Interview with Tina Grant, NZDF liaison officer for families of the fallen, whose SAS husband Duggy was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.
August is always a black month for New Zealand Army families. Widows, fatherless children, distraught parents, comrades all grieve lost loved ones.
Summer in Afghanistan brought elevated Taliban activity. The warmer nights meant more insurgent stakeouts, ambushes, bombings.
Of the 10 Kiwi soldiers who died during New Zealand's decade-long military contribution in Afghanistan, seven of them died in August.
"It's a busy month. We've pretty much got an anniversary every week and obviously four on one day," says Tina Grant, NZ Army liaison officer for families of the fallen.
A memorial ride this weekend will remember Douglas "Duggy" Grant, an SAS corporal who died in a firefight in Afghanistan on August 19, 2011.
Her husband, Douglas "Duggy" Grant, an SAS corporal, died in a firefight with Taliban insurgents as he tried to rescue civilians following an attack on the British Council building in Kabul on August 19, 2011.
Every year since his death, a remembrance motorbike ride has been embarked on by Tina, his old comrades, and members of the Patriots Defence Force Motorcycle Club and other bike clubs.
The weekend ride, with live music and hangi, ends at Duggy's grave in Napier.
For Tina, the annual event helps her and 13-year-old Jemma and 11-year-old Jaden cope deal with the pain every August brings.
Chatting over a drink, in their patched leathers, provides a secure space for people to talk about what they've been through.
"This is always a crappy week. But I know that at the end of it, we'll be all together; like-minded people all dealing with the one thing," Tina said.
Tina Grant riding her late husband Douglas Grant 's motorbike. She will once again be riding the bike in a memorial for her Afghanistan SAS hero. Photo / Supplied
"The boys don't get smashed; it's not like that. It's a gathering, not a piss-up, and that's what I like about it. My kids are there, my nieces, nephews and cousins. Duggy's buried in Napier and that's where I was born and bred, and so it's a huge family deal for us."
Both Tina and Duggy belonged to the Patriots, with her late husband being the eleventh member of the Manawatu chapter.
They enjoyed the long rides with Tina as pillion passenger until Duggy bought her own bike.
Tina attended a memorial service this morning [Monday] for Special Forces Lance Corporal G. Porter who died training at Meremere on August 14, 1970 - another August army fatality - and was chatting to one of Duggy's old mates.
They were laughing at how Duggy had decked out his bike about a year before he died extravagantly in LED lights.
"I called him a boy racer but he was so adamant it was all about safety. But it wasn't - it was a unique idea that he got that he wanted to be different. That was how he was. He wasn't a follower, he was a leader... a real character," Tina said.
Tina rides Duggy's bike now.
NZ Army liaison officer and widow Tina Grant says the annual remembrance ride helps her and 13-year-old Jemma and 11-year-old Jaden cope deal with the pain every August brings.
And this year, daughter Jemma will be clutched to her back.
"It'll just be her and me and we're pretty excited."
After a memorial service at an SAS chapel in Auckland on Friday morning, an expected 100-120 bikes, including former SAS comrades, will rendezvous nearby for a ride to Taupo.
They'll spend a night there, tucking into a hangi.
On Saturday morning, they'll travel to Napier and pay their respects at Duggy's grave site before enjoying a live band at Taradale RSA. All funds raised will go to the Douglas Grant Childrens Memorial Trust Fund.
A line drawing of SAS Corporal Douglas "Duggy" Grant who died in Afghanistan in August 2011. Image / Swanie
"Duggy always loved big parties, and the ride is always huge, it's humbling," Tina says.
"We have 10 servicemen and women who died in August. So it means a lot to our families that people are still interested in remembering our people and keeping their memories alive."
The third annual Ride of Remembrance across the Canterbury Plains on Saturday will remember the five soldiers who died in Afghanistan in August 2012.
Lance Corporals Rory Patrick Malone and Pralli Durrer, both 26, died on August 4, 2012 during what would later be known as the Battle of Baghak.
Two weeks later, on August 19, 2012, Crib 20 deployment comrades Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, and Private Richard Harris, 21, were killed when their Humvee hit a 20kg roadside improvised explosive device.
Biker friends lay poppies at his grave at Western Hills Cemetery, Park Island, Napier,in 2015. Photo / Duncan Brown
Bikers, friends and family gather at his Napier grave in 2015.Photo / Duncan Brown
