bobdina
07-16-2009, 07:14 PM
AUSTRALIAN ARMY
AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR AUSTRALIA
SAS trooper Mark Donaldson exposed himself so much to enemy fire that when Australia's last VC winner heard about his award he assumed it would be posthumous.
Over two hours in southeastern Afghanistan last September 2, Trooper Donaldson, 29, repeatedly fought alone in open ground raked by accurate and heavy Taliban machine-gun fire to allow his wounded comrades to be dragged to safety.
Deliberate exposure to draw enemy fire away from the wounded would have been enough for a Victoria Cross recommendation, but Trooper Donaldson then sprinted 80m over the same killing ground to save the life of a seriously wounded Afghan interpreter.
In the words of the award citation, Trooper Donaldson - whose story Kevin Rudd said yesterday would be known to generations of Australian schoolchildren - reacted spontaneously to regain the initiative following an ambush that inflicted the worst casualties suffered by Australia since the Vietnam War.
Under furious enemy fire Trooper Donaldson moved rapidly between alternative positions engaging the Taliban with his M4 carbine and 66mm and 84mm shoulder-fired rockets.
"He deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire in order to draw attention to himself and thus away from wounded soldiers," the citation says.
"This selfless act alone brought enough time for those wounded to be moved to relative safety."
But, there was more.
With the wounded, nine of them Australian, piled onto the vehicles the convoy began to withdraw with covering fire provided by Afghan US and Australian special forces soldiers sheltering beside the vehicles.
Those soldiers still fit to fight had to jog alongside the vehicles.
There was no space onboard, due to the large number of wounded.
One of the last to leave, Trooper Donaldson, spotted the Afghan interpreter lying wounded in open ground more than 80m away. "His movement, once identified by the enemy, drew intense and accurate machine gun fire from entrenched positions," the citation says.
"Upon reaching the wounded coalition force interpreter, Trooper Donaldson picked him up and carried him back to the relative safety of the vehicles and then provided immediate first aid before returning to the fight."
AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR AUSTRALIA
SAS trooper Mark Donaldson exposed himself so much to enemy fire that when Australia's last VC winner heard about his award he assumed it would be posthumous.
Over two hours in southeastern Afghanistan last September 2, Trooper Donaldson, 29, repeatedly fought alone in open ground raked by accurate and heavy Taliban machine-gun fire to allow his wounded comrades to be dragged to safety.
Deliberate exposure to draw enemy fire away from the wounded would have been enough for a Victoria Cross recommendation, but Trooper Donaldson then sprinted 80m over the same killing ground to save the life of a seriously wounded Afghan interpreter.
In the words of the award citation, Trooper Donaldson - whose story Kevin Rudd said yesterday would be known to generations of Australian schoolchildren - reacted spontaneously to regain the initiative following an ambush that inflicted the worst casualties suffered by Australia since the Vietnam War.
Under furious enemy fire Trooper Donaldson moved rapidly between alternative positions engaging the Taliban with his M4 carbine and 66mm and 84mm shoulder-fired rockets.
"He deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire in order to draw attention to himself and thus away from wounded soldiers," the citation says.
"This selfless act alone brought enough time for those wounded to be moved to relative safety."
But, there was more.
With the wounded, nine of them Australian, piled onto the vehicles the convoy began to withdraw with covering fire provided by Afghan US and Australian special forces soldiers sheltering beside the vehicles.
Those soldiers still fit to fight had to jog alongside the vehicles.
There was no space onboard, due to the large number of wounded.
One of the last to leave, Trooper Donaldson, spotted the Afghan interpreter lying wounded in open ground more than 80m away. "His movement, once identified by the enemy, drew intense and accurate machine gun fire from entrenched positions," the citation says.
"Upon reaching the wounded coalition force interpreter, Trooper Donaldson picked him up and carried him back to the relative safety of the vehicles and then provided immediate first aid before returning to the fight."