Vietnam vets remembered
Plaque to be unveiled this Anzac Day
Two Kāpiti soldiers who were killed in Vietnam 59 years ago will be remembered at this year’s Anzac Day dawn parade with the unveiling of a joint plaque on Paraparaumu’s Memorial Arch.
They were the only Kāpiti servicemen to be killed in Vietnam and the first of 37 New Zealand troops to lose their lives in the seven years of that war, with 187 wounded in action.
The new plaque now includes Sergeant Alastair (Al) Don, one of the first two New Zealanders killed in action — the other being a Bombardier from Auckland — when their Landrover was blown up by a Viet Cong landmine in September 1965.
The story will be told at the dawn parade by war correspondent Chris Turver of Waikanae, the last surviving member of the four-man crew who was wounded.
In Vietnam, the bodies of New Zealanders killed in action were flown to Malaysia for interment at the military cemetery at Terendak and there Don remained until repatriation back home in August 2018 and interment at Paraparaumu’s Awa Tapu cemetery in April 2023.
The original Vietnam plaque on the Memorial Arch carrying the name of Staff Sergeant Richard (Dick) Grigg of Reikorangi, killed in a Viet Cong bomb explosion at his V-Force billet in Saigon in December 1965, was unveiled in 2018.
Grigg was not only a soldier but a humanitarian who mounted an appeal for orphaned Vietnamese children which, after his death, had brought large
consignments of clothing and toys from New Zealand donors between 1965-73 and raised $12,000.
It had not been known that Don’s scattered family had a base in Paraparaumu and discovery of their whereabouts last year led to a decision by Paraparaumu RSA to honour his service by listing his name on a new joint Vietnam plaque.
It will be unveiled by RSA president Karen Wemyss and Don’s three sons, Trevor, Mike and Al Don Jnr.
The Grigg family, which will also be represented, has gifted the New Zealand flag used to cover Dick Grigg’s coffin when it was brought home.
Don’s great-granddaughter, Hawaiki Don of Paraparaumu College, will read out the names on the new plaque.
Parading at the ceremony will be gunners of Don’s unit, 161 Battery of the Royal New Zealand Artillery and a large turnout of 163 Battery which holds the Freedom of Kāpiti.
The guest speaker will be retired Wing Commander and Ō taki MP Tim Costley, who is also a holder of a Defence Service Meritorious Medal with service in overseas operations.
Wemyss paid tribute to Kāpiti Coast District Council and the new plaque’s mason, Kāpiti Monumental Masons, for supporting the project in time for the Anzac Day dawn parade dedication.
“The whole point of Anzac Day remembrance is to show our nationwide understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices made by our men and women in safeguarding our country and our people,” Wemyss said.