Veteran of the Day

Col  joined the Navy in 1965 at 16 , went to HMAS Leuwin in Perth for a years training.
He then left to go to sea. Col spent a small amount of time on HMAS Sydney before it was used as a troop carrier. He was called to join HMAS Hobartt, they were short crew. He was only 17, and the youngest on board.

They were part of the American 7 th fleet and came under their command. They were the first combat unit in the Australian Navy to be sent into action in Vietnam.  Most of their time was spent in the gulf of Tonkin, they had to disrupt North Vietnam supply lines to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.  They would send out all their equipment, arms etc in barges and boats we had to stop them.  Destroy them.  We came under fire weekly as we went into action and got closer we got the heavier it was, we came under fire the closest to that came to us.  It  was about 10 foot of the port bow,  his job was AALookout, exposed personel.   He watched as they were attacked and his job was to report their gun positions to the bridge.  Col was 17 years old when he spent his 18th birthday in rescue operations when the USS Forrestal blew up killing 134 men it was on his 18th birthday, 29th July 1967.  That night after we assisted in the rescue we went back into action.  After Vietnam, when he was 19, on board HMAS Stewart they were in the rescue squad When the USS Frankie Evans was cut in half by the Melbourne.  74 men died that morning.  Col was there and they went to assist.  

Col spent seven years in the Navy. His last year of the Navy was as a recruit school instructor at HMAS Cerberus, he then took his discharge.

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Anthony 'Harry' Moffitt recently retired from the Australian Defence Force after almost thirty years, most of which was spent with Australia's elite Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment as a Team Commander and Team Specialist.  He has served in eleven active deployments, including being wounded in action in 2008. 

Harry completed his time with the SAS as its Human Performance Manager. He's a Registered Psychologist and runs a human performance consultancy, Stotan Group, working with sports teams, the military and industry. 

He remains a cricket tragic.

RSL & Services Clubs Association
RSL & Services Clubs Association share the responsibility of the welfare and support of veterans and

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Straight out of grade 12 and at age 18, I joined Army as a PTE Soldier. I spent the next 90 days at Kapooka adapting to military life and absolutely loved every minute of it. After my initial training I went to Bandianna VIC for my IET training. From there, I got posted to 1 Combat Signals Regiment at Robertson Barracks, Darwin. I worked in logistics until I discharged in 2017. I was a reservist at 20 STA when I moved back to Brisbane after my discharge but now am an inactive reservist.

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Hear from our latest Veteran of the Day, Mark "Henry" Lawson.

Steve Price: That you're a military career in a moment. I just want to, on that theme when you're serving in the, uh, in the Australian armed forces, um, how much of that is that you are doing a job for Australia as well as doing something as an individual?

Mark: Well, that's a bloody good question. I think it's each, because if you it's the foundation of why you're there, it's the foundation, you know, th that, that spirit of Australia representing a country is the foundation of everything you do. And I think, uh, because of the absolute, um, the pace of the unit I was in SAS was, um, it's very, you gotta be back to, uh, you know, the foundation of why we're there. Um, because everyone wants a career. Everyone must succeed highly competitive. You know what I mean, as good as you laugh at all, you know, cause you said earlier that it's always standing good standing editive manner to lift you up, not put you down. So, um, so like that, you know, when you wear your heart on your sleeve, it's to do a good job representing your country, not when you're getting feedback, that's when you put your heart off and put it back in your pocket, and then you get your notebook out and say, sorry, in the spirit of representing your country, it's definitely foundation's favorite present the speed and the top of top, some of the danger, um, and some of the very, uh, here would you say, very detailed tasks and planning and execution of very dangerous, uh, things that you do even in training you're, um, you know, you tend to think about self, getting the job, getting the job done well.

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Shane enlisted in the Australian Army in 1995. Between 2004 and 2008 he was a private military contractor in Iraq where he initially trained Iraqi Special Operations police who fought in the second battle of Fallujah which I was also involved in as part of the CMATT program.

Shane then reenlisted into the Australian Army in 2009 as a member of the Australian Intelligence Corps posted to SOCOMD.

He has been deployed twice to Afghanistan (2010/2011 and 2012) as part of Task Force 66 where he provided insurgent threat assessments.  Shane's analytical efforts enabled numerous successful targeting operations of key leaders and disruption operations of IED networks.

When in Australia he was part of the Tactical Assault Group - East and West where he was involved in several real time terrorist incidents as well as providing CBRNE threat advics for the 2011 CHOGM and POTUS visits as well as the G20 in Brisbane. 

