Tangi for fallen Māori soldier Kane Te Tai will run like a military operation

Kane Te Tai. Photo / Supplied

The Kiwi soldier recently killed in Ukraine will be buried tomorrow in a ceremony planned with military precision.

Kane Te Tai, 38, co-founder of New Zealand veteran support and advocacy group ‘No Duff’, died in action on March 20 while on a mission for the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) in Vuhledar, Eastern Ukraine. He had been in Ukraine supporting since April 2022.

Tomorrow’s service will start at Time: 10am at Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa Marae in Devonport. From there Te Tai will be driven in a convoy firstly around his old neighbourhood of Beach Haven before a service at 2pm at Section M, Quartermasters Quadrant, Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden.

That will be followed by a memorial service at 3.30pm at Trusts Stadium, Central Park Drive, Henderson.

More than $68,000 was raised publicly in three days to fund Te Tai’s repatriation from Ukraine. Te Tai, also known as “Turtle”, had been on the frontline in Ukraine for several months, often posting on social media about his mahi.

Te Tai’s whānau said they had decided on public services so all who knew him could pay their last respects.

“All aspects of the funeral are open to the public to ensure Kane’s wider network are given the opportunity to farewell him,” the whānau said.

A large group of current and former military personnel are likely to attend the three services.