WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:04.760 --> 00:00:07.400
With the Prime Minister's
announcement that Corporal
Willie Apiata

2
00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.240
has been awarded the Victoria Cross,

3
00:00:10.280 --> 00:00:17.040
the 35-year-old soldier must now
face a national press conference.
And he's not looking forward to it.

4
00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:20.360
From where I come
from, from the job I do,

5
00:00:21.520 --> 00:00:24.080
even giving a little is too much.

6
00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:27.000
And when you're ready, just start.

7
00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:34.320
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Shatford
briefs the press on the rules.

8
00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:40.800
I'd like to outline the process
that will happen today so we're
all clear on the rules of the game.

9
00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:47.040
Corporal Apiata has only just
found out about this huge honour.
It is quite overwhelming,

10
00:00:47.080 --> 00:00:51.880
so I would ask that you go as
easy as you possibly can on him.

11
00:00:54.360 --> 00:00:58.320
Willie's moment of reckoning
cannot be delayed any longer.

12
00:00:58.360 --> 00:01:04.960
I don't think anyone could prepare
themselves for what I walked into
that morning.

13
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.880
I'm right behind you.
Cheers, sir.

14
00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:13.120
CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK, APPLAUSE

15
00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:16.920
Just standing there...
just unreal, eh.

16
00:01:17.320 --> 00:01:19.320
Just real emotional.

17
00:01:20.440 --> 00:01:24.560
Willie Apiata joins yet another
group of elite people.

18
00:01:24.600 --> 00:01:28.880
This is the first award of
the Victoria Cross for NZ.

19
00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:37.000
His is the first and the only
Victoria Cross to be awarded
to a NZ serviceman

20
00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:41.520
since the end of the
Second World War.

21
00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.960
The questioning quickly turns
to that night in Afghanistan.

22
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.880
Hey, I was doing my job, eh,
and just looking after my mates.

23
00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:52.960
It was the...

24
00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:58.040
What was going through
your mind at that time?

25
00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:00.240
TENSE SILENCE

26
00:02:03.600 --> 00:02:07.200
You can sense the
anticipation of the press

27
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.760
to get some information out of
you so they can tell your story.

28
00:02:13.640 --> 00:02:15.640
'Where's my buddies?'

29
00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:18.040
'How can I help them?'

30
00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:25.200
During this incident, did you feel
fear? What was the feeling that went
through you as you were doing this?

31
00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:27.240
Um...

32
00:02:29.160 --> 00:02:35.160
At the time, I was just... doing
what I've been trained for. Doing my
job.

33
00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:40.520
Look out for my mates.
Watch each other's back, and...

34
00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.920
The heat of the moment.
I can't really say at this time.

35
00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:49.640
There was a lot of fire going on.
You weren't worried about being hit?

36
00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:53.480
< I think it's probably time to
take the questions somewhere else.

37
00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:59.000
< Willie is quite overwhelmed by the
situation, and perhaps we can talk
more about other things.

38
00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:06.480
Do you see yourself, perhaps, as the
living legend, as others might do
from this day forward?

39
00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:09.000
I see myself as Willie Apiata.

40
00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:12.520
I'm just an ordinary person and...

41
00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:16.640
this is me.

42
00:03:21.480 --> 00:03:26.000
This is one of the hardest things
I've ever had to do, actually.

43
00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:28.560
Good one. All done.
Thank you, sir.

44
00:03:28.600 --> 00:03:30.800
It was a great job.
Cheers, boss.

45
00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:36.360
It was an enormous amount of
pressure on him to present himself.
I think he did a great job.

46
00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:42.040
But Willie was just Willie. He was
just being himself. That is him.
That is Willie the man.

47
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:48.560
After facing the cameras, Willie
asked for a private moment with the
people who helped him through it.

48
00:03:48.600 --> 00:03:53.800
I've always been a man of few
words, but I need to say something.

49
00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:02.040
Since 9 o'clock yesterday, it's just
been an unbelievable experience.

50
00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:07.480
The old 12 o'clock news today,
that sort of really hit home for me.

51
00:04:07.880 --> 00:04:14.960
I'd just like to thank you all for
everything that you've done in the
last three years,

52
00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:17.800
building up to this day.

