Signaller Sean McCarthyPrint Page 
Sean McCarthy Way commemorates Signaller Sean McCarthy who was killed in action in Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan in July 2008.
Sean enlisted in the Australian Defence Force in 2000 after finishing high school. Sean spent four years with the 7th Signal Regiment before transferring to the elite Special Air Services Regiment in 2007. Sean was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Special Operations Task Group. Based out of Tarin Kot in Uruzgan Province, Sean was actively involved in conducting counter-insurgency operations.
On one occasion, Sean’s patrol was heavily involved in an engagement with Taliban forces, resulting in an Australian casualty. During this engagement, a visual marker panel placed to be used as a reference for fire support could not be seen by a nearby patrol. Sean broke from his position of relative safety and ran out into the exposed area, climbing a tree under enemy fire so that their position could be identified. For his actions that day Sean received the Special Operations Commander Australia Commendation.
Sean returned to Australia in January 2008, and soon after was briefly deployed to East Timor as part of Operation Astute. He returned to Afghanistan in June to again take part in counter-insurgency operations in Uruzgan Province. On 8 July 2008, in his troop’s first patrol since returning to Afghanistan, the vehicle Sean was travelling in triggered a 20-kilogram Improvised Explosive Device as it crossed a wadi in the Mirabad Valley. The blast severely wounded Sean and four others. All five casualties were casevaced to hospital at Tarin Kot, but Sean died before arriving. He was 25 years old. Sean was buried with full military honours at Southport Lawn Cemetery in Queensland in 2008, with a memorial plaque placed at the Pinaroo Cemetery.
Location
| Address: | Sean McCarthy Way, Highfields, 4352 |
|---|---|
| State: | QLD |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -27.450171 Long: 151.946627 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Roadway |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Military |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 08-July-2008 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 08-July-2008 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Saturday 17th March, 2018 |
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Sean McCarthy Way
Sign :
8215477 Signaller Sean Patrick McCarthy
[ Biographical Details]
This road was renamed in memory of Sean on the 17th March 2018 with the assistance of the Highfields RSL Sub Branch. It was named Way because Sean used to say there were only two ways of doing things "The Wrong Way or the Sean McCarthy Way. Sean was well respected by his comrades, who say he embodied the essential qualities of courage, boldness, and perseverance that made him such a highly skilled and professional soldier.
