After only his second weekend off in two months, Corporal Willie Apiata, VC, is hard at work for the NZSAS.
BOMBS EXPLODE
GUNS FIRE
MEN SHOUT INDISTINCTLY
His time is a constant juggle between the intense training required of a Special Forces soldier
and the demands placed on being the country's newest hero.
This calibre of this award is something you can't hide, something you couldn't keep under wraps.
Among a stream of invitations Willie receives, one has great personal significance.
It's from the 375 residents of a tiny coastal community
in the Eastern Bay of Plenty called Te Kaha, Willie's hometown.
They're very forthcoming and humble people, and they really looked after us when we moved there.
They teach you to value the land where you live, appreciate what you have.
Living down there is unspoilt and hasn't been commercialised, as you could say.
Up until now, Willie has been supported by a close team,
personally led by his commanding officer. But this weekend, that all changes.
It wasn't about us. It wasn't about the SAS. It was wider than that.
It was about Willie Apiata and his iwi.
The homecoming at Te Kaha is a trip Willie must take alone.
MAN CHANTS MAORI GREETING
The elders of this community have pulled out all the stops, as the population swells to nearly 4000,
making Willie's visit home the biggest gathering of Maori in the district in over a century.
WOMAN CHANTS KARANGA
It was a huge thing.
All those people down there, you know.
It sort of took something like this to really bring them all together.
ALL SING 'WHAKAARIA MAI'
Decreed a hui of national significance, the homecoming is not just to honour Willie.
You see all those photos of the fallen soldiers. They're there watching the occasion as well.
Soldiers like Lieutenant Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu - awarded the Victoria Cross,
but killed in action during World War II.
You could feel in the air... at every stage, you could feel our ancestors.
You feel their presence.
ALL CONTINUE SINGING 'WHAKAARIA MAI'
Tomorrow will be the official celebration, but tonight, a local son is welcomed home.
Before the announcement of the Victoria Cross, few knew Willie was a soldier,
let alone a decorated member of the country's elite fighting unit.
Welcome home, boy.
For them to find out like that, I think they're still trying to get over the shock of it, as well.
Really proud people.
The one-time mischievous kid has returned a mature and much-loved warrior hero.
Tena koe. We're proud of you. So proud of you.
MACHINE GUNS FIRE
A NZ Special Forces patrol in Afghanistan was on the offensive
after being attacked in the early hours of the morning by a large number of insurgents.
For us, it was like a blind hit from nowhere,
and it's a quick orientation to the threat, which is what the guys did.
Despite his brush with death, Corporal Willie Apiata threw himself into the fray.
What I saw was Willie covered in blood, wrapped up with a machine-gun belt,
carrying a GPMG - General Purpose Machine Gun - looking like he wanted to do business.
MACHINE GUNS FIRE
Started getting some fire back.
I honestly believed that they bit off more than they could chew.
They'd stopped firing... long before we did.
On Saturday morning, Willie Apiata is formally welcomed on to the marae,
and the emotion of the occasion is overwhelming.
I didn't really realise the scale the event was going to be until I turned up that day.
WOMEN CHANT POWHIRI
Those people were so proud to have me come back home. That will hang with me forever.
Looking good, Wills. Looking good.
Wearing a precious cloak and seated at the forefront of all dignitaries,
Willie receives a line-up of speakers whose oratory represents the feelings of the many guests.
(SPEAKS MAORI)
Emotions that I was feeling that day,... there are no words for them.
Willie is called to the whare nui, where he is handed a centuries-old mere,
carved from the highest strike of greenstone. Flanked by the images of past generations of soldiers,
Willie turns and formally acknowledges the people, his tears barely kept in check.
CROWD CHANTS HAKA
Willie. Well done. Well done.
Welcome home.
Warrior to warrior, Willie now greets the surviving war veterans.
Thank you for the honour. Thank you for knowing you.
Their respect is such that the sight of the Victoria Cross is too much for some to bear.
I feel all the mana coming off those men. They're so proud. They're so honoured to be there.
It takes Willie several minutes to make his way through the well-wishers to the official dinner.
Can we move back? More space to move straight through.
It must seem a long way for Willie, from wherever it was in Afghanistan,
back home to be celebrated for what he's done.
In government, we hear whenever our people are involved in some kind of action overseas.
Word comes back. 'There's been an incident, an action.' Eventually, we hear a bit more.
In this case, eventually, the Chief of Defence came in and he said, 'Something extraordinary happened.'
We started documenting this story, looking at the precedents, and, on that basis,
I was advised to recommend to Her Majesty the Queen that Corporal Willie Apiata be recognised.
