NZ SAS soldier to receive Victoria Cross

[SO19]

SAS soldier to receive Victoria Cross
By DAN EATON - The Press | Monday, 2 July 2007

The first New Zealand soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross since World War II says he was just doing his job when he carried a wounded comrade through enemy fire.

Video: http://www.stuff.co.nz/videoplayer/104926a15455.html


BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE: Willy Apiata saved the life
of a comrade under heavy fire from opposing forces
in Afghanistan. He is to receive a Victoria Cross for
his bravery.

Special Air Service (SAS) Corporal Bill (Willy) Apiata, 35, will receive the medal for services in Afghanistan in 2004, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today.

Three other SAS soldiers are also to receive bravery awards for actions during the same mission.

Clark said Apiata's actions were carried out despite extreme danger to himself and there was no question he had saved his comrade's life.

"Corporal Apiata carried a severely wounded fellow soldier across open ground while coming under intense attack. He did this despite extreme danger to himself," Clark said.

The action took place in Afghanistan when the SAS was helping US and British forces fight the Taliban.

New Zealand Defence Force chief Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said Apiata would appear at a news conference later today.

"It is only normal that public attention will turn to Corporal Apiata," he said.

"In one respect he is an outstanding soldier, but in another respect he is also just an ordinary New Zealander and a humble man. When he was advised he had won the Victoria Cross he said to his commanding officer: 'I was only doing my job boss'."

Apiata will be one of only 13 living recipients of the Victoria Cross.

He was born in the Waikato in 1972 and began his army career in 1989 as a territorial.

He will be presented with his medal by Governor General Anand Satyanand at a special ceremony at Government House in Wellington later this month.

Three other gallantry decorations are also being awarded to other members of the SAS, but they are not being named for security reasons.

All four decorations have been awarded for actions during the same mission.

Defence Minister Phil Goff said it was the extraordinary nature of the award that led authorities to release the name of a serving SAS soldier.

"The Granting of a Victoria Cross is such an extraordinary event that it would be impossible to maintain the confidentiality of the identity of Corporal Apiata," he said.

"We came to the judgment that it was better we announce his name and the circumstances of his winning the award, rather than have the highly probable outcome that that would be leaked somewhere down the track."

"In terms of future deployments, the commander of his unit will have to make a judgment in each instance as to whether he can be deployed given the knowledge people will have of his identity."

The Victoria Cross for New Zealand resembles the British Victoria Cross in appearance and manufacture and is equally hard to win.

Corporal Apiata's Victoria Cross is the 14th awarded since the end of World War Two and the first to a serving member of the SAS anywhere in the Commonwealth.

Cpl Apiata was born in the Waikato in 1972 and grew up in Northland and the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

He joined the New Zealand Army as a territorial soldier in 1989. From July 2000 to April 2001, he served in East Timor as part of the United Nations operated there.

He joined the regular army force in April 2001.

In 1996 he had applied for SAS selection but was not successful, however he reapplied and passed in 2001, training with the SAS in 2002.

He becomes one of only 13 living recipients of the Victoria Cross – the only New Zealander in that group.

Cpl Apiata, 35, affiliates to the Nga Puhi tribe through his father but also feels a strong affiliation to Whanau-a-Apanui, which is also the iwi of his partner.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4115479a10.html

[SO19]

Well done to you Sir.

[harry hackedoff]

Maori blokes make fantastic soldiers, same as the Fijians or Samoans.
Bloody good effort that man.
We heard a rumour they were going to award a VC but this is the first time I`ve seen it confirmed. OZ SAS Regt are fifty this year and there will be a bit of a hoolie later in the year, I wonder if Willy will make it over for a wet .
During WW II a Kiwi won a bar to his VC, Major Charlie Upham.

[harry hackedoff]

Biography of VC recipient Willy Apiata

Corporal Bill (Willy) Henry Apiata VC NZSAS
Bill (Willy) Henry Apiata was born on 28 June 1972 in Mangakino in the Waikato. His birth certificate carries the first name "Bill" but he is known as Willy.
His father is a Maori New Zealander and his mother a Pakeha New Zealander, his parents are separated and he is close to his mother but has not had contact with his father for several years. Bill has three sisters and is the third youngest in the family.
Bill spent the early years of his life in Northland before moving to Te Kaha in the eastern Bay of Plenty. At Te Kaha he attended the Whanau-a-Apanui Area School which he left on the day of his fifteenth birthday.
At the age of 16, his mother sent Bill to live with relatives in Auckland; he is close to this family.
Bill has a four year old son with his partner of seven years. Though separated from his partner Bill is a devoted father who spends every weekend he can with his son.
Bill affiliates to the Nga Puhi iwi (tribe) through his father, but as he has spent so much time in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, he feels very strong affiliation to Whanau-a-Apanui, which is also the iwi of his partner. Bill's home marae is Tukaki Marae in Te Kaha.


Bill enlisted into the New Zealand Army on 6 October 1989 as a Territorial Force (TF), or part time, soldier in the Tauranga based Hauraki Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. He was encouraged to join by friends already in the TF.
Bill first became aware of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) when, as a TF soldier, he acted as a member of the enemy party for a NZSAS training exercise. In 1996 while still in the TF he attempted NZSAS selection but was not successful.
From July 2000 April 2001 he served in East Timor as a member of New Zealand's 3rd Battalion Group as part of the United Nations operations there.
When he returned to New Zealand in April 2001, he became a full time soldier, transferring to the regular force of the New Zealand Army.
In November 2001 he attempted and passed NZSAS selection and attended the NZSAS training cycle in early 2002. On completion of the training cycle he was made a member of the NZSAS.
Since joining the Army, Corporal Apiata has set himself a high standard and consistently managed to achieve it. He is regarded as a role model by his peers, and has won awards or received above average results on every military training course he has attended.
The NZSAS now lay claim to having two of the most highly decorated New Zealand soldiers ever, in their ranks. In 1974, Sergeant Murray Ken Hudson was posthumously awarded the George Cross, (the equivalent of the VC for acts not involving an enemy action), for bravery during a grenade training incident in Waiouru. Sergeant Hudson was a former member of the NZSAS and had served operationally with the unit in Borneo in 1966.

Unquote.

A Pakeha New Zealander is generally any white non Maori but can mean the offspring of Maori/white unions. A bit like "honkey" but nowhere near as offensive