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Kokoda mystery may be solved
BY ILYA GRIDNEFF
25 Jan, 2010 01:00 AM
An Australian tour operator and a 90-year-old Japanese veteran of World War II believe they have solved the mystery of a renowned digger's disappearance on Papua New Guinea's Kokoda Track.
Captain Sam Templeton, a company commander in the 39th battalion, disappeared near Oivi village in the heat of battle on the notorious track on July 26, 1942.
Templeton's Crossing on the track at Eora Creek is named in his memory and is traversed by thousands of Australian trekkers each year.
Veteran Kokichi Nishimura, known as the Bone Man of Kokoda for his work in recovering the remains of fallen comrades, was a member of the 2nd battalion, 144th Regiment of Japan's Imperial Army battling Australian troops in the same area.
Nearly 70 years after the fighting, Mr Nishimura teamed up with Kokoda Spirit trekking company operator Wayne Weatherall to solve the mystery of Captain Templeton's disappearance and find his grave.
Mr Nishimura said in Port Moresby on Saturday he buried the captain in 1942 and believed the site had been found.
''It seems Captain Templeton got lost while retreating, being pushed back by Japanese soldiers,'' he said through an interpreter.
Mr Nishimura said the Japanese commander was enraged when the captured captain said there were 80,000 Australian troops waiting for them in Port Moresby.
''That made a big question whether Japan could advance to Port Moresby.
''The commander got angry at Templeton's answers and he killed him,'' Mr Nishimura said.
''I passed by the area where Templeton was killed on about August 2, 1942.
''I was about to set up a tent but smelt a very bad odour and I found the dead Australian officer lying there.
''I decided to dig a hole next to him and I buried him in the hole,'' he said.
Mr Nishimura, whose story is told in Charles Happell's book The Bone Man of Kokoda, has spent more than 25 years visiting PNG to recover the remains of his fallen comrades.
This month a frail but determined Mr Nishimura returned to his adopted home in Oro Province on PNG's north-east coast for one last time to help find Captain Templeton's grave.
''They [Australians] were all very brave soldiers with high spirits, therefore I don't want to leave this mystery open,'' he said.
Mr Weatherall said they had isolated a site no larger than 10sqm and found personal effects thought to be Captain Templeton's. ''I believe we have located the place,'' he said.
''We're one step away from resolving the mystery of Captain Templeton's disappearance,'' he said.
''It's very exciting for all of us, for the family and everyone involved to be this close, people have been wondering for 68 years.''
Mr Weatherall said that after cross-checking they would alert the Australian defence department so an official recovery could proceed. Captain Templeton was born in Belfast and fought in World War I before emigrating in the 1920s. AAP
Kokoda guide backs health checks
Damian Bathersby | 5th October 2009
A SUNSHINE Coast tour operator has backed calls for mandatory health and fitness checks for people who want to tackle the Kokoda Track.
The calls follow the recent deaths of two walkers.
 But Wayne Weatherall, the managing director of Kokoda Spirit, believes the deaths will only increase the track's notoriety and result in more people wanting to conquer the “brutal” 96km trek.
Sydney man Phillip Brunskill, 55, who died from a suspected heart attack just an hour after starting the 96km walk on Sunday, had reportedly provided a full medical clearance to his trekking company.
A spokesman said it was now obvious that Mr Brunskill “hadn't prepared himself physically as well as he should have”.
Mr Weatherall said although medical and fitness exams should be compulsory, they should not be a legal requirement under government legislation.
“You don't want to over-regulate the industry,” he said.
“People need to check that the company they are going with is a reputable one.
“There are a number of professional operators trying to do the right thing but there are so many new operators now.
“There are no regulations at all. Anyone can say 'I walked the track - I can be an operator now' and they get a website up and it all happens.”
Radio personality Caroline Hutchinson, who recently completed the track, agreed that legislation forcing trekkers into health and fitness tests would be “complete overkill”.
“If you have done the training and are with a reputable company, I honestly don't see it as something life-threatening,” she said.
“I don't want to underplay it. It's tough but completely achievable ...”
Mr Weatherall, who has completed the track 35 times, said he was not interested in taking people who did not have the right attitude.
“It has a certain amount of notoriety. People like to be able to say 'I survived Kokoda'. But don't go to Kokoda if all you're trying to do is tick a box in your life.
“If you're not prepared to do the hard work before you go, then you shouldn't be going at all.”