In 2014 - 2015, Shane deployed to the UAE and Baghdad as part of the lead elements for TF632 (SOTG-Iraq rotation 1).  Shane's intelligence reports and briefs were briefed at the highest levels of the coalition, including to commander of US central Command. 

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Listen to our latest Veteran of the Day, Heston Russell who joins Steve Price for our latest podcast.Steve: (00:52)Veteran of the day podcast series, as you know, is designed to highlight the efforts of men and women who’ve served their nation in...

Troy Methorst  joined the Australian army as an 18 year old and was deployed off shore at the very young age of 19 to East Timor. Troy, thanks for your service. But I guess given your dad was in Vietnam, he didn't have much choice.

Well, funny enough, my mum, mom and dad didn't really, I wouldn't say, um, countable made to that, but there was always a lot of, um, T3 in the family and whether that was just in my awareness, I just felt drawn to it from probably from really young age. So I think I'll one, all right, where I started to have like visions and dreams of joining the defense force. So, um, I was pretty keen, always running around the backyard, playing army and whatever. So I just had to send some, knowing that that was going to be where when my, my, my boss took me,

You can sort of understand why mum wouldn't be keen. I mean, she would have had to go through a fair bit with your dad when he was offshore in Vietnam,

And they're still still going through this stuff, the Vietnam era, um, you know, they, they suffered pretty heavily coming home and being, you know, that's the word I was looking for vilified. And it took a lot of Vietnam veterans to reach out for help. Um, so I, you know, in doing star, a lot of them suffered quite heavily what for them to take in. So I'm very thankful that the Vietnam veterans did the work that they did and the wife, um, rehabilitation for veterans.

So he was in, uh, the engineer Corps, uh, caught the third field trip like yourself ended up in and he was, you told me one of the, the tunnel rats. Uh, I went up to Vietnam on a holiday and I went into some of those Vietcong tunnels, uh, in South Vietnam. I couldn't get out of there quick enough. I mean, that's pretty bribe work, working underground, doing that sort of stuff. 

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Working in East Timor as a Royal Australian Air Force aeromedical evacuation nurse, Sharon narrowly escaped death when the helicopter in which she was travelling crashed in a violent storm. Suffering a severe spinal injury, a shattered jaw and aviation fuel burns, it was the unseen scarring of chronic pain and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that threatened to reveal the limits of her resilience. Yet the test was far from over. As Sharon faced the brutal consequences of her service and sacrifice, she endured the loss of her mother to breast cancer, the loss of three friends and colleagues in another helicopter crash and the attempted murder of her policeman father. 

Well within her rights to shy away from life, Sharon vowed to not only survive, but to continue to live. To write a new story. She successfully fought against the assumptions of others to continue to serve in the Australian Defence Force – mixing in political circles around the world as Aide-de-Camp to the Minister for Defence, commanding an Air Force health unit, and ultimately proving her capability as a commander in a theatre of war – Afghanistan. Her superpower a decision to rise again pursuing purposeful service over the paralyses of pain.

As a Registered Nurse and humanitarian, Sharon is a woman who embodies grace and compassion, yet the sheer strength and the courage she has displayed over a 16-year military career reflects that of a warrior. Sharon has witnessed the very best and possibly the greatest evil of humanity. 

Today Sharon continues to be of service to the men, women and families who serve Australia, providing a valuable insight into the sacrifice and unique qualities of their lives in the service of others. As a Member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, she provides a voice for all who have served. Having recently completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science, Sharon matches her personal experience with theoretical insight, delving into the nature of survival, resilience, courage, leadership and the art of curating a story of influence that is hopeful, optimistic and unashamedly breaking the taboos of what it is to live life after war. 

As a speaker, Sharon is a beacon of hope for those facing adverse circumstances. She is an inspiring leader who balances grace with grit, and dignity with daring. Sharon is a compelling storyteller who will leave the audience spellbound as they journey through the life of a woman who simply wanted to be of service but in doing so would choose a different story and rise to be a courageous and on purpose leader.

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“I joined the Army in 2008 as an RAA Gunner.
I was one of 7 Gunners selected as part of a 15 man contingency sent to England in February 2010 to train with the British Airborne Royal Horse Artillery for 7 months and deployed to Helmand Province in Afghanistan in the same year.
To be a Gunner and do this job in a war, was an experience very hard to explain sometimes. The men I fought beside and trained with prior to the deployment are brothers by choice and i’ll always have the highest of respect for each one of them. I'm glad I got the opportunity and i’d do it all again. We returned home in April 2011, 14 months in total away from home.”

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DOB 1/6/1924Service#429451Born MurwillumbahEnlisted 8/10/1942Warrant OfficerDischarged 2/1/1946