53
00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.760
I can't believe I only just found
out 9 o'clock yesterday about all of
this,

54
00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:30.680
but thanks very much. I... Words
can't explain how much I appreciate
what you fellas have done.

55
00:04:31.520 --> 00:04:33.520
Thank you. Kia ora.

56
00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:35.560
APPLAUSE

57
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.680
You're gonna get sick of us.
Cheers, Willie.

58
00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:43.280
Cheers.

59
00:04:48.880 --> 00:04:52.280
BERNADINE OLIVER-KERBY: NZ has a
new living legend - a man who
displayed...

60
00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:58.320
Back at the hotel, Willie watches
his story lead the national news for
the second time that day.

61
00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:04.840
...hasn't changed me at all.
I'm still one of the boys, back at
work, and always will be.

62
00:05:04.880 --> 00:05:06.880
Awesome.
Yeah.

63
00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:13.760
63 media stories about Willie.
Online coverage through NZ spreading
to Australia, France, the UAE.

64
00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.080
This is just an awesome...
thing that's happening.

65
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.040
I know. >

66
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:22.800
I didn't think it'd be
that big at all. But...

67
00:05:25.880 --> 00:05:29.080
it just felt like it almost
went global, just like that.

68
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:34.480
Some messages of support for
Corporal Willie Apiata. From Snoop
in South Korea.

69
00:05:34.520 --> 00:05:36.320
READS: It makes me proud
to be a Maori again.

70
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:42.000
From Sunny. (READS) Salaam, peace.
God bless you and your family for
the ultimate good deed you did.

71
00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:47.040
Dean in Queensland. (READS)
'Kia ora, Willie. Well done, from
the bros in Iraq. Kia kaha, Deano.

72
00:05:47.080 --> 00:05:52.240
'Nice one. If I see you in the
pub, it's my shout.' (CHUCKLES)
Hey, get that guy's name.

73
00:05:52.280 --> 00:05:54.800
For those charged with
keeping the secret,

74
00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:59.760
the public announcement of Willie's
Victoria Cross has gone off without
a hitch.

75
00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.000
Cheers to you and the team.

76
00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.040
The relief it was out there.

77
00:06:03.080 --> 00:06:08.080
For me, it was a great relief
because I'd sat on it for some
10 months or so.

78
00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.480
Suddenly, it wasn't a secret
that had to be kept any more.

79
00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:18.720
In just a few hours, Corporal Willie
Apiata of the NZSAS has become an
official NZ hero.

80
00:06:19.080 --> 00:06:20.840
But a reluctant one.

81
00:06:20.880 --> 00:06:25.880
Before they announced it, I'd
finally sort of put it to rest.

82
00:06:26.320 --> 00:06:31.960
But it's resting no more. It's gonna
be there now for the rest of my
life.

83
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:37.800
But, you know, you'll never forget
that night. It'll always be there.

84
00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.360
MACHINE GUNS FIRE

85
00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:49.640
Following the 9/11 attacks, an
international coalition was on the
hunt for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

86
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:54.080
Among those pursuing the
terrorists were the NZSAS.

87
00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:59.120
Renowned trackers, they're one of
the world's leading Special Forces.

88
00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:06.360
Highly skilled, the NZers were able
to penetrate far behind enemy lines
in all environments.

89
00:07:06.400 --> 00:07:11.800
They were ideally suited for
the rugged Afghanistan landscape.

90
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.000
BOOM!

91
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.800
Operating in small convoys of
motorcycle pathfinders and
armed patrol vehicles,

92
00:07:25.840 --> 00:07:32.000
The NZSAS faced an elusive enemy
that had used the local terrain to
deadly effect

93
00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:35.320
against the Russian
army years before.

94
00:07:40.520 --> 00:07:45.680
Among those hand-picked for this
deadly mission was Corporal
Willie Apiata.

95
00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:52.960
You have all these things that may
happen to you, but you resort to
the training that you've been given.

96
00:07:53.000 --> 00:08:00.000
Moving through villages, the NZ
troops gathered intelligence on
any suspicious movements.

97
00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:05.320
We're chasing information, and
information to us is currency.

