#143 Rebecca and Ashley Semmens

Alex Lloyd interviews navy veterans Rebecca and Ashley Semmens.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Rebecca Semmens served in the Royal Australian Navy for 18 years, and was medically discharged in 2020 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Bec was a medic, and deployed to Timor and Afghanistan. Her husband, Ashley Semmens, was a Clearance Diver, also serving in the navy for 18 years. Ash had multiple deployments, including to Afghanistan. He was a Clearance Diver, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert and was in Kabul during the evacuation as the Taliban retook the country in 2021. He medically discharged in 2022 as a Chief Petty Officer. Bec and Ash spoke jointly with Alex Lloyd at the Gaythorne RSL in Brisbane.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

• #17 Dave Stafford Finney

• #25 Paul de Gelder

• #64 Jodi Farmer

#75 Aaron Davis

Alex Lloyd interviews Australian Army veteran Aaron Davis.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. The Season 3 finale is a veteran’s story of trauma, growth and resilience, from battlefields overseas to how life in uniform is intertwined with life back home. Aaron Davis was an infantryman in 6RAR. He was deployed to Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Between his times overseas, he was juggling his ever-growing family and his increasing difficulty to ‘switch off’ and transition from cams to civvies. This is his story, as told to Alex Lloyd.

Aaron returned to the podcast in the episode released for Remembrance Day 2019, Panel - Modern Veterans.

#52 Emma Grigson

Sharon Mascall-Dare interviews Afghanistan veteran Emma Grigson.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Emma Grigson deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Army as a Medical Officer, and then continued to serve as an Intelligence Officer. Emma shared with Sharon Mascall-Dare her story of personal courage in overcoming adversity.

To mark the approach of Anzac Day, this podcast finishes with something different - a song. The song "War" by John Lynam was inspired when John met then 23-year-old Afghanistan veteran Beau Rutledge. John is putting together a special project and hopes any Afghanistan veteran with images or video they're willing to share will contact him at John Lynam Music on Facebook.

#37 Scott Calvert

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Today's conversation is with Scott Calvert, an Australian Army veteran who deployed twice to Afghanistan. Scott spoke to Sharon Mascall-Dare about the artillery corps, his Middle East deployments, action in Afghanistan, and the cost the life in uniform can have on the life back home.