How Victoria Cross recipient Mark Donaldson carried a wounded man 80m to safety while under heavy gunfire

Mark Donaldson sprinted 80m across an open battlefield under intense enemy machinegun and grenade attack, picked up a wounded interpreter, carried him to safety, then administered first aid before charging back into battle. “We did everything we could to stay alive, stay lethal and get through the situation,” he said. WATCH PART SIX OF VOODOO MEDICS NOW.

Special Forces Corporal Mark Donaldson’s comrades fell wounded around him as the coalition patrol was ambushed.

Heavy and sustained machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades ripped through the joint Australian, US and Afghan patrol in southern Oruzgan province on September 2, 2008.

The patrol was severely outnumbered but Donaldson took the initiative, fighting back with his M4 rifle and shoulder-fired antitank weapons.

Australian Special Forces soldiers from the Special Operations Task Group based in Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan on patrol.

SAS soldiers of Reconstruction Task Force fire mortars on Taliban extremist positions in Baluchi, after an earlier ambush attack and rocket fire on soldiers by Taliban fighters near Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan.

Former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Mark Donaldson.

Mark Donaldson with special forces soldiers in Afghanistan.

Donaldson deliberately broke cover to draw the Taliban’s assault to him instead of the wounded men. It gave his teammates the opportunity to escape, the official citation for the Victoria Cross states.

As the beleaguered convoy tried moved to safety, a badly wounded Afghan translator was inadvertently left behind.

Donaldson “of his own volition and displaying complete disregard for his own safety” sprinted across 80m of open desert under intense fire, picked up the interpreter and carried him back to the safety of the convoy. He gave the man first aid before returning to the fight.

Mark Donaldson’s M4 carbine, used during the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, on display at the Australian War Memorial.

Nine Australians were wounded in the battle; one US soldier was killed.

“Trooper Donaldson’s acts of exceptional gallantry in the face of accurate and sustained enemy fire ultimately saved the life of a coalition force interpreter and ensured the safety of the other members of the combined Afghan, US and Australian force,” the citation states.

“Trooper Donaldson’s actions on this day displayed exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril. His actions are of the highest accord and are in keeping with the finest traditions of Special Operations Command, the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.”

Then Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce awards Mark Donaldson Australia’s highest military honour — The Victoria Cross — in 2009.

Queen Elizabeth greets Australian trooper Mark Donaldson VC during a private audience at Windsor Castle on November 10, 2009.

Warrant Officer Class II Keith Payne, who received his Victoria Cross in 1969, shakes hands with Mark Donaldson on the day he was awarded his VC at Government House in Canberra.

Donaldson said the most satisfying thing about that operation was knowing the patrol responded to the challenge as a team.

“When I look back … what I’m proud about is not the award, the VC … what I’m most proud about is what we did before, because we would have done it anyway,” he said.

“We did everything we could to stay alive, stay lethal and get through the situation,” he said.

“That’s awesome that we can do that and that we can do that together.

“I can look back on that and go ‘that’s what teamwork is’.”

Don’t miss part seven on Monday of Voodoo Medics: Getting Out