Surname
Ratima
First name(s)
Desmond
Also known as
Des
Rank
Pte
Corps
RNZIR
Service number
724327
Unit
Notes
Wounded in action, 7 February 1968 – in contact. Medevaced to New Zealand 26 May 1968.
Disclaimer
The Vietnam List is an updated version of New Zealand's original Vietnam nominal roll – the Flinkenberg List – compiled by Captain Con Flinkenberg in 1972. Name, rank and unit information are from New Zealand military pay records. Read more about the Vietnam List.
Comments
Des (Senior) Ratima
Des (Junior) Ratima;
Des is my father my mother is Mabel Ratima. I am the only lucky child. I served 24yrs after dad left the service in 1985 after 20 years. I retired as a WO2 in RNZE.
As a result of being seriously injured in close contact with the En on 7 Feb 1968, dad was medevaced to NZ in May 1968. Some 53 years later in 2021 dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia as a direct result of the serious head injury sustained in Vietnam. Mum and dad live separately within Ranfurly Resthome Villas and Dementia Unit respectively, in Fielding NZ.