APPLAUSE
It wasn't just me there that day. There was a lot of other men on the ground.
And... we all know we are a tight family and we just look after each other,
and that's just the way we are.
There's an old saying, 'Who are ye in rags and rotten shoes? The bearded ones blocking the way.
'We are the pilgrims, master.' We're just humble men - just ordinary blokes, just like everybody here.
My heart goes out to everybody here. Everyone. We are one. One Maori.
Tena koutou. Kia ora koutou katoa.
# Maori Battalion march to victory,
# Maori Battalion staunch and true.
# Maori Battalion march to glory,
# take the honour of the people with you.
# And we will march, march, march to the enemy.
# And we will fight right to the end. #
Passchendaele - out of the seasonal mist unique to this corner of Europe
comes a line-up of Commonwealth war veterans, high-ranking officials and national leaders.
They have come from all over to pay their respects at the 90th anniversary
of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the First World War.
Passchendaele represents the greatest loss of life to NZ servicemen
in any battle or campaign or war that NZers have ever been involved in.
It exceeds Gallipoli in terms of the loss of life.
It's extraordinary, and so many NZers went to their death at Passchendaele,
over literally several hundred metres of dirt.
Among the NZ dignitaries is Corporal Willie Apiata, VC.
Tremendously important, but Willie, as our most recent VC winner - the first since World War II -
was there for the country, but also for Willie.
This day will prove a significant turning point
in Willie's understanding of the medal he now so proudly bears.
I felt very honoured, going over, but, you know, I was seeking knowledge at the same time.
When the official party arrives at Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world,
the true sense of scale and loss is felt by all.
This is an occasion to honour and remember those
who made the supreme sacrifice in the War to End all Wars.
# Hold thou thy cross
# before my closing eyes.
# Shine through the gloom and point me to... #
With hundreds of NZers laid to rest here, Tyne Cot has a profound effect on Willie.
I saw the walls with all their names on it. That's when it hits home -
that so many men just walked out of their trench, eh,
and knew they were going to die.
# Abide with me. #
For the rest of the day, Willie visits sites where thousands of young men lost their lives.
The Kiwis took 20 minutes to get out of the front line, get across no-man's-land
and to the German front line, so they moved fast.
The Germans knew where they were and started to shell them. That's when we took most of our casualties.
Almighty God, in whose hands are the living and the dead.
We give you thanks for all your servants who have laid down their lives in service of our country.
Grant them your mercy in the light of your presence. Amene.
CHURCH BELL TOLLS
Confronted with the huge loss of life on an unprecedented scale at Passchendaele,
Willie's own brush with death now takes on a new meaning.
All the people I know that have been awarded them are just ordinary blokes, and that's all they are.
Just normal blokes just looking out for their mates and doing what people call extraordinary things.
It takes some time to sink in, but I think Passchendaele was a watershed time
for him to really understand, now, what it was really all about.
Departing from their official schedule, Willie returns to Tyne Cot Cemetery, this time in private.
We went back to Tyne Cot, and that's where, you know, I had my time.
Quite heavy on the chest there, Willie.
WHISPERS: Jesus.
What were you doing at 21?
It's the first Kiwi one we've seen, eh?
There's another one of the brothers.
It makes you feel quite unworthy, walking amongst all those gravestones,
knowing that they put more forward than any man could ever ask of them.
As dusk falls, the two soldiers find a grave with the familiar markings of a Victoria Cross.
Tena koe, e hoa.
That's one of your brothers, mate.
Like so many other Victoria Cross winners, Canadian Private JP Robertson died on the battlefield.
It's a tribe that you've been... basically awarded into.
And that's a forefather that's gone before you, even though he's not a Kiwi.
But it's someone that now- That carried the burden that I have to carry now.
It's four months since Corporal Willie Apiata of the NZ Special Air Service
was awarded the Victoria Cross for valour,
and in that time he has come to terms with the fact that he is now a national hero
and the latest member of a truly unique association of men.
Suddenly been automatically enlisted into a club of very few members.
Accompanied by his commanding officer, Willie has requested a meeting with his lawyers.
Hi, Jim. Nice to see you. And you.
He has reached a momentous decision.
Thought long and hard about what I wanna do with the medal.
Wasn't just earned by me. It was earned by all those men that were out there that day.
In simple terms, it seems to me that you're giving away more than you've ever had,
almost before you've got it.
It'll never be sold, or there will never be any quarrels over it.
As you know, what this does is gift the Victoria Cross, effectively, to NZ.
Congratulations.
When my life has passed, my son, his sons and our bloodline will be able to wear it and represent me.
The resting place for it will be here in the unit.