#102 Heston Russell
Alex Lloyd interviews 2nd Commando Regiment veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, Heston Russell.
Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. This is the first episode of Season 5. Since 2017, Life on the Line has brought you the stories of Australian military veterans. This is our 207th podcast, and our 102nd veteran conversation on our particular episode numbering system. In all that time we’ve brought you stories from World War II to the modern era. Today’s chat is with a Special Forces veteran of the 21st century conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Heston Russell.
We recorded this episode on the outdoor balcony of Heston’s Sydney apartment, so if you hear any background noise or ambience, that’s why. We recorded outdoors because we also videoed this interview, which is a first for us. If you’re listening, you can jump onto our YouTube channel (just search for “Life on the Line podcast”) and watch this chat with Heston. If you are watching this on YouTube, you can listen to this and all our other episodes on your favourite podcast app, Spotify and our website. We will be doing a select number of video podcasts like this as the year goes on.
Heston Russell was an officer in the 2nd Commando Regiment. He already had a profile in the Australian community through his post-military career in the fitness world. He rose to further national prominence in 2020, when an unnamed US soldier accused Heston’s platoon of unlawfully killing a prisoner in Afghanistan. Heston counterattacked, speaking out on national media to strongly refute the claims. Since then, he’s remained in the public spotlight, becoming a spokesman for the veteran community in the lead-up to and wake of the Brereton report into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Alex Lloyd spoke to Heston in February 2021 to learn more about the man behind the headlines.
Follow Heston @hestonrussell on Instagram and Facebook. You can also find "Voice of a Veteran" on social media, YouTube, your favourite podcast app and www.voiceofaveteran.org.