98
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.680
Good information could lead
them directly to the enemy.

99
00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:16.080
BOOM!

100
00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:24.840
On this occasion, a cache of guns,
explosives and rocket-propelled
grenades were taken from the enemy.

101
00:08:24.880 --> 00:08:31.760
But Corporal Willie Apiata's patrol
would not be so lucky on their next
encounter.

102
00:08:38.800 --> 00:08:45.200
Their time in the capital has gone
to plan, and the commanding officer
and his team head back to base.

103
00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:47.760
But changes in Willie's
life are apparent.

104
00:08:47.800 --> 00:08:53.480
The first person to ask him for an
autograph sort of said, 'Would you
mind giving me an autograph?'

105
00:08:53.520 --> 00:08:59.320
Willie said, 'Sure,' and looked at
me and wasn't quite sure what to do.

106
00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:03.480
I've never been asked for one, so
it's new to me. I said, 'Well, just
put your name.'

107
00:09:03.520 --> 00:09:06.200
So he did. He wrote
'Willie' and handed it back.

108
00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:14.240
I said, 'We can do it better next
time.' So now he signs himself
'Willie Apiata, VC', as he should.

109
00:09:23.280 --> 00:09:30.280
Corporal Willie Apiata returns to
base and back to the routine of a
Special Forces soldier. He hopes.

110
00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:35.200
He was welcomed back, and it was
business as usual, as far as the
guys were concerned.

111
00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:38.960
Handshakes - not too many
man hugs go on around this place.

112
00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:42.080
Doesn't matter if he's wearing the
Victoria Cross on his chest.

113
00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:46.520
If he does something wrong,
he's gonna know about it.

114
00:09:46.520 --> 00:09:50.960
I was coming in every morning -
still do PT as usual every morning.

115
00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:55.480
Get your feet back on the
ground working with the lads.

116
00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:00.240
Doing some shooting, just getting a
bit of cordite back in the nostrils.

117
00:10:00.280 --> 00:10:03.960
Getting your eye back in and
making sure you're still doing it.

118
00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.000
GUN FIRES

119
00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:14.600
Despite his attempts to return to
normality, everything has changed
for Willie Apiata.

120
00:10:14.640 --> 00:10:18.880
He's the only corporal in the
NZ military with his own office.

121
00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:24.520
He's only a corporal. He's got his
own office, but he's gotta answer

122
00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:28.320
a couple of hundred emails
and letters every few days.

123
00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:32.000
I don't think other corporals
around here would want to do that.

124
00:10:32.040 --> 00:10:37.280
Messages have flooded in from
politicians, celebrities, sporting
heroes, war veterans

125
00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:43.720
and other proud regiments from every
part of society and corner of the
globe.

126
00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:48.160
You get a feel of how the
people are feeling out there.

127
00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:52.960
The response from them was
awesome. It's just overwhelming.

128
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:58.880
It's been an interesting process. A
lot of people have asked for Willie
to go and speak or be at events.

129
00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:05.440
I think a lot of people forget that
Willie's actually still a soldier
and he's a soldier in the SAS.

130
00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.040
I'm trying to keep things
as normal as we can.

131
00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:12.280
Trying to schedule events as best
we can to... not to disrupt him.

132
00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.160
If possible, get him out
for a jump with the lads.

133
00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:18.560
But Willie's newfound
status is now inescapable.

134
00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.880
Even at work, a member of the flight
crew ambushes Willie for an
autograph

135
00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:28.320
while he prepares for a training
jump with other members of the unit
and the troop.

136
00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:30.360
Is that you? >

137
00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:32.880
ENGINE ROARS

138
00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.840
(SHOUTS)

139
00:11:56.280 --> 00:12:02.320
A few brief moments of isolation
under canopy offer Willie his only
relief from the attention.

140
00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:06.280
But there is one set of faces
that Willie is desperate to see.

141
00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.720
My family's suffering at
the moment, eh.

142
00:12:10.040 --> 00:12:15.520
But I know I've just gotta be
patient and I'll get that time
at home.

143
00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:20.280
Over the next few days, media
interest intensifies on
Willie Apiata

144
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:25.520
and the actions in Afghanistan
that led to his Victoria Cross.

