Raymond Trembath

Raymond Trembath grew up in a military family, he was 6 when he decided to join the army.

He signed up in 1973 and left in 1986 to do some solo travel around Africa and the US. By that time a friend who'd served in the French Foreign Legion had already "planted a seed", Ray says, and in 1989 he enlisted with the Legion for a five-year stint. "Off I went, adventuring."

At that time, about five New Zealanders were signing up every year, he says, "generally for the adventure", but new recruits were most often Portuguese and English. With the legion, Ray was a member of the elite parachute regiment and served in Chad, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

After leaving the French Foreign Legion in 1994, Ray did construction work in Auckland for five years.

Then at an ANZAC service in 2000, he ran into a fellow army officer who told him he was taking soldiers to Timor.

Two years later, Ray rejoined the army as a corporal, eventually serving in Timor and PNG.

When he was diagnosed with cancer aged 60, Ray decided to call it a day on his army career.

"I thought that's me, I'm out of here, eh? I'm gonna have a vacation." He died in July, 2016.