Paradise Soldiers

I am so passionate about it. This is our Cook Islands treasure, our World War I soldiers, they need to be acknowledged, they need to be recognised — their stories need to carry on. 

– Paula Paniani from the Cook Islands National Archives on restoring gravesites at Nikao cemetery in Rarotonga

My father, he just told the young soldiers who wanted to go to the Second World War ... "it's not fun, you're not just going to enjoy seeing the world. It's no fun at all."

– Mary Tepaeru Tepuretu on what her WW1 veteran father told young Cook Island soldiers volunteering for WW2 service

I've been overseas with them on deployments to off Antarctica, so I've been over to the ice and I'm pretty sure I'll be the first Cook Islander ever to make it that far south ... I was just this Island girl who grew up in Rarotonga and yet here I am, flying in to Antarctica — only a handful of people get to experience this place.

– NZDF Flight Sergeant Andrea McNabb on what joining the NZDF has given her

We started looking at this medals document and straight away I was deeply concerned that over half of these men were not awarded medals. [They] were actually denied their medals in 1953!

– Research project coordinator Cate Walker on the NZDF finally awarding medals to Cook Island WWII soldiers, RNZ 15 December 2025