145
00:12:25.520 --> 00:12:27.160
GUNS FIRE

146
00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:33.520
Meanwhile, Willie learns the
financial and personal pressures
all VC winners must face.

147
00:12:33.560 --> 00:12:39.720
I was concerned, as any commanding
officer would be, when one of his
subordinates is in this position.

148
00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:42.440
I was concerned for him, personally.

149
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:47.800
While some recipients have succumbed
to the substantial dollar value of
the medals,

150
00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.920
others have suffered a greater toll.

151
00:12:51.160 --> 00:12:59.960
There are enough stories of Victoria
Cross winners that have ended up
destitute, or drunk and destitute.

152
00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:08.160
We certainly didn't want that to
occur, and there's no inclination
that it's likely to, either.

153
00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:16.280
After much demand, the media
are granted a series of closely
supervised one-on-one interviews.

154
00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.960
All right. If you guys will follow
me. Well, welcome to the unit.

155
00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.880
But the very private soldier is
still uncomfortable with his public
role.

156
00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:30.720
I never thought I'd ever be
talking to the media about it. Yeah.

157
00:13:30.760 --> 00:13:31.480
Hello.

158
00:13:31.520 --> 00:13:37.840
With his famous corporal on edge,
the CO lets everyone know exactly
where the boundaries lie.

159
00:13:37.880 --> 00:13:42.800
We're a discreet organisation.
We're not comfortable in the public
eye. It's not what we do naturally.

160
00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:47.280
We're just trying to balance what NZ
needs from Willie and what Willie
needs.

161
00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:53.840
Given that the SAS, you know, builds
its reputation on anonymity, isn't
that shot for him now?

162
00:13:53.880 --> 00:13:59.480
No, not at all. He still has
anonymity with a gas mask on,
doesn't he?

163
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:06.400
The media are no longer covering
the story for just NZ but for news
agencies around the globe.

164
00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:10.920
Last week, Willie Apiata
was this anonymous bloke...

165
00:14:11.160 --> 00:14:15.920
...and now you're having to do all
these horrible interviews with us.
(LAUGHS) >

166
00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:22.040
The public and NZ wanna know who
I am. It's a soldier in the NZSAS,
and that's who I am.

167
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:26.080
We've been receiving messages
on our website by the hundreds.

168
00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:29.880
They generally wanted to know
who I was and how I was feeling.

169
00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:33.920
Yeah, it's still quite an
overwhelming thing that I'm going
through.

170
00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.760
And, you know, I'm taking
it one day at a time.

171
00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:40.200
You've said you'd rather face
the Taliban than the media.

172
00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:46.440
There's a couple of them, actually,
that were right up in your face,
but...

173
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:54.120
we all know they just want a piece
of Willie Apiata, so we had to give
them a little bit.

174
00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:58.400
Put you in front of that and
take a photo as an honour.

175
00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:09.560
They're big words you don't really
like. You were just doing your job.
(LAUGHS) OK, mate.

176
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.600
Um, so,... uh...

177
00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:16.960
Some journalists go fishing for
more details about Afghanistan.

178
00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:24.200
Now, Afghanistan. How long had
you been in Afghanistan when
this particular action happened?

179
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.400
Probably no questions in
terms of the specifics, sir.>
OK, then.

180
00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.920
So, you were up against
a group of Taliban?

181
00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:31.840
No specifics on that. >

182
00:15:31.880 --> 00:15:37.240
(SIGHS) So, there's really no
more that you'd tell us about
Afghanistan?

183
00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:45.560
Not the specifics. There's reasons
for that. We're not being defensive
or trying to hide anything.

184
00:15:52.040 --> 00:16:01.120
In the hunt for Al Qaeda, Corporal
Willie Apiata's patrol travelled to
the remotest regions of Afghanistan.

185
00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.520
We would go to villages
to talk to the locals.

186
00:16:04.560 --> 00:16:09.040
In some places we'd go to,
they haven't seen soldiers
since the Russian days.

187
00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:11.840
Biblical is the only
thing that springs to mind.

