Ten years ago today - Corporal Dan Keighran's valour under fire would see him awarded the Victoria Cross
Monday, 24 August 2020
For Valour.
Lest We Forget.
On the 24th of August 2010, Corporal Dan Keighran participated in an action that would see him awarded Australia’s highest award for bravery and gallantry, whilst on a patrol in Derapet, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.
Corporal Keighran enlisted in the Army on 5 December 2000 and was posted to 6RAR. He deployed with 6RAR to Butterworth, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He deployed on his second tour of Afghanistan with MTF-1 on Operation Slipper in 2010.
Whilst on his second deployment, Corporal Keighran was participating in a joint Afghan and Australian patrol near Derapet when the patrol was engaged by a numerically superior and coordinated enemy force.
During the battle, Keighran "with complete disregard for his own safety" repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to draw fire away from a team treating a battle casualty (Keighran's friend Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney). Keighran's actions were key in allowing the Coalition forces to withdraw without further casualties.
For his bravery that day, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and invested by the Governor General on 1 November 2012.
He was the third Australian to receive the award during the Afghanistan War, and the first soldier of the Royal Australian Regiment to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Duty First.