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Dangerous conditions, a deadline, and detailed work that needed care and compassion. That’s what a team of elite soldiers faced almost a year ago when they went to Whakaari / White Island to retrieve the bodies of the victims.
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There were dangerous conditions, a deadline, and detailed work that needed care and compassion. Source: 1 NEWS
Among them was Sergeant F, who cannot be identified for security reasons. But in an exclusive interview with 1 NEWS, the 29-year-old sheds light on a dramatic day.
Today the Whakaari landscape is calm and arid, steam being the only clue to constant danger.
But a year ago, Sergeant F remembers him as a smoky and agitated giant.
“Mordor is a pretty good description of the feel of the place,” he says.
“Just empty, ashen, steamy, quite hot … It was like being on another planet. I was off this Earth.”
Sergeant F is one of eight members of the bomb squad called up to serve in the most extraordinary circumstances.
On December 9, a Monday afternoon, the Bay of Plenty volcano erupted, with 47 tourists and guides on the island.
Rescuers on boats and helicopters did what they could, but there were catastrophic injuries.
Eight people did not make it out of Whakaari. Repeated reconnaissance flights found no signs of life.
Throughout the week, the pressure mounted to recover the fallen. But conditions were still volatile.
Experts trained to handle chemical and biological explosives, the bomb squad, were summoned.
They headed out four days after the eruption.
At the time, there was still a six percent chance in any three-hour period of another eruption.
The team of specialists launched from HMNZ Wellington.
“It was very quiet, there was not much talk,” says Sgt. F.
“I think we were … I was on my own mind.”
They knew that six of the bodies were within 300 meters of the jetty. They were given four hours to get in and out.
“If you’ve done bikram yoga, those sessions last around 40 minutes, it’s like being in one of those rooms fully clothed, walking down a sand dune for a few hours.”
Sergeant F says she felt the weight of responsibility, but grieving and expectant families motivated the team.
“I guess it’s like someone had a chance to do something like that,” he says.
“I think we all put ourselves in his shoes, we understood the importance of that.”
Their suits are designed to protect against chemical warfare agents, toxic vapors, and fire. That day, he protected them from a volcano.
Humidity was an ever-present problem.
“When I had a hand available, it was just on the window sash the whole time,” says Sergeant F.
The team, which included doctors, worked to remove the bodies as a group.
“There was a lot of faith in our team that we could do what we were supposed to do on that island.”
Their shared experience will never leave them.
Despite all their efforts, two bodies have never been recovered: Whakatāne tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and Australian tourist Winona Langford.
Still, there is pride in what was achieved.
“These are special women and special men,” says former Defense Minister Ron Mark.
“They represent all that is good about our army and, in particular, about the men and women we entrust with undertaking the most extreme mission in the most dangerous circumstances, where it is sought to prevent or minimize the loss of civilians or innocent people.”
Sergeant F says her experience at Whakaari reaffirmed her faith in her work.
“It is to help others, the reason we joined the New Zealand Defense Force is to help others.”
