Trooper, Mark Donaldson

I would love to hear from anybody who has a big or even a small personal story to tell me about themselves or about other men that they know who would fit into the male role model category. If you've read something in the paper that you think would suit this blog, please send me the link.


Below is a story of a very big hero and male role model, Trooper Mark Donaldson. The information came from The Australian newspaper, 17th January, 2010, writeen by Mark Dodd.

'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.'

Trooper Mark Donaldson was made Young Australian of the Year on Australia Day, 26th January 2010. If you want to read the rest of the story, here is the link:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/vc-winner-drew-fire-to-save-his-mates/story-e6frg6nf-1111118586445

Anthony Ianetta

This information comes from the Daily Telegraph, an Australian Newspaper. It reported today that: ‘When Anthony Iannetta shielded his little sister from the impact of a tree he most likely knew he was about to die.’ Anthony was 18 and his sister Elissa 15 years old. Anthony and his sister had cadged a ride after their original one had fallen through. They were turned out to be victims in the horrific event.

Elissa ‘remembers that [Anthony] shoved her head in between his legs to try and protect her. As they roared around the corner, he gripped the handle above the back seat door - he must have known what was going to happen. All he had time to do was to grab hold of her and lean over to protect her and himself.’
This story is mainly about an irresponsible and inexperienced young driver who drove a high-powered six cylinder XR6 Falcon. It ‘skidded out of control at an estimated 140km/h.’ I would have preferred this blog to be about positive stories about male role models, I guess that occasionally I can let an inspirational one slip through.

Boys Are Us

First post.

I have two sons, two granddaughters and one grandson, so it’s in my best interests to make sure that the world is a fairer place for both genders. Human nature being what it is, things are not perfect, possibly never will be, but girls are doing okay these days.
Mothers are aware of what their responsibilities are to their daughters and have been raising strong and confident girls well before Helen Reddy sang ‘I am woman hear me roar’. On the other hand, unless a woman has grown up with brothers, she is not likely to understand sons or what to do with them. The end result is to feminise boys.

Women in the workforce and the professions have paved the way for young girls and provided them with strong role models. But somewhere along the line and in a way that I don’t quite get, it hasn’t made the genders equal, it’s just shifted the gender balance. Whenever women win, it seems to have a detrimental effect on men.

One example can be seen in today’s literature. Women writers and some male writers have produced strong female protagonists with not as brave or not as clever male sidekicks. Good for girls, but disastrous for boys. Even where a male role model exists someone wants to take it away. Disney has got rid of Pooh Bear’s mate of 90 years, Christopher Robin, and replaced a ‘him’ with a ‘her’! A tomboy girl wearing a backwards cap and overalls has taken over the character based on A A Milne’s son.
There must be a way that female equality can be achieved without at the same time depriving boys of their identity. Hopefully this is what this blog will be about: addressing and redressing the imbalance. I have another blog, Mary’s Omnibus, and other writing commitments (plus I am slow), but I intend to add to it as often as I can. Do be patient and drop in occasionally.
If anybody has some information regarding this topic that they would like me to look into, and write about they can email me at marys.omnibus@gmail.com