Daniel Alan Keighran, (born 18 June 1983) is an Australian soldier and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross for Australia The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian honours system, superseding the British Victoria Cross for issue to Australians. The Victoria Cross for Australia is the "decoration for according recognition to persons w ...

, the highest award in the

Australian honours system The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...

. Keighran was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his actions in the

Battle of Derapet The Battle of Derapet was fought near the village of Derapet in the Tangi Valley in Deh Rahwod District, Deh Rahwod, Orūzgān Province, southern Afghanistan, between a combined Australian Army and Afghan National Army patrol and Taliban forces on ...

on 24 August 2010, during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. He was presented with the medal by the Governor-General of Australia,

Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously the ...

, at a ceremony in Canberra on 1 November 2012. Keighran is the third soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, and the first member of the

Royal Australian Regiment The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) is the parent administrative regiment for regular infantry battalions of the Australian Army and is the senior infantry regiment of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. It was originally formed in 1948 as a t ...

so awarded.

Early life

Keighran (pronounced: KEAR-''ran'') was born in

Nambour Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...

, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland region of Queensland, on 18 June 1983. When Keighran was in Year 5, he moved with his family to Lowmead, approximately north west of the Queensland regional city of Bundaberg. His family lived on a "forty-acre block" where his parents bred

paint horse The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. Developed from a base of spotted horses with Quarter Hors ...

s. His mother also taught dressage, and his father occasionally organised rodeo events. Keighran attended school in nearby Rosedale and graduated from high school in 2000. That year Keighran was a torchbearer for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

torch parade and received a Pierre de Coubertin Award in recognition of his "Olympic spirit".

Military career

Keighran joined the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

in 2000. Prior to Afghanistan, he had served in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. He was promoted to

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

in 2005 while within Mortar Platoon of the Support Company,

6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in Brisbane, Queensland, on 6 June 1965 and has since then served in a number of overseas deployments and conf ...

(6 RAR). In 2006 he deployed to Iraq as a

Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle } The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built four-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The Bushmaster was primarily designed by the then government-owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), and is cur ...

driver, and in 2007 to Afghanistan with the Special Operations Task Group in the same role. He was promoted to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

in 2009, and was posted to D Company, 6 RAR.

Victoria Cross for Australia

Daniel Keighran medals at the AWM December 2013

Keighran was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions while serving with the

, in a fire fight with insurgents during the

on 24 August 2010, an action of

Operation Slipper The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper (2001–2014) and Operation Highroad (2015-2021). Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations and the size of the forces deployed have varied and ADF invol ...

. 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.

Post-military career

Keighran now serves in the Australian Army Reserve posted to Army Headquarters. His civilian career was in the mining industry in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, where he worked in the Frog's Leg Gold Mine until early 2015.

Honours and awards

Keighran's Victoria Cross for Australia and accompanying medal group are on loan to the Australian War Memorial for display in the Hall of Valour. Keighran from 2001 until 2011 wore the Presidential Unit Citation awarded by the United States.

UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

Australian Defence Medal (Australia) ribbon

AUS Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star

Notes

References

External links

TV coverage of presentation ceremony
from the NewsOnABC official channel on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Copyright photos of Keighran and his wife
from the Australian Defence Image Library.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keighran, Daniel Living people 1983 births Military personnel from Queensland Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Australian recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Kalgoorlie People from Nambour, Queensland Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation