Australia's Afghan warriors
Reporter: Rahni Sadler
Producer: Mick O'Donnell
Date aired: 28 August 2011
Photo gallery: click here
View transcript
As Australians mourn the loss of yet another serviceman in combat, Sunday Night reporter Rahni Sadler joins 20 Diggers, broken and battered from their tours of duty in Afghanistan, as they walk the Kokoda Track in memory of their comrades who didn’t return home.
So far 29 Australians have died in the Afghanistan conflict, and more than 200 diggers have been injured by bomb blasts and mortar fire. And until now those returning injured heroes have suffered in silence. But on this one extraordinary journey, without government minders and defence spin doctors, the Australians who bear the terrible scars of their military service speak out.
What they do at Kokoda will move you to tears, what they say will make you question everything you thought you knew about Australia's involvement in Afghanistan. This is the raw emotional truth from the men who've served on the most devastating front line.
RSL Soldiers Kokoda
RSL Soldiers Kokoda 2012 follows the success of the inaugural RSL Soldiers Kokoda 2011, where battle casualties and relatives of soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan led a trek across the 96 kilometre Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea.
The program is hosted by Adventure1000, which is led by former Australian Army Special Forces Officer, Brian Freeman.
Preparations are already under way for next year's mission and the full details are available in the linked PDF document kindly supplied to us by Adventure1000.
Commando Welfare Trust
The Commando Welfare Trust has been created to support both initial emergency funding and then long term financial requirements of families in times of hardship where existing funding or grants or entitlements no longer provide support.
For further information about the Trust, you can download this PDF.
To get involved in the trust or to give a donation click here
