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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A former army cadet at
Waiouru has spoken out in defence of the Waiouru Cadet School, saying most of
those alleging abuse would not have handled life regardless of their
experiences as cadets. Tony Williams, of Wellington,
joined the cadet school in 1969 and stayed for three years. He was at the
school at the same time as Ian Fraser, whose report of abuse has sparked an
avalanche of stories of abuse at the hands of older cadets. There were
pockets of bullying – including Sunday "gunge parade" where those
with any dirty laundry were made to run a gauntlet of abuse and then scrubbed
with brooms in the shower – but most cadets took it in their stride. A small percentage of
the population would always become depressed, or alcoholics with hard luck
stories, but could not blame treatment at the school. "There were a lot
of us who gained an awful lot from the years we spent there, and went on to
live successful lives. A lot of these guys were going to be the guys that couldn't
handle life anyway." Mr Williams spent 16
years in the army and went on to become a major and command a
counter-terrorist team in the Special Air Service. He felt sorry for those
who had rough lives, but hated to see 40 years of quality institution
"totally trashed". "What happened,
that's history, it's bloody gone. If we keep pulling this dirty laundry out,
where does it stop? Give them some medical help if they are depressed, but
I'm sure a lot of that has been self-imposed over the years anyway – don't
blame the system." |