Posted October 1, 2009
Queensland teenagers leave to walk Kokoda Track with Kokoda Spirit
The twelve month Kokoda Challenge Youth Program will culminate this weekend when the 42 young people, hailing from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Tweed, depart Brisbane Airport on-route to Papua New Guinea.
30 of the teenagers will be making the historic pilgrimage along the 96km Kokoda Track through the Papua New Guinea Jungle with Kokoda Spirit. The remaining 12 young people, supported by a building team, will be experiencing the Kokoda Village and doing much needed repairs on Kokoda Primary School.
To see the entire article in PDF format click here.
Written by Nicole Arrowsmith
Posted August 29, 2009
Kokoda
Posted August 3, 2009
This is Vonda story. My family and I have lived at Hobartville station for 16 years, for the past 15 of those I have taught my 4 children through distance education. I now have time to do something for myself , I decided to walk the Kokoda track. I found it totally inspiring and after finishing the trek I have a new appreciation for our defence forces. I hope you enjoy my recount of the trip as well as some history of the Kokoda campaign from 1942. Story page 12, 13 and 14.
To see the entire article in PDF format click here.
Posted July 24, 2009
Laughing Jim's Kokoda tips
Jim Mackinzie spent his 33rd birthday soaked to the skin fighting in the jungle on the Kokoda Track to defend Australia from invasion.
To see the entire article in PDF format click here.
Posted June 24, 2009
Hale Boys learn about Kokoda trail the hardway
While most WA teenagers will spend their July school holidays sleeping in or visiting friends 14 Hale School students will be tramping up to 10 hours a day on the Kokoda Trail.
To see the entire article in PDF format click here.
Posted June 23, 2009
Australia to spend $12k on Kokoda refurbishment
Australia will spend $12,000 to refurbish part of the Kokoda Track and build two memorials to Australian service in Papua New Guinea.
More than 600 Australians were killed and 1,000 wounded in battles with Japanese forces along the Track during World War Two.
"This funding will help restore and repaint the Memorial Archway, a nearby 25-pounder gun at Owers' Corner and the 39th Infantry Battalion Memorial," Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said in a statement.
"Thousands of trekkers retrace the steps of Australian soldiers each year; passing through the archway as they begin their journey on the Kokoda Track.
"The 39th Battalion was the first Australian battalion to face the Japanese on the Track, and the memorial at McDonald's Corner honours their service."
The announcement comes one month before Papua New Guinea's annual Remembrance Day, which commemorates the first engagement on the Kokoda Track between the Australian military forces (39th Battalion and the Papuan Infantry Battalions) and the Japanese.
Posted June 23, 2009
Kokoda death probe 'will improve safety
Ilya Gridneff
June 23, 2009 - 4:24PM
An inquiry into the death of a Victorian woman after just one day on PNG's Kokoda Track will help make the gruelling trek safer for others, the track authority says.
The ABC reports an inquest date will be set to ascertain how bank worker Samantha Killen, a 36-year-old mother from Hamilton, in southwest Victoria, died in April this year.
Four Australian trekkers have perished on the track since 2001. Two of them - Ms Killen and a NSW man - died in the week before last Anzac Day.
Up to 6,000 Australian tourists tackle the Kokoda challenge each year, retracing the steps of WWII troops and paying homage to the 600 diggers who died repelling invading Japanese forces.
Rod Hillman, director of the Port Moresby-based Kokoda Track Authority (KTA), welcomed the inquest announcement, saying an inquiry would ultimately benefit others.
"It's difficult to change practice if we don't know the cause of death," he said.
"There's been conflicting reports, and it would help to know the cause of death so we can learn from it," he said.
Hillman said the KTA has been in talks with medical experts about creating better procedures for trekking companies to ensure trekkers' safety.
Dr David Rosengren, an emergency physician from Australian-based advisory service Adventure Medicine, will conduct research on the Kokoda Track around Anzac Day next year in a bid to learn more about the health risks faced by trekkers.
"The deaths have happened in the very early stages of the trek, by day two," he says.
"And there have been a few near deaths with people who you would not classify as in poor health, which has raised with us what is the cause?
"We have a theory it's to do with hydration levels and electrolytes or salt abnormalities, but it's hard to say before the research is carried out," he said.
Dr Rosengren plans to take samples and do tests on trekkers during the peak period of April next year.
