Courage Under Fire: Daniel Keighran VC

by Daniel Keighran with Tony Park

Published by Macmillan
RRP $44.99 in hardcover | ISBN 9781760787653

On 24 August 2010, in battle in Afghanistan, Corporal Daniel Keighran risked his life in a hail of gunfire to save his fellow soldiers.

His actions saw him awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, making him the 99th Australian to receive our country’s highest award for bravery. He received the Victoria Cross for his actions in the battle of Derapet.

In November 2012, he was presented the VC by the then Governor-General of Australia, Dame Quentin Bryce.

With Tony Park’s assistance, Courage Under Fire tells of Daniel’s unlikely journey to become one of Australia’s most celebrated soldiers, a journey that included the ADF’s attempts to ‘sanitise’ the details of his early troubled family life when he became the centre of attention on receiving the VC. His story is one of commitment to his comrades, commitment to the tasks assigned on his deployments and, ultimately, the story of his military life and the reality of the war in Afghanistan.

He discharged from the regular army in 2011 but there is no doubt his story will continue to inspire a new generation of soldiers.