President Lox Kellas and junior vice-president Fred Daniel received the honours at separate ceremonies over the past week.
Mr Daniel was ‘‘gobsmacked’’ to receive his life membership.
Mr Kellas said he was also surprised to receive the honour.
Big turnouts at Anzac day services, including strong participation from younger generations, were highlights from Mr Kellas’ service on the RSA executive, he said.
Mr Daniel said he was drawn to the RSA because members looked after each other.
‘‘You always know that your back’s going to be covered.’’
Mr Kellas said members carried forward the camaraderie of their days of active service into their roles with the association.
Mr Daniel joined the Dunedin RSA in 1983 when he came down from Christchurch. He then relocated to Wellington for a period before his eventual return to Dunedin.
Mr Kellas said he was surprised to receive the honour because he had not sought such recognition when he first accepted a role on the Dunedin RSA executive in 1999.
‘‘I’ve never really thought about. I just do it.’’
Aside from two terms as president of the Dunedin RSA, Mr Kellas had also served as chairman of the RSA Welfare Trust.
Some soldiers struggled to adapt to their new lives after service engagements, Mr Kellas said.
He said the RSA kept a ‘‘watching brief’’ on local returned service men and women and sometimes referred them to social service agencies if necessary.
Mr Kellas said this was a ‘‘duty of care’’.
‘‘Looking after one another. Trying to catch up with those men and women who don’t cope with the rigours of combat.’’
Everybody had a different take on experiencing active combat, Mr Kellas said.
The next event for the Dunedin Returned and Services Association will be marking a centenary of its existence with a service at First Church, in Dunedin, on Sunday, September 11.