"We've had a great deal of support and interest from the various players because we all want to improve risk management," he said.
You shall not pass: villagers barricade Kokoda Trail Kelly Burke
May 9, 2009
ANGRY villagers have barricaded a portion of the Kokoda Trail, following the escalation of a dispute with authorities over the distribution of tourism funds.
Residents of Kovelo village, about an hour's walk south of Kokoda Village in central Papua New Guinea, erected the barricade on Wednesday and have since refused to let any trekkers pass unless they each pay 200 kina ($100). Between 20 and 30 trekkers - mostly Australians - are on the trail at the moment.
Wayne Wetherall, who runs the Queensland company Kokoda Spirit, said he had two parties on the track, totalling 14 trekkers, with one group expected to reach Kovelo village on Tuesday. He said he was preparing to fly to Papua New Guinea on Monday to discuss the problem with the villagers.
"We're not expecting to pay extra and we're not expecting any trouble … we have a very good relationship with [the villagers]," he said.
The chief executive of the Kokoda Track Authority, Rod Hillman, said negotiations with a village representative named Benson were progressing, and on Thursday the group withdrew a threat to shift the barricade to the airport at Kokoda.
However communications were severed yesterday due to bad weather and talks are not expected to resume until Sunday, as the Sabbath is strictly observed by the Seventh Day Adventist community.
An agreement was reached some months ago between the authority and the 14 separate wards surrounding the 96 kilometre track that the $100 fee charged to each trekker, collectively worth about $500,000 annually, would be dispersed evenly. But the decision has angered Kovelo villagers, who say only those villages directly on the track should receive a share of the fund.
Posted May 7, 2009
Walking The Talk
Anne Louise Brown
Sunshine Coast Daily
15th April 2009
Wayne Wetherall's company, Kokoda Spirit, conducts treks along the Kokoda Trail and will expand into Borneo this year.
After Wayne Wetherall finished the arduous 96km trek that is Papua New Guinea's Kokoda Trail for the first time, one thing was clear - it was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
From humble beginnings, Kokoda Spirit - the business Wayne and his wife Michelle started from their Sunshine Coast home - has grown beyond the couple's wildest dreams.
In 2008 the company conducted 90 treks along the historic trail.
Wayne expects that figure to grow this year.
“It started off as a hobby but the business has become our life,” he said.
“We got in at the right time. Interest in Australia's World War Two involvement on the trail is really growing, and I've had to employ four extra guides to keep up with demand.”
“Last year we took about 1000 people along the trail, which was about 20% of the total number of people who walked the trail.”
Wayne describes the Kokoda Trail as “a living museum”.
Last year he and a group of trekkers discovered the remains of Japanese soldiers who died on the trail.
The remains have been recovered and will be presented to the Japanese ambassador to Australia on April 24.
“We offer an innovative and safe educational travel experience, focusing on interaction with the local communities and developing a greater understanding of the diverse and rich heritage of PNG.
“Our trips also focus on our Australian heritage and characteristics, and the values that make Australia and Australians unique.”
Before establishing the business, Wayne was a building industry sales executive, but “had a nagging need” to make his Kokoda Spirit dream come alive.
This year, he is planning to expand Kokoda Spirit's operations to Borneo, another important Australian military history site, where more adventure treks will run.
“Our clients are very diverse and include school groups, sporting teams and corporate groups,” Wayne said.
“Later in the year we are even taking the crew from one of the Australian navy's ships over to do the trail.
“We've also set up the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program, which helps the development of young people who are at the crossroad in their lives and require an opportunity to reach their full potential.”
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Papua New Guinea returns remains
SYDNEY (Kyodo) The skeletal remains of four Imperial Japanese Army soldiers discovered last year in Papua New Guinea were handed over to Japanese officials Friday, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The remains were found on Mount Bellamy in the thick jungles of the Kokoda Track, the scene of intense fighting between Japanese and Australian soldiers during World War II.
Some 13,700 Japanese and 3,025 Australian soldiers were killed during the Japanese campaign to isolate Australia from the Allied forces.
Wayne Weatherall of Kokoda Spirit Trekking made the discovery. He said he believes that the four soldiers were from the Imperial Japanese Army's 41st Regiment and were killed in an onslaught by Australia's 2/16 Battalion.
"At first we thought it was an Australian but we did more digging and found a Japanese helmet," Weatherall told AAP. "We then found four skeletons, the whole body is there, also with personal effects like watch, compasses and dog tags."
