1. Mark Donaldson was presented with the decoration by the Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, in a ceremony in Canberra on 16 January 2009.
22 Facts About Mark Donaldson
1. 2.
On 25 January 2010, Mark Donaldson was named the 2010 Young Australian of the Year.
3.
Mark Donaldson was born on 2 April 1979 in Waratah, New South Wales, the younger son of Greg, a Vietnam War veteran, and Bernadette Mark Donaldson.
4.
Mark Donaldson grew up in the small northern New South Wales township of Dorrigo, attending Dorrigo High School, a small state public school, until 1996.
5.
In 1998, when Mark Donaldson was 19 and attending art college in Sydney, his mother disappeared.
6.
Mark Donaldson is presumed murdered and an investigation into the disappearance is ongoing.
7.
Mark Donaldson left full-time education and took a variety of physically demanding jobs in Australia and overseas.
8.
Mark Donaldson enlisted in the Australian Army on 18 June 2002.
9.
Mark Donaldson trained at Army Recruit Training Centre, Kapooka, winning prizes as the best shot and best at physical training in his platoon.
10.
Mark Donaldson was then posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, based in Townsville, Queensland.
11.
From February to April 2004, Mark Donaldson completed the SASR selection course, and was posted to 3 Squadron in May 2004.
12.
Mark Donaldson has since seen service in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.
13.
Mark Donaldson deliberately exposed himself to fire from the Taliban fighters in order to draw their attention away from the casualties, allowing them to be moved to cover.
14.
Mark Donaldson immediately crossed the 80 metres or so of open ground between the convoy and the interpreter, under heavy fire, and then carried him back to the vehicles where Mark Donaldson administered first aid.
15.
At this stage Mark Donaldson was identified only as "Trooper F".
16.
Mark Donaldson then became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia on 16 January 2009; he was presented with the medal by the Governor-General at a ceremony in Government House, Canberra.
17.
Mark Donaldson was received in audience by the Queen, Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle on 10 November 2009.
18.
Mark Donaldson subsequently served in Afghanistan for a four-month period in 2009, made a brief deployment to the country in early 2010 and deployed again in 2013.
19.
Mark Donaldson was promoted to the rank of corporal in 2010 after completing a junior leaders course.
20.
Mark Donaldson is married to Emma, and has a daughter and a son.
21.
Mark Donaldson has written a memoir called The Crossroad, which was published by Macmillan in 2013.
22.
On 25 January 2010, Mark Donaldson was named the Young Australian of the Year 2010.