PEARCE, Matthew William
Corporal, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
CITATIONNew Zealand Distinguished Service DecorationHis citation for the award, announced in the Queens Birthday Honours recently, said he ran the battle, giving clear directions to his men and ensuringthat a steady flow of accurate suppressing fire was directed towards the enemy. He then put himself at risk in order to position himself in the bestplace to run the battle. This gave him the ability to successfully co-ordinate his section’s fire and observe the enemy throughout the attack. The firefight lasted approximately 15 minutes and contact was finally broken when his section began firing high explosive rounds in the direction of theinsurgents. He then co-ordinated aircraft support on to the location of the enemy to ensure the threat had been dispersed. He acted professionallythroughout the incident and maintained the composure of his men. This was the first fire fight between New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Teamtroops and insurgents since the mission began in 2003”KNOWN AWARDSNew Zealand Distinguished Service DecorationNew Zealand Operational Service MedalNew Zealand East Timor MedalUN Transitional Authority East Timor (UNTAET)New Zealand General Service Medal (Solomon Islands)
New Zealand General Service Medal (Afghan Primary)
New Zealand General Service Medal (Timor Leste)
NATO Medal
Timor Leste Solidarity Medal
NOTES
Born
Died
THE PRO PATRIA PROJECT