Although it has taken more than a year to get permission from the Japanese government and local landowners to retrieve the remains, Japanese Embassy officials in Papua New Guinea said they were pleased with the discovery.
Students trek Kokoda
28/04/2009 2:50:00 PM
Six Year 10 Gulgong High School students, James Buckley, Rose Vassel, Jacob Hunter, Alex Birchall, Nathan O’Reilly and Tamara Gauci will walk the famous Kokoda Track in October 2009.
The students will be accompanied by teachers, Susan Fuller, Talitha McReaddie and Birgit Smith, parents, Maree Buckley, Greg O’Reilly and Andrew Birchall and community members, Ross Smith and Phillip Fuller.
As a part of the stage 5 history program, students study the Kokoda campaign and during Year 9 students expressed an interest in understanding the trek.
Planning was undertaken with a number of meetings with interested students and parents and six students have committed to taking part in the excursion.
The group is now training and this has so far involved walks at Beryl, Mudgee Red Bank Dam area and Wentworth Falls.
The group will be undertaking challenging walks at Newnes, Windeyer and Yarrabin.
As well as this, the Birchall family went walking at Coolah Tops and Coonabarabran, the Vassels undertook a challenging walk at Eden as well as local walks which also included Tamara, the Smiths have been in hard training, the Fullers trekked in Nepal in April, and the Hunters and O’Reillys have been testing their fitness on a number of hills.
A number of Mudgee residents have already completed the Kokoda Trek and Drew Pirie will be assisting with training walks at Windeyer.
Young adventurers taste life - and death - on the Kokoda
Dylan Welch, Arjun Ramachandran
SYdney Morning Herald
April 25, 2009
THE big, fat monsoonal raindrops bucketed down, the ground turned to a mush of mud and mossy tree roots, and the track seemed to climb forever.
The rain, mud and swollen rivers on the Kokoda Trail this month led some to compare it with the conditions faced by the Australian soldiers who fought the Japanese there during World War II.
In the past week, two Australians have died. Last Friday, a mother of two, Samantha Killen, 36, suffered a fatal asthma attack.
Five days later, as the trekkers who aimed to finish just before Anzac Day marched the grueling 96 kilometres of steep, slippery hills, a 26-year-old NSW man died from dehydration.
Brett Mcenallay, who walked the trail with Kokoda Spirit and a group of 50 from St Ignatius College Riverview, shared a campsite with the dying man and his group.
"We made vacant one of the sites we were to use. There was a basic hut that you sit down to eat under, but we removed ourselves and gave them a bit of space," said Mr. Mcenallay, a 44-year-old chartered accountant from Berry.
"We said a few prayers for them. We had some quiet time and the boys had a briefing of what had happened."
The deaths have come as hundreds of people completed the trek yesterday and today in preparation for Anzac Day services. Interest in the trail has grown in the past four years; now up to 5000 Australians make the trek each year.
The trek will still hold fond memories for the students.
The group watched while Wayne Wetherall, the owner of one of the larger Kokoda trekking companies Kokoda Spirit, collected four complete skeletons of Japanese soldiers who had died during the fighting in 1942. They had been discovered last year by Mr. Wetherall when a landslide unearthed them.
"The track is still giving up secrets," Mr. Wetherall said.
The bones were carried out by the group and yesterday afternoon was presented to the Japanese ambassador in Papua New Guinea. The four were members of the Japanese Army's 41st Regiment and had died during their march on Port Moresby, Mr. Wetherall said.
"[Mr. Wetherall] showed them to us and he loaded them up to bring them back to Moresby," Mr. Mcenallay said. "We thought it was amazing that we were part of something so significant. It was great for the boys to see the tangible effects of war."with and Peter Hawkins
Kokoda deaths not deterring trekkers
By Liam Fox at the Kokoda Track
ABC News
Posted Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:11pm AEST
Updated Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:22pm AEST
On Wednesday, a 26-year-old New South Wales man became the second Australian to die on the track in less than a week.
He died at Ioribaiwa village while trekking with Executive Excellence.
The company says it is working with authorities to have his body returned home as soon as possible.
Craig Stevenson has just completed the 96-kilometre trek and says the deaths would not have deterred him if he had known beforehand.
"It certainly would've been a reality check that if I hadn't have done enough preparation, you'd have to think twice," he said.
