September 04, 2020
50 years of Stirling service rewarded
A big day today for the Stirling whānau, with members of the clan gathering at Linton Camp in Palmerston North to witness Tui Stirling receiving a long service award for 50 years in the military.
Nephew Willie Te Aho says his uncle, a former SAS member and Vietnam veteran, was one of a large number of men from Te Whānau a Apanui who followed the example of rangatira like Major John Waititi and signed up to serve their country.
"We’ve had a long association with the military and this is a way of acknowledging that association. People have mixed views of war. At the end of the day we have to protect our borders, we have to protect our allies and they will be there when we need them so it is something my whānau and hapū and iwi have been strong supporters of," he says.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Ron Mark today announced changes to defence force long service awards to bring them in line with other uniformed government agencies.
Regular Force military personnel will now only require 14 years’ service for an award and seven years for each clasp, rather than 15 years for the award and for each clasp.
About 650 current military personnel will now qualify for their first long service award, and more than 1700 other current military personnel can add a clasp to their existing award.
Up to 4000 ex-Service persons will also now qualify for a long service award and/or clasp(s).
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