Trooper Mark Donaldson, VC

[Diuretic]

Trooper Donaldson of our SAS was the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in 40 years. A very brave man.

SAS's humble VC hero under fire: 'I just saw him there, I went over and got him'

The first Australian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross in 40 years does not see himself as a hero.

Trooper Mark Donaldson, 29, from Newcastle, a Special Air Service soldier, says all soldiers are heroes.

He was presented the award for his rescue of a wounded Afghani interpreter from heavy fire in Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan in September.

The joint Afghan, US and Australian convoy in which he was travelling had come under heavy fire and Trooper Donaldson deliberately attracted enemy attention away from his mates, so they could be taken to safety. This bought time to move injured troops to safety.

More at link (it may disappear)

 

[Gunny]

Trooper Donaldson of our SAS was the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in 40 years. A very brave man.

SAS's humble VC hero under fire: 'I just saw him there, I went over and got him'



More at link (it may disappear)

Kudos to him. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts he'll say he was just doing his job.

 

[Diuretic]

Kudos to him. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts he'll say he was just doing his job.

I haven't got many dollars but I've got a career full of donuts backed up - where do I send them? Yep you're right, that's exactly what he said - and more.

 

[Gunny]

I haven't got many dollars but I've got a career full of donuts backed up - where do I send them? Yep you're right, that's exactly what he said - and more.

Career fill of donuts backed up? Ummm ... send them to Sunni Man.

 

[Diuretic]

Poor bugger - you want to load up his arteries THAT bad?

 

[editec]

Kudos to him. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts he'll say he was just doing his job.

There's really no better way to blow your horn than to be falsely modest.

You get to be proud of what you did, and everyone gets to tell you what a hero you are.

Then you can protest that anybody might have done the same thing, and everyone gets to tell you again, how heroic you are.

Then you can say, "Ah shucks, I was just doin' my job" and the falsely modest hero script is complete.

Just ONCE I would like to hear some person who did something heroic say something along the lines of this..

Yeah, damned right , I was heroic.

I might have been fucking killed! What in the hell what was I thinking?

Geeze-Louise I AM a great guy!"

YEAH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Now, in my opinion, such honesty might be extremely refreshing.

The crowd might not like it, if a hero refused to play the false modesty game, (because the crowd SO loves the modest hero game) but I'd surely love to see a hero show some balls for a change and turn that stupid modest hero game on its head.

Now THAT truly would be heroic

 

[jillian]

There's really no better way to blow your horn than to be falsely modest.

You get to be proud of what you did, and everyone gets to tell you what a hero you are.

Then you can protest that anybody might have done the same thing, and everyone gets to tell you again, how heroic you are.

Then you can say, "Ah shucks, I was just doin' my job" and the falsely modest hero script is complete.

Just ONCE I would like to hear some person who did something heroic say something along the lines of this..

Yeah, damned right , I was heroic.

I might have been fucking killed! What in the hell what was I thinking?

Geeze-Louise I AM a great guy!"

YEAH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Now, in my opinion, such honesty might be extremely refreshing.

The crowd might not like it, if a hero refused to play the false modesty game, (because the crowd SO loves the modest hero game) but I'd surely love to see a hero show some balls for a change and turn that stupid modest hero game on its head.

Now THAT truly would be heroic

yeah, but people like that generally are wusses and are all talk.

not likely you'll find that in a real hero.

 

[jillian]

Trooper Donaldson of our SAS was the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in 40 years. A very brave man.

SAS's humble VC hero under fire: 'I just saw him there, I went over and got him'



More at link (it may disappear)

 

[RetiredGySgt]

There's really no better way to blow your horn than to be falsely modest.

You get to be proud of what you did, and everyone gets to tell you what a hero you are.

Then you can protest that anybody might have done the same thing, and everyone gets to tell you again, how heroic you are.

Then you can say, "Ah shucks, I was just doin' my job" and the falsely modest hero script is complete.

Just ONCE I would like to hear some person who did something heroic say something along the lines of this..

Yeah, damned right , I was heroic.

I might have been fucking killed! What in the hell what was I thinking?

Geeze-Louise I AM a great guy!"

YEAH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Now, in my opinion, such honesty might be extremely refreshing.

The crowd might not like it, if a hero refused to play the false modesty game, (because the crowd SO loves the modest hero game) but I'd surely love to see a hero show some balls for a change and turn that stupid modest hero game on its head.

Now THAT truly would be heroic

There is a fine line between hero and just plain stupid. ) The Hero's really do not think about what they are doing. And the ones that get labeled stupid did not either.

If he had run out there and gotten killed or wounded they probably would not have labeled him a hero.

In a fight, every soldier is some part hero.

I like reading the stories of Medal of Honor winners.

 

[Diuretic]

There is a fine line between hero and just plain stupid. ) The Hero's really do not think about what they are doing. And the ones that get labeled stupid did not either.

If he had run out there and gotten killed or wounded they probably would not have labeled him a hero.

In a fight, every soldier is some part hero.

I like reading the stories of Medal of Honor winners.

As I was listening to the radio report and then watching the presentation on tv (it was a great moment when the Chief of the ADF Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told the audience he was proud to salute Trooper Donaldson, following the tradition of officers saluting a VC recipient first) I was mindful of your post Rock about the officer who recently passed away who had been honoured for his bravery in the Vietnam War. He said that once you get used to the idea that you're going to get killed you don't worry about it. I can't say if Trooper Donaldson was in that mindset when he did what he did but, me being me, I would like to think he was.

As for false modesty. I've had the benefit of being able to watch, listen to and read the interviews with Trooper Donaldson so my comments are subjective and aren't intended to attack ed's point because it has some truth in it for sure. But Trooper Donaldson is an SAS Trooper and the culture of the SAS is to keep a low profile (when it was announced some time ago he was referred to as "Trooper F" for security reasons) and not blow their trumpet. I think I can pick false modesty and this bloke isn't displaying it - but as I said, that's subjective and I have had that benefit of watching and listening to him and his wife.

If I thought he was a wanker I'd say so.