188
00:16:11.880 --> 00:16:17.360
Donkeys, people carrying piles
of wood, mud huts. Very biblical.

189
00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:23.360
There were occasions we'd get
flowers thrown on to our vehicle
cos they were happy to see us.

190
00:16:23.400 --> 00:16:29.360
We're a different bunch, eh, as
Kiwis. We pretty much get on with
just about everybody.

191
00:16:29.400 --> 00:16:33.320
But greetings weren't
always so enthusiastic.

192
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:42.160
We approached this village before
last light and thought, 'We'll visit
and let people know we're there.'

193
00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:49.560
The welcoming we got from that
village was quite hostile - just
in the way that they looked at us.

194
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:55.880
We had been told, previously,
that the village was sympathetic
to Taliban.

195
00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:10.200
With the meeting set up for the next
day, the patrol moved away from the
village to make camp for the night.

196
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.880
Some form of dominating ground that
we can fight from, that you feel
secure in,

197
00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:19.520
that have got eyes on,
basically, all around the fence.

198
00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:24.680
But the landscape failed to
offer an ideal location to lay up.

199
00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.160
There was still a lot of
ground that we couldn't see into.

200
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.480
Hiding in the shadows, a
hostile army was amassing.

201
00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:44.320
At the end of this first week,
Willie gets a much-needed short
break.

202
00:17:44.360 --> 00:17:48.680
No media, celebrity
snapshots or personal minders.

203
00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.080
I really needed it.
Just to clear my head.

204
00:17:51.120 --> 00:17:54.480
Get my head around it and get
some closure with my family.

205
00:17:54.520 --> 00:17:58.160
They hadn't seen me since
this thing started,

206
00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:03.120
and they were starting to tear the
TV apart every time I was on.

207
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.200
Willie heads south to see his
partner and son and his biggest
follower.

208
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.320
Only my mum really understood
what it was about.

209
00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:17.840
Once it had come out on the TV,
basically, the rest of my family
finally realised.

210
00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:21.800
You know life's not the same any
more on the home front, don't you?

211
00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:25.600
My mum's followed me through
my career ever since the first day

212
00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.960
when I went away to do my
first weekend of army training.

213
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.840
Jeepers. I didn't
know you had all these.

214
00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:34.880
Oh, that was when I
came back from Afghan, eh.
Mm.

215
00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.320
After a few years in
the Territorial Army,

216
00:18:37.360 --> 00:18:44.200
his mother would also see Willie's
disappointment after an unsuccessful
first attempt to join the NZSAS,

217
00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.840
an old injury denying
his chance of selection.

218
00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:53.120
I was pretty gutted about that, but
I had a good unit that I was with at
the time,

219
00:18:53.160 --> 00:19:01.160
put me back into work and says,
'Hey, there will always be another
opportunity', and I knew that.

220
00:19:02.360 --> 00:19:08.960
After serving in East Timor, Willie
tried for the NZSAS selection again
in 2001.

221
00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:11.400
This time, he made the grade.

222
00:19:12.520 --> 00:19:19.840
Holy Father, bless this food we're
about to devour. Bless this house.
Bless our journey. Amen.

223
00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:24.800
As a combat trooper, Willie is away
on training and operations much of
the year,

224
00:19:24.840 --> 00:19:28.520
so he spends all his remaining
time with his partner and son,

225
00:19:28.560 --> 00:19:33.160
as they come to terms with
the changes in Willie's life.

226
00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:42.400
Nowadays, no matter how tired I am
or how drained I feel, I'll always
make time to spend with my boy.

227
00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:47.320
I know that's all he wants - to
be with Dad. He's away so much.

228
00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:50.800
POIGNANT MUSIC

229
00:19:56.120 --> 00:19:58.120
(LAUGHS)

230
00:20:00.120 --> 00:20:02.120
Ah... we missed it.

231
00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.400
That's the one. You're
reeling it up a little bit.

232
00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:13.760
All too soon, Willie's weekend with
loved ones is over. Their next
meeting will be in Wellington,

233
00:20:13.800 --> 00:20:21.160
where the Governor-General will
present Willie Apiata with the
Victoria Cross in a public ceremony.

234
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.400
POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES