KEY POINTS:
Defence Minister Phil Goff will tomorrow morning attend the funeral services for his nephew, the first New Zealander killed while on military duty in Afghanistan, a spokesman said today.
First Lieutenant Matthew Ferrara, 24, who held New Zealand and American citizenship, was killed last week while serving in Afghanistan as a member of the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
Mr Goff will attend a service at Rolling Hills Covenant Church, in Palos Verdes, California, at 8.30am (NZ time) and his nephew's burial with military honours at Green Hills Memorial Park.
Lt Ferrara was the son of Mr Goff's US-based sister Linda, who lives at Torrance and has three other sons still serving in the US military.
Lt Ferrara was on a foot patrol in the eastern Afghan city of Aranus when an ambush by insurgents killed him, three Afghan soldiers and four other American soldiers.
- NZPA
