Matina Jewell is an Australian army major, now retired. A star graduate from Duntroon, she has fast-roped from helicopters onto ships smuggling illegal contraband in the North Arabian Gulf; and is one of the few women to have ever qualified as a military diver. She was selected to join an elite team of Australian officers serving with the UN as peace-keepers in the Middle East, attempting to maintain the fragile peace there. In July, 2006, war broke out between the Israelis and the Hezbollah then operating in Lebanon. Deadly fire from both sides came closer and closer to her observation post, with ultimately tragic consequences when Israeli bombs targeted their UN command post and killed all her comrades.
In a twist of fate, she was damaged in an incident in an armoured vehicle which put her into hospital just before the bombing and thereby saved her life. But her story doesn't end there. Like many soldiers serving in peacekeeping duties she struggled to get the Australian army to recognise her injuries as being caused by her active service. She's brave and she's forthright, and she's just the kind of soldier you'd hope to have in our defence forces.
