Injured soldiers named

Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell receiving the Distinguished Service Decoration from the Governor General. Photo / NZDF

The identities of two soldiers injured in an Afghanistan insurgent attack overnight have been revealed.

One News named the pair as Matthew Ball and Allister Baker.

Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell, from Feilding, was also killed in the attack.

Earlier today, head of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) Lieutenant-General Jerry Mateparae said the soldiers' injuries were serious but not "life threatening".

The two soldiers could only be treated after an arduous 11-hour journey by road as bad weather ruled out a medical airlift.

One soldier suffered burns to 10 per cent of his body, the other has cuts, abrasions and a broken foot.

An interpreter travelling with the group was also injured.

The four-vehicle patrol - part of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) - was hit by a substantial IED (improvised explosive device) about 12.30am today (NZT) and then attacked from two positions with accurate small arms fire including rocket-propelled grenades.

This afternoon Lt O'Donnell's father said his son had always dreamed of being in the army.

Lt O'Donnell was the first Kiwi combat soldier to be killed in a decade when his patrol was ambushed in Bamiyan Province.

Choking back tears as he spoke at a press conference at Linton Army base near Palmerston North, his father Mark said: "This day is a very sad day for two families - the O'Donnells and the army.

"Ever since he was a boy being held by his grandmother at aged four he wanted to be in the army.

"He was very proud of the work that he and the soldiers did there.

"He absolutely loved being a soldier. He loved working with other soldiers.

"Tim was very proud that he was chosen to be an army officer and could live his dream."

Mr O'Donnell described receiving news of his son's death this morning as a "nightmare".

"I was in Auckland, my wife was at home by herself. I thought it was a joke at first, it wasn't unfortunately. It was a nightmare this morning."

He said the death had left an enormous hole in the lives of Tim's many friends and close-knit family.

He and his wife, Mary, had discussed the dangers of their son serving in Afghanistan.

"The way I looked at it [was]: How would you like to train as a nurse and then never nurse anyone?"

He said he recalled telling his son: "I wanted him to be brave but not a dead brave hero" before Lt O'Donnell left for Afghanistan.

In his last conversation with his son two weeks ago, Mr O'Donnell said they had planned a trip to the D-Day beaches in France when his six-month tour of duty ended in October.

"At the moment we are all a bit numb. It won't be until he comes home later this week or early next that the depression will set in."

Mr O'Donnell said the family had never prepared themselves for losing Lt O'Donnell.

"It happens to someone else, doesn't it?"

Mr O'Donnell also spoke of the pride he felt when his son was awarded The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration for rescuing about 600 people from an ambush during a political rally.

"The day we went to Government House and he got the Distinguished Service Decoration, my chest just about burst."

Mr O'Donnell said his son always believed that he had been awarded the medal on behalf of the other soldiers that served alongside him.

Asked if the New Zealand Government should now pull troops out of Afghanistan, Mr O'Donnell said his son believed in the job he was doing.

"It would be a waste of Tim's life if they pulled out now," he said.

His uncle Barry O'Donnell said the family still firmly supported the army's mission in Afghanistan.

He said: "I don't think the army would go into this without expecting casualties. You can't just run away when something like this happens."

Tim O'Donnell is survived by Mark, a former police officer, mother Mary-Anne, a nurse, his brother Andrew and sister Anna.

- with NZ Herald staff, NZPA