Memorial Day - Salute 70

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E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o nga hau e wha e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Nga mihi ki nga morehu o te toa o te pakanga tuarua.  Kia ora tātou katoa.  Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all.  Special greetings to the Second World War veterans.

I also acknowledge: Your Worship Jenny Rowan, Mayor of Kāpiti and Chair of the Kāpiti US Marines Trust—tēnā koe; Hon Fran Wilde, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council—tēnā koe; Lt General Rhys Jones, Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force and Rear Admiral Tony Parr, Chief of Navy, Major General Tim Keating, Chief of Army and Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell, Chief of Air Force—tēnā koutou; and Marie Damour, Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy—tēnā koe.

It is a great pleasure to attend this ceremony, a part of Salute 70, marking the anniversary of the arrival of United States Marine Corps to Wellington and the Kāpiti District in 1942.  Although the anniversary date is next month, and I will address a service at the National War Memorial in Wellington that will mark the arrival of all United States Forces in New Zealand, today’s event has a special significance.  It specifically acknowledges the contribution US forces made to this district, ensuring that a unique story in the shared history of New Zealand and the United States is celebrated.  However, today is also Memorial Day, the day that Americans remember those servicemen and women who have given their lives in the service of their country.  And it is the contribution and the sacrifices that Americans have made with us that I want to speak of today.

First, I acknowledge the tangata whenua and their deep connections with this land, and your sanction of this event. Secondly, I want to thank the Kāpiti US Marines Trust, the Kāpiti Coast District Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, the New Zealand Defence Force, the United States Embassy and the many others for their initiative in ensuring that this important part of our shared history is protected, remembered and promoted.

The arrival of the United States Marines in Wellington in early 1942 came at a dark time.  Germany and its Axis allies were the masters of Europe, and Japan had conquered much of Southeast Asia, and was making inroads in the Pacific.  They had bombed Darwin in Australia and Japanese submarines were known to be lurking in our waters.  With the bulk of New Zealand’s land forces serving in North Africa and our air force in Britain, it seemed we were very vulnerable and many feared an invasion.

The alternative to bringing our forces home was for American military personnel to be based here as a staging post to the battlefields of the Pacific.  And so it was that 70 years ago, a “friendly invasion” of American forces began.  The first US Army troops arrived in Auckland on 12 June 1942, and the first US Marines aboard the USS Wakefield arrived in Wellington two days later.

Between 1942 and 1944, it is estimated more than 15,000 American troops were stationed here at Queen Elizabeth Park, then named Camp Russell, Camp Mackay, the area of Whareroa Farm on the other side of State Highway 1, and Camp Paekākāriki, in what is now Paekākāriki village.

The “friendly invasion” was a both a strategic and essential operation that reflected the danger this nation faced and the massive task that the Allies, principally the United States, New Zealand among them, saw in countering Japanese aggression in the years ahead. 

For a worried New Zealand public, the presence of American troops created a sense of security and renewed their hope that the tide of war would turn. 

Their presence here also had significant social, cultural and economic impacts.  As New Zealand historian Jock Phillips noted: “What gave the encounter its special quality was that the two societies were sufficiently similar to communicate easily, but sufficiently different to find each other intriguing.”

Coffee, hot dogs and swing clubs entered our cultural mix at that time.  Many of the major roads around Auckland, for example, were paved for the first time by the Americans—with concrete.  Roads and landing strips were also built by US servicemen across the country, including here at Kāpiti. 

Lasting friendships and relationships were formed and the US servicemen became more than passing visitors - they became the loved ones of New Zealanders too.  As it was elsewhere, that was a source of tensions!  It is estimated that after the war some 1500 New Zealand women travelled to the United States as war brides.  Yet, many of those American servicemen came to adore our country and have continued to visit old haunts and catch up with old friends and relatives here.  And I want to take this opportunity to welcome former marines and navy veterans who have travelled long distances to be here today—Oorah!

Two months ago, New Zealanders gathered on ANZAC Day to remember all those who had served or are serving our country.  We also honoured those who had served and made the ultimate sacrifice in that service.

Today we join with our American friends on this Memorial Day to remember their war dead, and to reflect on the human cost of war.  From the Western Front in the First World War to North Africa, Italy, the skies of Europe and the Pacific in the Second World War, and in places as diverse as Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, and the Middle East, New Zealanders and Americans have served, fought and died, side by side to counter aggression and to defend democratic values.  We continue to serve alongside each other in places such as the Sinai and Afghanistan.

In remembering those who died, today we have the opportunity to recall the service of 10 US sailors who drowned, on the Kāpiti coast, during training for war in June 1943.  It is the nature of military service that it carries risks, but that they should lose their lives during training was a blow.  As was the case then, due to wartime censorship the tragic loss of life was not released and much mystery has surrounded exactly what happened.

Almost 70 years later, we will soon witness the blessing and honouring of their names on the Sailor’s Memorial.  I acknowledge former sailor Frank Zalot Jr, who is here today and, as one of the survivors of the accident has provided an invaluable account of what occurred when the landing craft they were in flipped while undertow in heavy seas.  I also acknowledge Ray Plant and Ted Picard, who were aboard the waiting transport ship, USS American Legion, that evening and are also here today.

Those who drowned that fateful night died in a time of war and they died tragically in our waters.  It is fitting that their service is remembered on this Memorial Day.

And in a wider sense, by recalling their service, we remember also their comrades-in-arms whose names are not inscribed here.  Many of the marines who came to New Zealand went on to battlefields across the Pacific and never returned.   The last group of marines to leave Wellington fought at Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati in November 1944.  It was an epic battle that saw more than 3300 of them killed or wounded in the space of just 76 hours —and today we remember them and their example holding to their motto – Semper Fidelis, Semper Fi – “always faithful”.

To close, I will paraphrase a sign at a cemetery in Tarawa that encapsulates the service, contribution and sacrifice of the American forces that had been stationed here: They did their work, they held their place and they had no fear to die. 

Lest we forget.  Kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui, huihui tātou katoa—be well, be strong, be courageous.