[aap1966]

Victoria Cross recipient. (Australian equivalent of the Congessional Medal of Honor).

"During his fifth tour of Afghanistan, on 11 June 2010 Roberts-Smith was involved in an operation to hunt for a senior Taliban commander in the Kandahar province. Here he took part in an assault against an enemy fortification, exposing his own position in order to draw fire away from members of his patrol who were pinned down. Fighting at close range, he stormed two enemy machine-gun posts and silenced them. For this action Roberts-Smith was awarded a Victoria Cross. His citation in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette noted that 'his selfless actions in circumstances of great peril served to enable his patrol to break into the enemy's defences and to regain the initiative ... resulting in a tactical victory'."

He "silenced" the machine gun posts in hand-to-hand combat.

My wife and 14 yo daughter ran into him in a coffee shop, and stopped to say "thanks". Real nice guy, humble and happy to chat. Proud my wife and daughter had a chance to shake his hand.