Saturday, December 10, 2011

NZ Paratroop Private John Howard

The family of Private John "Jack" Howard, from Wellington, New Zealand, had his ashes interred in Karori cemetery in Wellington on Friday 9th December 2011.

Private Howard was killed while on patrol in Nad-e Ali District, Helmand province on 5th December 2010. He was serving with the British Army's 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (3PARA) at the time.

Private Howard's body was flown back to England where his family was waiting, before being flown to Wellington for his funeral last year. His ashes were marked with a white marble headstone bearing the Parachute Regiment seal, the New Zealand Sunday Star Times reported.

New Zealand's Channel 3 News reported that notebooks kept by Private Howard were returned to his family after his death, and revealed a number of close calls on the battlefield. A week before his death, he was shot through his backpack. The bullet narrowly missed him.

Private Howard's death in Afghanistan is believed to have been caused by 'friendly-fire' during a U.S. airstrike by a jet on a ‘strafing run'.

His funeral last year, at Wellington's Cathedral of St Paul, included an honour guard of traditional Maori warriors while comrades from his regiment carried his Union Jack draped coffin.

2 comments:

  1. I see other sites saying he died this year but you say he died in 2010. Are you right or wrong about that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. We are right. Pvt John Howard was killed on 5th December 2010. His funeral was in December 2010. This report is about his ashes being interred this year.

    ReplyDelete

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