The six veterans featured in this series of stamps were all deployed from 1995 or later, and sometimes deployed multiple times. They represent the over 42,000 living veterans who have served New Zealand in dangerous places while serving in the New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy or the Royal New Zealand Air force.
They were all awarded the New Zealand Operational Service Medal. This medal is given for service that exceeds the normal requirements of peacetime service and involves a credible military threat from the enemy’s military, insurgents, or other hostile forces.
After their service veterans return to civilian life, but impacts from those deployments can remain with them for the rest of their lives.
They may march in the Anzac Day parades with the older veterans of previous conflicts and wars, but these veterans aren’t retired from the workforce; they have left the New Zealand Defence Force and now live and work in our communities. They are ordinary people who at times in their lives performed an extraordinary service for their country.
$2.00 Rebecca Brierton - Rebecca joined the Royal New Zealand Navy as a midshipman, supply officer in 1994 and was deployed to East Timor, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. She served until 2015 and is currently studying law.
$2.00 Ben Peckham - Ben served in the New Zealand Territorials before transferring to the Regular Force of the New Zealand Army in 1992. In September 1994 he was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the United Nations Protection Force. Ben has completed a graduate diploma in psychosocial studies and is currently studying international humanitarian law. He is a prominent supporter of the veteran community.
$3.30 Kelley Waite - Kelley joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 2000 as a telecommunications operator and technician. In 2010 she was reassigned to become a helicopter crewman. Kelley is now working with Philips Search and Rescue Trust as a helicopter crewman and emergency medical technician.
$3.30 Vance Leach - Vance joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1999 as an ordinary electronics technician. At the completion of his training, he was posted to HMNZS CANTERBURY and then deployed to East Timor. Vance left the Navy in 2009 as a petty officer weapons technician to pursue a law degree at the University of Auckland and now works in employment relations.
$4.00 Ange Coyle - Ange joined the New Zealand Army in 2006 as a signaller and left in 2014. Ange leads a project at the Department of Corrections that aims to support both staff and prisoners who have served. Having had first-hand experiences of some of the difficulties that some face when transitioning out of service, Ange is passionate about supporting the wellbeing of veteran staff at Corrections and across the public sector, and those entering the criminal justice system.
$4.60 David Bennett - David joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in January 2001 as an avionics technician. He served in No.40 Squadron as an aircraft maintainer before training to join the flight engineer trade in 2007 as a C-130 Hercules flight engineer. He took part in operations in East Timor, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. David left the Air Force in July 2012 and is currently a project manager, inspecting and maintaining oil and gas pipelines.
