[ZengE]

Originally Posted by smeggar

Whats that got to do with Apiata receiving the Victoria Cross for New Zealand?

You mean, other than another VC for a selfless act resulting in this bloke saving others?

Did you want the Apiata citation?

Lance Corporal (now Corporal) Apiata was, in 2004, part of a New Zealand Special Air
Service (NZSAS) Troop on patrol in Afghanistan, which laid up in defensive formation
for the night. At approximately 0315 hours, the Troop was attacked by a group of about
twenty enemy fighters, who had approached by stealth using the cover of undulating
ground in pitch darkness. Rocket-propelled grenades struck two of the Troop’s
vehicles, destroying one and immobilising the other. The opening strike was followed
by dense and persistent machine gun and automatic rifle fire from close range. The
attack then continued using further rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun and
rifle fire. The initial attack was directed at the vehicle where Lance Corporal Apiata was
stationed. He was blown off the bonnet by the impact of rocket propelled grenades
striking the vehicle. He was dazed, but was not physically injured. The two other
vehicle crew members had been wounded by shrapnel; one of them, Corporal D, was in
a serious condition. Illuminated by the burning vehicle, and under sustained and
accurate enemy fire directed at and around their position, the three soldiers immediately
took what little cover was available. Corporal D was discovered to have sustained lifethreatening
wounds. The other two soldiers immediately began applying basic first aid.
Lance Corporal Apiata assumed command of the situation, as he could see that his
superior’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. By this time, however, Lance Corporal
Apiata’s exposed position, some seventy metres in front of the rest of the Troop, was
coming under increasingly intense enemy fire. Corporal D was now suffering serious
arterial bleeding and was lapsing in and out of consciousness.
Lance Corporal Apiata concluded that his comrade urgently required medical attention,
or he would likely die. Pinned down by the enemy, in the direct line of fire between
friend and foe, he also judged that there was almost no chance of such help reaching
their position. As the enemy pressed its attack towards Lance Corporal Apiata’s
position, and without thought of abandoning his colleague to save himself, he took a
decision in the highest order of personal courage under fire. Knowing the risks involved
in moving to open ground, Lance Corporal Apiata decided to carry Corporal D singlehandedly
to the relative safety of the main Troop position, which afforded better cover
and where medical treatment could be given. He ordered his other colleague, Trooper
E, to make his own way back to the rear.
In total disregard of his own safety, Lance Corporal Apiata stood up and lifted his
comrade bodily. He then carried him across the seventy metres of broken, rocky and
fire swept ground, fully exposed in the glare of battle to heavy enemy fire and into the
face of returning fire from the main Troop position. That neither he nor his colleague
were hit is scarcely possible. Having delivered his wounded companion to relative
shelter with the remainder of the patrol, Lance Corporal Apiata re-armed himself and
rejoined the fight in counter-attack. By his actions, he removed the tactical
complications of Corporal D's predicament from considerations of rescue.
The Troop could now concentrate entirely on prevailing in the battle itself. After an
engagement lasting approximately twenty minutes, the assault was broken up and the
numerically superior attackers were routed with significant casualties, with the Troop in
pursuit. Lance Corporal Apiata had thereby contributed materially to the operational
success of the engagement. A subsequent medical assessment confirmed that
Corporal D would probably have died of blood loss and shock, had it not been for Lance
Corporal Apiata’s selflessly courageous act in carrying him back to the main Troop
lines, to receive the immediate treatment that he needed.