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NZ Defence Force begins repatriation of Navy engineer in American Samoa

Source: NZDF media release

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will begin repatriating a Royal New Zealand Navy engineer from American Samoa, following a graveside blessing ceremony at Satala Cemetery in Pago Pago on May 2 (New Zealand time).

Engineering Mechanic 1st Class Russell Moore died in an accident on the survey vessel HMNZS Lachlan in 1956.

The repatriation is part of project Te Auraki (The Return), under which personnel buried overseas after 1 January, 1955, will be brought home to New Zealand.

The expert dis-interment team of bio-archaeologists and forensic anthropologists drawn from New Zealand universities and NZDF odontologists (dentists) will be led by an NZDF doctor.

Once the remains have been identified, the service personnel being repatriated will never be left alone, with a continuous vigil by NZDF personnel until they are handed over to their families on their return to New Zealand.

An NZDF Chaplain, Kaumatua and Māori cultural advisers will be travelling with the NZDF contingent to ensure the remains will be returned to New Zealand using contemporary cultural, religious and military protocols.

Group Captain Carl Nixon, leading project Te Auraki, said the families of those being repatriated were the NZDF’s main priority.

“The New Zealand Defence Force is committed to making this process as dignified and respectful as possible for the families of those being repatriated,” Group Captain Nixon said.

“We are grateful to the government of American Samoa for agreeing to the dis-interment and for caring for the resting places of our people for all these years.

“We would also like to thank the US Army’s detachment in American Samoa for providing logistical support.”

Equality was the core principle throughout this process, Group Captain Nixon said.

“We will have no preferential treatment regardless of background, status, wealth, or cause of death. This will ensure the inequalities that resulted from an inconsistent approach in the past are not repeated.”

Last week, two Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel, Flight Lieutenant George Beban and Leading Aircraftman Ralph Scott, were dis-interred in Fiji.

All three personnel repatriated from Fiji and American Samoa are due to return to New Zealand, to be handed over to their families at a ramp ceremony at Base Ohakea on May 7.

Biographies of NZDF personnel being repatriated from Fiji and American Samoa:

American Samoa:

Engineering Mechanic 1st Class Russell James Craig MOORE. Engineering Mechanic Moore enlisted in the RNZN on 28 July, 1955. He was posted to the survey vessel HMNZS Lachlan and while on the ship in Pago Pago, American Samoa, he died in an accident, aged 19, on 9 July, 1956. He was buried in the Naval Section of Satala Cemetery, Pago Pago.

Fiji:

Flight Lieutenant George Thomas BEBAN, MBE, Administrative and Supply (Secretarial). Flight Lieutenant Beban served in the Second World War as an RNZAF Medic and he was discharged at the conclusion of hostilities. He re-enlisted in 1948 as an RNZAF Secretarial Officer. In 1954 he was posted with his family to RNZAF Station Laucala Bay as the Senior Secretarial Officer and Press Liaison Officer. He died of natural causes, aged 40, on 31 August, 1956, in Fiji, and was buried in the Military Section of the Suva Cemetery.

Leading Aircraftman Ralph Henry SCOTT, Fireman. Leading Aircraftman Scott enlisted in the RNZAF as a Fireman on 27 December, 1956. He also served from 1952-56 in the Royal Air Force as a Fireman. After a period of basic training he was posted to RNZAF Base Ohakea as a Fireman. In August 1960 he was posted to the firecrew at RNZAF Station Laucala Bay in Fiji. He died of natural causes, aged 28, on 15 October, 1960, and was buried in the Military Section of the Suva Cemetery.