…three of their own.
Their ceremony for sending off their war dead is quite fitting.
You can feel the emotion in the ritual.
This was also the first ceremony with a female soldier from New Zealand that was KIA.
Maori Farewell for Three Kiwi Troops
On 19 August an IED strike took the lives of three New Zealand troops in Afghanistan. Lost were Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Private Richard Harris, 21, and Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, medic.
Jacinda was the first New Zealand female killed in Afghanistan. The strike occurred in Bamiyan Province which has become increasingly dangerous. Two Kiwi troops were killed there earlier this month. In the past, Bamiyan has been touted as a vacation spot during the war, with regular flights into the region.
The New Zealand Defence Force released the following video of hundreds of troops performing a Maori funeral Haka at the Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch:
Truth, Lies and In Between 