so the army taught him to play the trumpet and he became a bugler.
Bordy’s son Eh Htoo Saw said one of his father’s strongest memories of WWII was the three months he and other soldiers spent marching 3000 kilometres from Burma to Karachi in British India – now Pakistan.
Bordy, who became a Lance Corporal, met his wife Poday while she was serving as a nanny. The pair had five children.
During the 1980s, Eh Htoo Saw and Bordy became refugees. They were granted refuge in Australia around 14 years ago.
Eh Htoo Saw said his father attended a Baptist church every week, where helped out with tasks such as cleaning, until he reached his late eighties.
“He liked to go to church every Sunday and if was not happy if he did not go,” he said.
In 2009, Bordy met Victoria Police officer Richard Dove at a Karen New Year celebration.
Mr Dove, who is now settlement services co-ordinator at the Wyndham Community & Education Centre, invited Bordy to attend the Werribee RSL Sub-branch’s Anzac Day parade.
After this, Bordy attended the Anzac Day march every year, an event that he greatly enjoyed.
Mr Dove said that every time he saw Bordy, the senior citizen would salute and talk about his time as a WWII soldier.
Mr Dove described Bordy as “a deeply spiritual man”.
“He not only lived a long life, but inspired everyone he met with his presence and beautiful way of being,” Mr Dove said.
“Wyndham, and all of Australia, have benefited from Bordy taking refuge in Australia, escaping the decades-long conflict in Myanmar.”
Bordy’s funeral and burial were held yesterday.
