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Monday, 30th November 2020

Investiture Ceremony For Edward 'Teddy' Sheean Vc Canberra



GOVERNMENT HOUSE, DECEMBER 1, 2020
 
When World War II was raging, it might have been easy for Teddy Sheean to stay home.
 
Growing up in Tasmania, he could have felt the false security of distance.
 
Instead, he signed up.
 
In the Second World War, there wasn’t the naive sense of adventure that carried so many off to the First.
 
The war had come to Australia and, like five of his own brothers, Teddy went.
 
He went for us.
 
In a time when the light in the world was being driven back by the forces of darkness, Teddy knew this was not a fight he could turn his back on.
 
Teddy had not even experienced his first full year of adulthood when he met his fate in the air attack on HMAS Armidale.
 
Already wounded, and with the sky above him chaotic with death, he made his decision.
 
At the moment his mates were at their most vulnerable, Teddy strapped himself to that gun on a sinking ship.
 
He was not even a gunner, but in that moment Teddy became a shield extended over his mates in the water.
 
An ordinary seaman who rose to the extraordinary circumstances in which he found himself.
 
Think of those who lived because of him. Those who could go on and create new generations because of him.
 
How many lives can be traced back to that moment of self-sacrifice?
 
The awarding of the Victoria Cross to Ordinary Seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean is a great credit to the persistence of his family and their fellow Tasmanians.
 
This is a day of solemn pride for us all.
 
For the Royal Australian Navy and the entire Australian Defence Force.
 
For all Australians.
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Electorate Office

334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204

Phone: 02 9564 3588

Parliament House Office

Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 7700

Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Authorised by Anthony Albanese. 334a Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204.

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