Mark Donaldson
| Mark Donaldson | |
|---|---|
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Corporal Mark Donaldson in 2014
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| Birth name | Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson |
| Born |
2 April 1979 Waratah, New South Wales |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 2002 – present |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit |
1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment Special Air Service Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Victoria Cross for Australia |
Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson, VC (born 2 April 1979) is an Australian soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest award in the Australian honours system. Then Trooper Donaldson was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) when he exposed himself to enemy fire to protect injured troops and then rescued an interpreter under heavy enemy fire in the Battle of Khaz Oruzgan during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan. He was presented with the decoration by the Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, in a ceremony in Canberra on 16 January 2009. On 25 January 2010, Donaldson was named the 2010 Young Australian of the Year. He was promoted to corporal in June 2010.
Donaldson was born on 2 April 1979 in Waratah, New South Wales, the younger son of Greg, a Vietnam War veteran, and Bernadette Donaldson. He grew up in the small northern New South Wales township of Dorrigo, attending Dorrigo High School, a small state public school, until 1996. In 1995 his father died suddenly of a heart attack and Mark and his brother became wards of Legacy, one of their legatees being a former member of the same Army unit their father had served in.
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