Kiwi war hero finally gets his medal, 41 years later

Colonel Brian Chippindale. Photo / Richard Robinson

Captain Brian Chippindale was a New Zealand observer with an American unit during the Vietnam War.

But when the unit commander was killed, Captain Chippindale grabbed a weapon and stood shooting against a "hail of enemy fire".

It was an act of bravery that earned him a US medal for valour.

And 41 years later, Mr Chippindale, now a colonel, will be allowed to wear the medal after a ceremony tonight.

It was April 19, 1968, and Colonel Chippindale was in the New Zealand Army attached to a US unit in central Vietnam when the soldiers came under attack from deep within a jungle.

He was supposed to be only an observer, but when the head of the troops he was with was killed, he led the soldiers on a counter-attack which forced the enemy to retreat.

"People just started firing at us. We just spurred into action ... You just do what you have to do."

A weapon was available so he grabbed it and "started firing back at the horrors shooting at us".

Colonel Chippindale has never forgotten the dramatic battle as it was the moment he stopped being an observer and became "part of the team".

"I was an observer at first sitting up the front next to the guys doing all the work. After that, they decided to make use of me and I got my own troops. I went from observer to part of the team."

Colonel Chippindale was awarded the American Bronze Star with Valour Device - a bronze letter V on the medal ribbon to show it was awarded for courage in battle - but it was never presented to him in Vietnam and he wasn't given approval to wear it.

The citation with the award said he was composed even when exposed to a "hail of enemy fire, without regard for his personal safety, in order to keep up a devastating and continuous volume of fire".

His "courageous performance, skill, and tactical proficiency" reflected well on him and the traditions of the New Zealand and United States armies.

Looking back, 41 years later, Colonel Chippindale said he took action because "someone had to do something".

He was told about his Bronze Star when he left Vietnam but forgot about it until six months ago, "when I was having a conversation with a guy in Wellington".

Then he received a letter about tonight's ceremony. "Someone had obviously done their homework. It will be nice to make it official."

He will finally receive the Bronze Star from Randy Berry Jnr, the United States consul-general, at a ceremony at the Silverdale RSA at 6.30pm.

After 13 years in the Army, Colonel Chippindale left in 1986 to start a 14-year career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in New Zealand high commissions and embassies in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Now retired and living on the Hibiscus Coast, he divides his time between golf, flying radio-controlled helicopters and any DIY work that needs to be done on his house or those of his four children.

Associate Defence Minister Heather Roy said approval would be granted for Colonel Chippindale and two others to receive gallantry medals awarded while serving with US units.

"These are all very brave men, and approval to wear these medals is fitting recognition of their efforts."