Sean McCarthy’s parents speak out over fallen SAS soldier’s war crime investigation
For the first time, parents of fallen SAS soldier Sean McCarthy have publicly spoken about their shock at learning about a secret investigation into war crimes that was launched eight years after his death.
Exclusive: When David and Mary McCarthy opened a letter from the Australian Defence Force in 2016 — eight years after their son Sean was killed in Afghanistan — they thought it might be a mistake.
Inside was a notice clearing the fallen Special Air Service (SAS) soldier of alleged war crimes — allegations they had never known existed.
“It just turned up one day in the mail,” Mr McCarthy said.
“No one had spoken to us or asked any questions. Mary opened it and read that they had investigated Sean. I thought, ‘Excuse me — he was killed in 2008, and they’re writing to him eight years later?’.
“It was really upsetting to think they would investigate a dead soldier’s conduct.”
Sean McCarthy was killed in July 2008 when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED).
The McCarthys are speaking for the first time about the allegations against their son, following the release of Bravery and Betrayal, a new documentary revealing for the first time the human toll of the war crimes saga that has shadowed Australia’s Special Forces for more than a decade.
The allegations stemmed from a four-year inquiry led by NSW Supreme Court Judge and Army Reserve Major General Paul Brereton, which identified 23 unlawful incidents involving Special Forces personnel and referred 19 individuals for further investigation.
Only one, former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz, has been criminally charged. Mr Schulz denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The McCarthys said the documentary has provided a chance to share the profound impact of the allegations on their son’s comrades.
“The allegations and the way they’ve been handled have weighed heavily on a lot of these blokes,” Mr McCarthy said.
“We’ve seen some of them deteriorate over the years. They’re left hanging, waiting for a phone call or an email that could change everything — and that is no way to live.”
Among those serving alongside Sean was a soldier known to his mates as “Horse,” who was the first to reach him after the blast. Horse, who served alongside the SAS, still carries the memory of that day.
“The hardest experience from my deployment was working on Sean,” he said.
“The car hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and that blew him apart. There was nothing from his waist down … we did everything we could to save him, but the internal injuries from the blast were so horrific that he was never going to survive. You don’t wish anything to happen … but I’m proud that I did everything I could to save him.”
Years later, Horse would find himself among those accused of alleged war crimes as a “person of interest”, but to this day has never been charged and has lived under suspicion ever since.
Horse strongly denies the allegations.
“It’s had an impact on my personal life and job applications. What’s worse is what it’s doing to my mates,” he said.
“We’ve got people saying we’re guilty of war crimes and the Australian Defence Force has done nothing to correct the narrative.”
Directed by Simon J. Heath, the documentary features Mr Hudson, the McCarthys, and more than a dozen SAS soldiers speaking publicly for the first time since the allegations surfaced.
Horse said the idea for the film grew out of frustration at soldiers being publicly condemned without due process.
“There’s been this ongoing negative narrative about us and our service in Afghanistan — largely lies,” he said.
“Defence wasn’t exercising their duty of care by correcting it. We needed to get our side of the story out.”
The doco also includes insights from former prime ministers John Howard, Kevin Rudd, and Tony Abbott, as well as US pilots who served alongside Australian troops and families of the fallen.
“I hope people sitting in the comfort of their lounge rooms would be slow to judge critically those who do very tough, but sometimes utterly necessary things on their behalf,” Mr Abbott said.
For the first time, Americans who served alongside Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan also weighed in, unaware all these years on that their Australian counterparts were facing accusations of war crimes.
“What those (Australian) guys did was brave and selfless. And that’s the kind of soldier that they are,” Lieutenant Colonel Scott Hasken, battalion commander of US Army Aviation, said.
“They dedicated their lives and their time to defend not just their country and its honour, but the people on the ground as well as the Afghanis.”
US pilot Radley Grubbs highlighted the difficulty the troops would be facing when under suspicion despite their service.
“After five combat deployments, when I come home, I have nothing but love and support from my countrymen, nothing but loving support from our government, and it can still be difficult at times,” he said.
“I could not imagine what it would feel like to be shunned by your government or people in your higher ranks after coming home from that and serving your country honourably and to the best of your ability.”
Since the documentary’s release, it has screened in parliament and across Australia, confronting audiences with first-hand accounts that challenge a decade of silence.
“The longer the investigation goes on, the greater the mental health impact,” Horse said.
“We’ve already had one guy kill himself last year as a direct result of how he was treated. If Defence has got the evidence, charge us. If not, make it go away.”
For the McCarthys, that message rings painfully true. They have seen the toll on their son’s comrades and are determined to keep speaking out.
“Anything we can do to take the pressure off these guys, we’ll do,” Mr McCarthy said.
“If it means speaking publicly or getting into politicians’ ears, we’ll do that. We owe it to Sean and to all of them to make sure their story is told honestly.”
Bravery and Betrayal continues to screen nationwide and will stream exclusively on DocPlay.
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Originally published as Sean McCarthy’s parents speak out over fallen SAS soldier’s war crime investigation
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