A Maori farewell to fallen comrades

[Tuariki]

To my fellow posters on the TnF message board I invite you share in my Maori culture and take timeout for 3 minutes to watch this truly moving tribute to 3 kiwi soldiers who lost their lives last week in Afghanistan.

As tweeted by @Piersmorgan "Astounding, and deeply moving, Haka tribute to fallen comrades in Afghanistan"

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829992

Posting on this forum and pitting wits and opinions with all of you is a lot of fun. However, in thinking today of the family of the javelin official killed yesterday I thought I would just like to share with you a little part my culture and the reality of what the haka is really about. It is not just something that entertains at the beginning of an All Black game intimidating all other teams. It is a live and breathing reality. You will also notice that the soldiers are not just Maori. In the NZ Army all soldiers, brown, white, yellow,pink and black, get involved as the warriors of Tumataurenga, the God of War.

[Daisy]

Certainly more powerful than at a rugby game. And from wikipedia:

Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, Private Richard Harris and Corporal Luke Tametea were killed on 19 August 2012 when their vehicle was hit by an IED. Lance Corporal Baker is New Zealand's first female casualty in a combat role since women were allowed to serve on the frontline in 2000.

Coalition deaths in Afghanistan by country

USA: 1,939
UK: 425
Canada: 158
France: 88
Germany: 56
Italy: 50
Denmark: 42
Poland: 37
Spain: 34
Australia: 33
Netherlands: 25
Romania: 20
Georgia: 17
Turkey: 14
New Zealand: 10
Norway: 10
Estonia: 9
Hungary: 7
Sweden: 5
Czech Republic: 5
Latvia: 3
Finland: 2
Jordan: 2
Portugal: 2
South Korea: 2
Albania: 1
Belgium: 1
Lithuania: 1
TOTAL: 2,998