What defines a hero? A hero is not necessarily an individual with extraordinary talent, true heroism is often remarkably sober and undramatic. In the face of fear and uncertainty, an everyday hero is an individual who will continue to persist, they will continue to uphold their moral values and will continue to seek to maintain the security of others. Ultimately, the Gospel Values of courage, community, reconciliation and service are four mannerisms that underscore the contemporary definition of a hero, and these principles are intertwined and present in the discourse, and life of Mark Donaldson.
Donaldson is an Australian SAS soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross for his conspicuous acts of gallantry in a circumstance of great peril in Afghanistan. Born in 1979 in Newcastle, New South Wales, to Greg, a Vietnam War Veteran, and Bernadette. His tribulations begun far before he joined the Australian Army, with Donaldson’s early life being heavily disturbed by hardships. At seventeen years old, Mark’s father died unpredictably…show more content… On the second of September 2008, in a valley in eastern Afghanistan, Mark Donaldson made a split-second decision that would later earn him awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia. Donaldson’s patrol was ambushed by a numerically superior Taliban force. Sustained machine gun fire inflicted several casualties amongst the patrol, but Donaldson, in what has been described by his fellow SAS member, Bruce, as one of “stupidest things I’ve ever seen in battle”, deliberately made himself a target of Taliban fire while the casualties were moved, and then further proceeding to further expose himself to save a wounded Afghan Interpreter, whom he was scarcely familiar with and would never see
