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The Australian soldier killed in
Afghanistan yesterday has been named as Michael Fussell, a 25-year-old
Commando.
Lieutenant Fussell, from the Sydney-based 4th Battalion, Royal Australian
Regiment,
was killed in the southern province of Oruzgan during a night-time offensive
operation on Thursday morning.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Michael's family
from the family that is 4RAR.....ed
Ben Packham (Melb HeraldSun)
November 29, 2008 12:00am
AN Australian commando killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan has been
identified as Lt Michael Fussell.
Tributes flowed for the 25-year-old soldier from Sydney, killed while on a
patrol hunting Taliban insurgents in Oruzgan province.
A member of the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Lt Fussell was not
married and had no children.
Two other soldiers wounded in the blast were not identified and were back on
operational duty yesterday.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Lt Fussell had shown great courage serving his
country. "I'd simply say . . . how saddened I am, and the Government is, at the
loss of this brave young man who has given his all, proudly wearing the uniform
of Australia, and our deepest condolences go to his family," Mr Rudd said.
"This is a bad day for the Australian army; a bad day for our men and women in
uniform in Tarin Kowt and elsewhere in Afghanistan; and it is a tragic day for
this young man's family."
Lt Fussell's grief-stricken family were being supported by the army yesterday.
They included his brother Daniel, a lieutenant with the Brisbane-based 1st Field
Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.
Lt Fussell was born in Coffs Harbour, NSW. He enlisted in the army in 2002 and
graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon.
He completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Australian Defence Force Academy and was
a keen sportsman who loved playing rugby.
Vice-chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lt-Gen David Hurley, said Lt
Fussell's death was a tragic loss.
"Today our nation mourns the loss of a fine soldier," Lt-Gen Hurley said.
Lt Fussell and his two wounded comrades were part of a foot patrol when an
improvised explosive device exploded. They belonged to a special operations task
group protecting a reconstruction taskforce in Oruzgan.
Mr Rudd said Lt Fussell's death did not alter the PM's resolve on the war in
Afghanistan, but he said Australia had no plans to offer further troops to the
war effort.
"I've said before to our friends in the United States we believe our current
commitments to Afghanistan are about right," he told radio 3AW. "We went to
Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on September 11 . . . We cannot
surrender that country back again to al-Qaida."
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