October 25, 2016
Songs from the heart won soldier friends
A humble man whom never had a bad word to say about anyone, but carried with him the mana of his comrades.
That’s the picture that emerged from the tangi of the last 28 Maori Battalion Association president Nolan Raihania, who is being buried today in Tokomaru Bay.
Historian Monty Soutar says as the last veteran living on the East Coast, his loss will be keenly felt within his iwi Ngati Porou, Ngai Tamanuhiri, and Rongomaiwahine.
Also missed will be his singing of Italian songs such as 'Mama', about a young soldier pining for his mother, which he learned as a 17-year-old fighting in Italy.
"He won the hearts of the Italians when we were over there on numerous trips, kawe mate back to Italy, and I have heard that sung by a number of people but not quite with his panache and I guess that's because he had experienced war and he knew the true sentiment behind the young boy who wrote it," Dr Soutar says.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com