Movember

A hairy bunch of soldiers

When Corporal Doug Grant, SAS Soldier, Patriot and White Ribbon Ride Road Captain died in August this year, the mood was one of great loss and sadness. But Duggy’s legacy has continued to grow both within the Patriots and the Army where he had been spreading the White Ribbon ethos.

Duggy, like all leaders, inspired those around him, and even though he is not with us in person, his legacy continues to grow, as illustrated by his mates organising his former unit to take part in a Movember competition that went beyond military regulations and raised over $400 for the White Ribbon Campaign.

It all started when Duggy, as a member of the Patriots Defence Force Motorcycle Club, joined the White Ribbon Ride. His enthusiasm for helping others recognised few bounds, and some of this rubbed off on his mates in the School of Military Engineering (SME) who are part of the Royal New Zealand Engineers (RNZE). Before Duggy went back into the SAS, he was an instructor at the SME for 18 months and responsible for training apprentices and running construction projects.

Corporal Doug Grant at Parihaka on the 2010 White Ribbon Ride

Duggy was a leading organiser for last year’s Movember so it was decided to memorialise Duggy by the whole wing taking part in the facial hair growing competition with the proceeds going towards White Ribbon.

There was a slight snag though. In the Army, moustaches may not dip below the upper lip, so that required the dress regulations to be changed. Given Duggy’s liking for facial hair you can only imagine how pleased he would have been seeing the dress code temporarily altered in his name!

From there the Army invited Duggy’s wife Tina Grant, and Paul Curry, CE of the Families Commission (and former Navy man) to judge the competition. The results were decided on parade with a set of finalists and a set of ‘facially challenged’ bringing up the rear.

The event ended with morning tea and speeches from Paul, Tina and White Ribbon Campaign Manager Rob McCann. Our congratulations to the whole unit who put their best growth forward to honour a very good soldier, father, husband and White Ribbon supporter.

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The Winner was Sapper Ross Wakefield.