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