True sacrifice

Banks Peninsula MP Vanessa Weenink reminds us of what real service and sacrifice is:

I studied medicine in Otago, and while I was there, I joined the Territorials, and all up, I served nearly 22 years in the regular force and Territorials. During that time, I was deployed three times in a very intense period over two years. I did two winter tours of Afghanistan, and a stint in East Timor in 2006 in between. My son was six months old when I first deployed; I missed his first Christmas, and he turned three while I was away on my last tour. My already shaky first marriage didn’t survive. I lost friends and colleagues in Afghanistan, and so the withdrawal from there and the state of that country and the fate of women there break my heart.

It is hard to imagine being deployed overseas while you have a six months old son. We owe so much to those who serve in the military.