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Speaker 1: Very special day today Remember and Stay a memorial day

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Speaker 1: observed in the Commonwealth member state since the end of

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Speaker 1: the First World War to remember all those who served

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Speaker 1: in the armed forces who have passed away in the

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Speaker 1: line of duty. One man that we wanted to talk to.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot of people that go above and beyond

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Speaker 1: and there's a new autobiography out Courage Under Fire.

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Speaker 2: Daniel Kieran is his name.

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Speaker 1: He's Australia's ninety ninth recipient of the Victoria Cross and.

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Speaker 2: He joins us now. Daniel, welcome to the show, Buddy good,

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Speaker 2: thanks for having me.

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Speaker 3: Good to have you on, Daniel. I mean we met

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Speaker 3: a couple of years ago. It was the Royal wedding

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Speaker 3: and Mark Donaldson was over there because you have a

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Speaker 3: bi annual event for all VC recipients. Is that right

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Speaker 3: at Buckingham.

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Speaker 2: Palace, that's correct.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yes, a part of the Victoria Cross and George

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Speaker 4: Cross Associations. The Queen is still a patron of that

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Speaker 4: organization and Prince Charles is the president.

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Speaker 3: Because I was amazed to hear that the Queen, I mean,

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Speaker 3: the Queen obviously approves the VCS and the worthiness of

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Speaker 3: the recognition, but she also she gets presented them, is

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Speaker 3: that right, Daniel, and read through the brief about what

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Speaker 3: you've done and then makes the decision.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So I was fortunate enough, as I was, to get

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Speaker 4: a private audience with her a number of years ago.

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Speaker 4: So I got twenty five minutes, which hasn't hurt five

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Speaker 4: minutes to sit down and yeah and have a conversation

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Speaker 4: and you know, the rest is history.

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Speaker 2: What do we talk about when you're sitting down with

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Speaker 2: the queen? And do you get briefed?

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Speaker 4: I think everyone does, don't they beforehand on how to

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Speaker 4: address her, how to sit, how to be in her presence. Look,

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Speaker 4: absolutely looks so many briefings, how to curtsy, how to

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Speaker 4: bout all they what to talk about? So look at

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Speaker 4: was the great experiences of the world end as well.

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Speaker 4: But look, I won't talk about what we spoke about.

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Speaker 4: What you want private?

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Speaker 1: She doesn't ask you what gun you use or bullets

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that. She doesn't go into detail like that,

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Speaker 1: does she, Daniel?

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean I was in the mind at that

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Speaker 4: point in time, right, So I went across and I had,

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Speaker 4: let's be honest, I had a lot of advice from

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Speaker 4: a lot of the guys underground, I can imagine, and

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Speaker 4: I ended up saying, the weather is awesome. And I

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Speaker 4: looked that she gave.

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Speaker 2: The weather is awesome.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I was slipping a rat or something unusual

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Speaker 4: and I thought, you know, I'll just sort of yeah,

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Speaker 4: I didn't commit. Put it that way. I didn't commit

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Speaker 4: and pulled out halfway into the well.

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Speaker 2: Fine, can we.

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Speaker 1: Tell them about the twenty fourth of August twenty ten,

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Speaker 1: a battle in Afghanistan? This was the act where you

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Speaker 1: received the Victoria Cross. There was a hail of gunfire.

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Speaker 1: How many of you were together? How big was the group?

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Speaker 2: Daniel?

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Speaker 4: So, that looked the twenty fourth of August had about

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Speaker 4: twenty Australian soldiers initially on the ground in contact and

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Speaker 4: was supported by another soft been Australian soldiers and then

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Speaker 4: twenty Afghan National Army soldiers as well. So it was

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Speaker 4: a relatively small group considering the odds that were facing

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Speaker 4: on the ground.

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Speaker 3: And what was the mission on that day?

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Speaker 2: Daniel?

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Speaker 4: So, mission for us is a clear, clear mission essentially,

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Speaker 4: So we were going through a clear the village of

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Speaker 4: Direpid itself, and at the end of that was a

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Speaker 4: Kali or a key leader engagement that would sit down

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Speaker 4: generally with the oldest bloke in the village and discuss

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Speaker 4: the issues and see how that we can assist them

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Speaker 4: going forward with their security.

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Speaker 1: So then there was a hail of gunfire. Did you

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Speaker 1: know that they were there? Did you know that was

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Speaker 1: coming or you know that there was a bit of danger.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Look, you get the usual intelligence briefs before going in,

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Speaker 4: but you know, we knew that were there because we

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Speaker 4: had an engineer group searching into everywhere we went, engineers

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Speaker 4: searching karatives and as we were searching into our armored vehicles,

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Speaker 4: we saw droves of women and children leaving the village. Right, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: no fighting age males as we call them. You know

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Speaker 4: in that group that we're leaving. So we suspected. I've

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Speaker 4: seen that before in previous to us understand where everyone

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Speaker 4: leaves but then nothing happens. So yeah, the sense of

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Speaker 4: something about to happen and ending the contact, Yeah, it

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Speaker 4: was real and it was very much there that day.

