Lieutenant Mark Sydney, as he was at the time of his 2007 MNZM.

This is WHAT HAPPENS when dumb arses drink and drive at speed in shit weather!!!! This comment, the title of this post and others in a similar vein on Facebook this weekend, announced the sad and very untimely death of former soldier, Mark Sydney. Mark was killed in the smash that took two other lives near Waihi Beach on Friday night…

TWO teenagers and a community hero were killed in a horror car crash on Friday night, which police said left a mangled scene like a “war zone”.

I’ve known Mark since we were on the same NBC Instructor’s Course a good fifteen or sixteen years ago…he was always up for a bit of mischief (must be part of the MP takes one to catch one thing!!) and could always see the brighter side of any situation…to think that such a guy could get taken out by some teenage yoyo who couldn’t drive just beggars belief…the citation from his Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007 is typical of him…

…Mark Sydney commanded a Liaison and Observation Team in the Western Republic of Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from September 2005 to April 2006.

His role involved enabling liaison, conciliation and positive interaction between three ethnic groups that were at war only 10 years ago. He established a programme of lectures for young people on drug use, to counter criminal elements who were preying on Bosnian youth.

Through his energetic and engaging manner, professional focus, and diplomacy, he quickly gained the trust of the population and aided progress in the region…

RIP, buddy…