Pension victory
After calling Work and Income for clarification Makara says he was told he was just an ‘‘old Rambo and a nutcase’’ and wasn’t eligible for assistance.
This was despite the fact Makara was able to produce overwhelming evidence that he had indeed served in Vietnam: mentions in troop lists and discharge lists, and physical evidence in the form of photographs of himself in Vietnam alongside other members of the NZSAS.
‘‘That really hurt my mana,’’ he said. ‘‘I didn’t dwell on it but it started to get hard with all the medical bills.’’
Makara fought to have his war pension reinstated and, after 15 years, payments resumed. After his pension was reinstated he has been fighting for an apology for his treatment and back payment for the missing years.
‘‘We did our country proud over there,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not right how we were being treated. It’s like they have treated us like ghosts. Most of us have passed on but we are not all ghosts. Not yet.’’
While serving in Vietnam, Makara was injured in a helicopter crash during a combat extraction.
‘‘Our patrol had just called in a bombing run on an enemy camp,’’ he said. ‘‘As soon as that happened our unit was compromised and we were shooting and scooting away from the enemy.’’
Makara signalled for extraction using morse code while he withdrew. Their extraction helicopter dropped ropes for the men to hold onto as they are flown away.
‘‘We would just hook onto a rope and be carried away underneath it,’’ Makara said.
‘‘I could soon see something was wrong when we were in the air. We knew in that scenario we were gone as the chopper crews are supposed to cut the lines which would mean dropping us.’’
Makara threatened to hand back his war medals to the Defence Minister at the end of November if he did not receive an apology and compensation for his mistreatment.
‘‘I would not have been proud for my boy to wear them,’’ he said.
On November 15 2017, Makara received a note in the mail from Veteran Affairs saying there had been a miscalculation of his war pension and a back payment was owed of more than $16,000. This was deposited into his account.
‘‘It was good that they recognised it and came up to apologise in person,’’ he said. ‘‘I told them it is a shame good people like them were having to correct the mistakes of the past. I am more pleased now as I will be proud for my boy to wear my war medals.’’