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Speaker 3: So when you're walking into that situation and you're just

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Speaker 3: you're not sure, but you're you're aware that there's a

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Speaker 3: good chance is it ies darting everywhere you're in conversations,

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Speaker 3: but you're looking into the hills at the same time.

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Speaker 3: How intense is that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: Look, it's the best way to describe it as everywhere

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Speaker 4: your muzzle of your weapon goes is your eyes following,

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Speaker 4: so you happen to see anything.

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Speaker 2: You are you're ready, you're ready to gage.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, so it is. But you know you've got

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Speaker 4: plates ons, I've got an armor on front and back,

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Speaker 4: and you know you have those those the thoughts in

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Speaker 4: your head, gut, I hope I take one in the

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Speaker 4: plate if I'm up the front.

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Speaker 2: Anyway, Well, that's right.

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Speaker 1: There was moments, and this is why you were the

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Speaker 1: recipient of the Victoria Cross where you repeatedly exposed yourself

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Speaker 1: to enemy fire. Now was that to take away the

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Speaker 1: focus on some of your other soldiers, Is that.

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Speaker 2: Right, Daniel?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, look exactly right. So there was two reasons. One,

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Speaker 4: we're having really tough time with an a pine target, ye,

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Speaker 4: meaning that you know they were in concealment or cover

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Speaker 4: and we couldn't see where muzzleplash was or their movement,

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Speaker 4: so we'd see where that had moved and then we

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Speaker 4: would lose them again. But then all of a sudden,

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Speaker 4: you take fire a new location, and I saw a

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Speaker 4: teammate in trouble and a team in trouble, and you

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Speaker 4: know I chose to act. Wow, was outside of the

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Speaker 4: realms of what we usually do. However, you know, I'm

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Speaker 4: lucky get.

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Speaker 2: At work, Daniel.

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Speaker 3: Did you hear anything fly past the year?

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Speaker 2: Mate?

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Speaker 4: Well, let's let's be honest as the sound of a

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Speaker 4: bullet as it does here is the sound that I'll

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Speaker 4: never forget.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Daniel, Okay for the everyday punter, Well, we're

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Speaker 1: watching a show at the moment and this is just celebrities.

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Speaker 2: But says Australia.

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Speaker 1: But I know Aunt Middleton, who runs that says that

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Speaker 1: when he went through as an SAS soldier, I think

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Speaker 1: there was something like two hundred and fifty people that

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Speaker 1: were going for it and only six survived the training course.

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Speaker 2: Was that the same with you when you went through training?

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Speaker 4: No? No goodness, No, Well, look, I hope we'd lose

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Speaker 4: I think five or six yep from the thirty that

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Speaker 4: we had, but it's nowhere near nowhere near that. So

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Speaker 4: how much Ardent is argeous? It is the selection for

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Speaker 4: SAS and those boys well and truly are under the

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Speaker 4: pump from the start to.

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Speaker 1: Finish today, mate, Can we talk about today and what

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Speaker 1: it means to you? Because you have fought and you've,

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Speaker 1: without a doubt you've probably lost some very close friends

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Speaker 1: as well.

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Speaker 2: So what does Remembrance Day mean to Daniel Kieran Yees?

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Speaker 3: Today?

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Speaker 2: Look?

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Speaker 4: Today a very special day. I'm here in camera today

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Speaker 4: and I'm actually delivering the national address for the Australian

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Speaker 4: Warm and While, so that will go out today and

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Speaker 4: for me, look it is the meaning has changed. There's

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Speaker 4: over one hundred and two thousand names on the Roll

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Speaker 4: of Honor at Australian Wall and While, and we are

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Speaker 4: remembering those names today. But for me it's more personal.

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Speaker 4: During my trip, we lost ten soldiers in the nine

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Speaker 4: months time I was there, oh than my good friends.

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Speaker 4: So it is absolutely the time of rememorance of happy

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Speaker 4: times and good times and those that I have served

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Speaker 4: with and are no longer gets back.

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Speaker 3: No very important. Dave you and good luck with the

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Speaker 3: service mate. And the book is Courage under Fire. And

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Speaker 3: also as you go through the photos, fits there's another

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Speaker 3: mission that he's on here.

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Speaker 2: It Drinks with the.

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Speaker 3: Boys at Butterworth, a trip to Malaysia, one of his

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Speaker 3: first outside of Australia, and I'll tell you what.

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Speaker 1: The lads have got a few stories for you also

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Speaker 1: through your body on the line as well.

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Speaker 2: Coming out of a.

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Speaker 4: Bar, there a couple of goodness looking at the photos.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look out, he said, I'll take I'll take that

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Speaker 3: tequila shop for your boys.

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Speaker 2: I'll do that one.

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Speaker 1: No, Daniel, thank you so much mate. It's a very

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Speaker 1: important day today and we really appreciate you coming on

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Speaker 1: the show and opening up about this stuff.

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Speaker 4: Appreciate it. Thank you so much having me.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Daniel so much. Body busy and