Keith Perry

David “Steve” Askin, New Zealand SAS, photographed after a 5 hour firefight at the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 29, 2011. When the Taliban stormed the hotel, Askin and his fellow operators were on hand mentoring local forces and were pulled into the fight as Afghan police were nearly overwhelmed. Wounded by both grenade and rifle fire, losing part of his ear in the battle, he carried on with his mission and pulled guests out of the hotel as flames spread through the building. The image of him walking away from the scene, helmet off and bleeding from the head, became one of the defining photographs of New Zealand’s war in Afghanistan. In 2014 he was awarded the New Zealand Gallantry Star, the country’s second-highest decoration for valor, the citation noting that he repeatedly faced heavy fire from determined enemies and sustained several wounds while protecting civilian life. He enlisted in 1998, served until 2013, and remained active in the SAS reserves after. Then comes the part that makes his story hit so hard. Askin became a civilian helicopter pilot back home in New Zealand, and on February 14, 2017, he was killed when his Squirrel helicopter crashed while fighting the Port Hills bushfires near Christchurch. He died trying to save lives in his own community, the same way he had on the other side of the world. He was a husband and father of two. A warrior to the very end. Not forgotten.