This month about 1,000 people are expected to walk the track.
Last week 36-year-old Samantha Killen, from Hamilton in south-west Victoria, died on the trek.
The mother of two was trekking with her father when she collapsed and died on Friday afternoon.
Her father told police his daughter had developed sore legs and appeared to be dehydrated and disorientated in the lead-up to her death.
'Cowboy' tour operators
Earlier, a Kokoda Track tour operator said it was inevitable more deaths would occur unless operators he has described as "cowboys" were banned.
The chairman of the Kokoda Ethics Committee, Aidan Grimes, said some companies skimp on safety by taking up to 150 people trekking and by failing to check their fitness levels.
He said the Australia and Papua-New Guinean governments need to bring in legislation to ban fly-by-night trekking companies.
"There needs to be legislation in such a way that an operator can't just start up tomorrow and say yes, I'm an operator," he told The World Today.
"They have got to start looking at insurances. They have got to start looking at medical backgrounds. They have got to look at preparation."
Kokoda Track tour companies say the recent deaths are a reminder to people that it is one of the toughest treks in the world.
Wayne Wetherall from Kokoda Spirit says people wanting to walk the track have to be physically and mentally prepared.
"It's like being on a step climber in a sauna, the humidity is just dramatic, the rain, the mud, the size of the hills," he said.
Japanese Kokoda remains return home
By Liam Fox in Port Moresby
ABC News
Posted Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:49pm AEST
The remains of Japanese soldiers found by a tour company on the Kokoda Track have been handed back to the Japanese Government.
Four skeletons were found buried along with other personal items in an eroded river bank while Kokoda Spirit was conducting a training trek in February last year.
Kokoda Spirit took the four skeletons down the Kokoda Track last week after getting permission from Japanese authorities to exhume them.
They have been taken to the Japanese Embassy in Port Moresby.
Kokoda Spirit's managing director, Wayne Wetherall, says it was an emotional journey.
"We'd like to think that if it was one of our boys found out in the jungle somewhere that our former enemies would give them due respect and then try and bring them back to their homeland as well," he said.
He says the soldiers were killed in an ambush by Australian diggers in September 1942.
Mr Wetherall hopes the return of the remains will bring closure to the soldiers' families.
 KOKODA CHALLENGE MEDIA LAUNCH
Managing Director of Kokoda Spirit and Australian Gold Medal Olympic winning swimmer Duncan Armstrong help launch the 2009 Kokoda Challenge, proudly supporting the KCYP Kokoda Challenge Youth Program at Anzac Square in Brisbane.
www.kokodachallenge.com
 On Track for KokodA
BY MICHAEL CLEGGETT
12/03/2009 9:23:00 AM
As they struggle along the undulating, mud soaked twists and turns that make up the Kokoda Track, two Mountains travellers will be driven by the fact their suffering won’t approach that of the Australian soldiers who dodged bullets and disease during WWII.
Tony Schesser and Jennine Pohlmann will join seven other trekkers in April on the Kokoda Challenge, with each participant raising $3000 to promote financial self-sufficiency for communities in the Pacific.
Jennine, whose uncle served at Kokoda during the war, said the nine day, 96km journey was a not-to-be-missed opportunity to re-immerse herself in charity work.
Having spent eight years with the Starlight Foundation before the birth of her now four-year-old son, she leapt at the opportunity.
“I felt there was really something missing after giving that up but I knew I couldn’t give it the time that it needed,” said the 42-year-old Warrimoo resident. “So when this came up it was really special for me and something that I’ve always wanted to do as well.”
The family connection means the trip will carry added personal significance, offering a chance to connect with her uncle’s struggles.
“I think being able to be there and to feel that and to experience that, it can’t help but make you a better person.”
Tony, who is also involved through the Cuscal organisation he and Jennine work for, has no illusions about the physical challenge facing the group.
The Springwood man admits that at 44 he is not in peak physical condition, though a recent bike trip through Cambodia should put him in good stead.
“I am intimidated but not freaked out. It’s going to be physically very difficult but notwithstanding any major organ failing me, I will get through it and be better for the experience,” Tony said.
The trip is co-ordinated by the Credit Union Foundation of Australia with proceeds going towards developing credit unions in the Pacific. Tony and Jennine will spend three days in the Papua New Guinea capital of Port Moresby to see the type of work being done in the region.
