Kiwi SAS man is awarded VC

Corporal Apiata, the first New Zealander to be awarded the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, has said he was only doing his job.

He is to receive the elite award after carrying an injured colleague through enemy fire in Afghanistan.

A clearly overwhelmed Corporal Apiata said he was still trying to deal with the enormity of having received such a prestigious honour.

"I was only doing my job and looking after my mates," Corporal Apiata told a media conference in Wellington this afternoon.

"It means a lot to me, to my family and the unit itself."

Corporal Apiata said he often sees the man whose life he saved.

"Whenever I see him we catch up and have a beer. We're good mates," Corporal Apiata said.

When asked if he saw himself as a role model, he said: "I see myself as Willy Apiata. I'm just an ordinary person."

Prime Minister Helen Clark said today: "Corporal Apiata carried a severely wounded fellow soldier across open ground while coming under intense attack. He did this despite the extreme danger to himself."

Well done. The distance Corporal Apiata carried his bleeding mate to safety was 70 yards which is about the length of the hallway my office opens onto. I'm sure it looks A LOT further when you've got bullets whipping around you and a dying man on your back. I really admire the understatement of the man. It reminds me of a story about John F. Kennedy who once when asked how he became a war hero answered 'It was involuntary. They sank my boat.'