Honouring a whanau’s military history

Kō ngā tapuwae o inanahi, hei tauira mō āpōpō. The footsteps laid down by our ancestors centuries ago, create the paving stones upon which we stand today.

Lorraine Hetaraka (Ngāti Kahu, Te Arawa, Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui) is getting a whale tooth (parāoa) carved and made into a pendant as a taonga for her whānau. It will represent a connection to her ancestors (tīpuna) who served in the army.

Lorraine's whānau comes from Whatuwhiwhi on the Karikari Peninsula of Northland. Despite having a population of fewer than 1000 residents, her family has a long military history.

"My ancestors have served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. My father's great-uncle, Pte Hurae Hetaraka, was in the New Zealand Māori Contingent, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He fought at Gallipoli and is buried at East Mudros Military Cemetery, Lemnos, Greece. Pte Perititi Hetaraka, also known as Perititi Whatuwhiwhi, served with the Māori Contingent at Gallipoli too and was discharged in 1916 due to illness. My Dad's uncle Mu Timoti Hetaraka served in World War II."

"My ancestors, Paul Hetaraka and Robert Hetaraka served in the Korean War. Two of my whānau served in the same contingent in Vietnam. My father, Pte Herepete Wimoka Hetaraka (also known as Nick), was in Victor 5 Company. Alongside his brother and my uncle, LCpl July Ben Hetaraka (also known as Hurae, named after his great-uncle Hurae) did two tours of Vietnam: Whiskey 1 Company and in Victor 5 Company," she said.

"Dad's first cousins Pte Andrew Hetaraka and Lieutenant Colonel Stan Pilbrow, later Reverend and Priest in Charge at the St James Anglican Church Kerikeri, served in the Regular Force. Rev Stan received a number of medals for his significant service over 28 years.

"Several of my Dad's first cousins from Whatuwhiwhi also served and are remembered at the ANZAC service held annually at our Marae Haiti-tai-marangai."

The military experiences brought challenges for Lorraine's whānau. After leaving the army, her father had bottled up many of the mental health issues relating from his service and he did not have the skills to talk about the trauma he had experienced. He never talked about his Vietnam experiences and often said he only felt safe when he was with his army friends.

Later, when he moved back from Australia to New Zealand, he managed to access
assistance from Veterans' Affairs.

"It took a while to get things established but he was allocated a good case manager," Lorraine said.

"Other veterans reached out and provided information about the different forms of support that were available, we were very grateful for the network of collaborative advice we received."

When he got the support he needed, Lorraine said, her father became a different person.

He was able to talk about his war experiences and build better relationships with his whānau, things he had not been able to do before.

"As a whānau, we were pleased with the support, but we were disappointed it came so late. By the time my father accessed support aged 70 years, he had been diagnosed with cancer," she said.

Lorraine said her father appreciated the home support he got, such as contractors for lawn-mowing and home help.

"That meant we could focus on my father's health and not worry about things like the lawns. He also enjoyed the personal contact with his regular home helper."

When Lorraine reflects on the support she received from Veterans' Affairs, she said having a good case manager made a big difference - they could tell you all the entitlements and adapted support as his health deteriorated. She found navigating health services for people living rurally significantly complex; access to specialist services, primary care and support services were often not timely or available, and if they were, it involved travel to other centres. "This was challenging for our Dad, who lived alone."

"What I would recommend to other people is to get registered with Veterans' Affairs as soon as possible and find out more about the entitlements and support they offer. Identify a single point of contact either a whānau or friend that can be the coordinator, advocate and navigator. We set up a whiteboard to create visibility of all the appointments and services so people visiting knew what the weekly, monthly schedule lay ahead and who to contact. Dad really needed someone to drive this for him, so he could focus on his wellbeing", she said.

Lorraine's father, Pte Herepete Wimoka (Nick) Hetaraka, passed away in 2024. Since then, Lorraine has continued to learn more about her father's experiences in the army.

"I recently attended the Vietnam Victor 5 Company reunion in Palmerston North. I enjoyed connecting with my father's army friends and learning their stories; many had struggled when leaving the army and transitioning to civilian life," she said. Lorraine learnt that the army didn't normally put siblings in the same contingent in Vietnam, but they did with her father and uncle, and she still doesn't know why.

At the reunion, she connected with the offspring of the veterans. They shared stories about growing up with a father in the army and could make more sense of some of the situations they experienced as children.

She said it was good for Veterans' Affairs to support commemorations and reunions as the relationships formed in the army are still some of the strongest people have. It recognises and pays tribute to those that have passed as well as those that remain and share the stories that unite them as brothers who served.

Lorraine believes her whānau from Whatuwhiwhi have served New Zealand well.

"The whale tooth I have commissioned by artist Gareth Barlow will be a taonga for our whānau to continue to remember the sacrifices our ancestors gave to serve New Zealand and to enable the world we live in today," she said.