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Kiwi first SAS winner of VC
By Cpl Mike McSweeney
Edition 1171, July 26, 2007 |
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Decorated: Cpl Bill Apiata, VC.
Photo by Sgt Carl Booty, NZDF |
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A NEW Zealand soldier has become the first serving SAS member in the Commonwealth to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Cpl Bill Apiata, NZSAS, received the VC on July 2 for “only doing my job and looking after my mates” in Afghanistan in 2004.
The then LCpl Apiata was part of a NZSAS Troop on a vehicle patrol that had harboured up for the night when it was attacked by RPG, machinegun and small-arms fire, which was at first aimed at LCpl Apiata’s patrol vehicle.
In the initial attack, one of LCpl Apiata’s patrol members, Cpl D, received life-threatening injuries.
Positioned forward of the main troop position, the patrol came under intense enemy fire that prevented medical aid reaching Cpl D.
Knowing first aid was not enough, LCpl Apiata carried his mate across open ground, fully exposed to heavy fire. “That neither he nor his colleague were hit is scarcely possible,” the citation read.
He then rejoined the fight, where the troop broke the assault of the numerically superior attackers.
It was later confirmed that Cpl D would have died had he not been taken to the main troop position for treatment.
In front of a battery of journalists and cameras in Wellington, Cpl Apiata said: “I was doing what I was trained for.”
Identities of Special Operations personnel are not usually released, but an exception was made in Cpl Apiata’s case because of the nature of the award.
“It hasn’t changed me at all,” Cpl Apiata said.
“I’m still one of the boys back at work, and I always will be.”
His VC was the first to be awarded to the NZDF since World War II, and the first non-British VC to be awarded since Australia’s Keith Payne in 1969.
Perhaps the biggest reward for Cpl Apiata, however, is in knowing his actions saved the life of a mate. “I see him every day, and it’s a blessing.”
To view the full citation, go to http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/media-kit/20070702/citations.pdf. For more information, go to www.army.mil.nz
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