“By eyeballing that first-hand and sitting down with these folks and hearing their story gives us that sense of where the $3000 is going,” Tony said.
Both Tony and Jennine are still pushing towards their fund-raising target and would appreciate any help people can offer. To make a donation visit www.cufa.com.au and follow the Kokoda Challenge links.
Kevin Rudd Remarks
Presentation of the Victoria Cross for Australia to Trooper Mark Donaldson
Government House, Canberra
Posted January 19, 2009
Trooper Mark Donaldson VC. Your beautiful wife Emma. And your wonderful, wonderful child. And distinguished Australians one and all.
Today Trooper Mark Donaldson joins the ranks of Australian heroes. And his feat of arms, his feat under fire, now becomes the stuff of Australian legend.
Today Trooper Donaldson joins the ranks of Jacka, of Cutler, of Kingsbury, of so many who have earned this medal of gallantry. Of Simpson, of Payne, and others who have been honoured over the years.
He joins the ranks of our bravest and our finest. In the 153-year history of the Victoria Cross, fewer than 100 Australians have been awarded this highest military honour. And now Trooper Donaldson is one of them.
Trooper Donaldson is the first Australian to receive this award in 40 years. Trooper Donaldson is the first in history to be awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in the national form of this historic award that was established nearly 20 years ago.
This award is not given lightly, this award has never been given lightly. The scroll on the Victoria Cross is inscribed with two simply words, but two most powerful words. Those words are “for valour”.
It is awarded in recognition of exceptional bravery, of extraordinary courage in the face of the enemy.
What is courage? How is courage measured?
The answer perhaps lies best with those who have known the profession of arms.
General Sherman of the Union Army wrote as follows: “Courage is the perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and the mental willingness to endure it.”
And I read Trooper Donaldson’s citation from the Defence Force, and I read it, and I read it again. Because this was courage writ large. It leapt from the page. Bear with me while I read part of it to you again.
“During the conduct of a fighting patrol, Trooper Donaldson was travelling in a combined Afghan, US and Australian vehicle convoy that was engaged by a numerically superior, entrenched and coordinated enemy ambush. The ambush was initiated by a high volume of sustained machine gun fire, coupled with the effective use of rocket propelled grenades. Such was the effect of the initiation that the combined patrol suffered numerous casualties, completely lost the initiative and became immediately suppressed. It was over two hours before the convoy was able to establish a clean break and move to an area free of any fire.
“In the early stages of the ambush, Trooper Donaldson reacted spontaneously to regain the initiative. He moved rapidly between alternate positions of cover engaging the enemy with 56 millimetre and 84 millimetre anti-armour weapons, as well as his M4 rifle. During an early stage of the enemy ambush, he deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire in order to draw attention to himself and thus away from wounded soldiers. This selfless act alone brought enough time for those wounded to be moved to relative safety.”
And in reference to the saving of the interpreter: “His movement, once identified by the enemy, drew intense and accurate machine gun fire from entrenched positions. Upon reaching the wounded coalition force interpreter, Trooper Donaldson picked up and carried him back to the relative safety of the vehicles and then provided immediate first aid before returning to the fight.
“In subsequent occasions during the battle, Trooper Donaldson administered medical care to other wounded soldiers whilst continuing to engage the enemy.”
In our workaday lives, that is the stuff of legend. It is the stuff of Australian legend.
It is the spirit of Kokoda where nobody is left behind.
It is the spirit of ANZAC, as the great CEW Bean has written: “ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, for resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat.”
Mark, these men of ANZAC would nod with a knowing pride of your achievements and your feats in the field of battle in Afghanistan.
Within this last week, we have buried one of our best who lost his life in his country’s name. And he is one of too many who have done the same, fighting for the values for which Australia stands in the distant mountains of Afghanistan. Many others still have been wounded and I am fearful that there will be more.
As a nation we are proud of all of our men and women in uniform. For there is no higher honour than to wear the uniform of Australia.
Trooper Donaldson, by your deeds you honour your family. By your deeds you honour the Army. By your deeds you honour the country. This country Australia.
At a time of national difficulty, you also speak to the nation’s spirit in a way you may not yet understand.
CS Lewis wrote: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
Trooper Donaldson, you met the test and you passed with flying colours.
Trooper Donaldson, the nation salutes you. A man of valour. A man who consciously took the decision to place his own life in peril to save the lives of others.
I salute you.
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