Former All-Black captain and National RSA president, Sir Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford, is currently pushing for a second national day to honour and encompass all of Aotearoa’s veterans.
Speaking to Seven Sharp this evening, he said it was about celebrating our younger veterans who’ve fought in more recent conflicts.
“In the last 30 years, we’ve actually had over 60,000 vets join the NZDF, and in that time, over 13,000 have been involved in operation campaigns overseas.
“We need to celebrate the younger vets of today because we don’t hear about them.”
He said that it shouldn’t be a day off but is just looking for a day in the year when veterans can go out and “strut their stuff”.
“Let's parade, let's walk along the streets of Wellington, Christchurch, the bigger cities."
Shelford said he had approached the Minister of Defence, Peeni Henare, about the possibility, who called it a “good idea”.
“We want to celebrate the military today as we are,” he said.
He said that should a new day be put aside, it would give New Zealand’s young vets a bit more “recognition”, saying we need to catch up to how Americans treat their veterans.
“We need that to happen," he said.
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