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Deeply Touched.

exeter_cathedral_laura_450x338[1]At the end of last week a very kind person sent me an internet link along with a message which read “I don’t know if you’ve seen this but I thought you might be interested”. It then went on to say that the person who had sent the link was actually present at the event.

Intrigued I opened the link. The event in question was the Remembrance Day service on the 11th of November at Exeter Cathedral this year. What this kind person had sent me was a copy of the sermon that was given that day by the Canon, Revd, Carl Turner.

The greatest accolade for any writer or poet is to have their work read to an audience, not only for enjoyment but to have it used by the speaker to deliver what they consider to be a very important message. Not only did he begin the sermon by reading a passage from my book, “A Hell for Heroes” to the eight hundred strong congregation, but he finished it by reading them one of my poems, “I Just Wanna Talk”.

Needless to say, I feel extremely privileged to be included in such an event.

A copy of the Sermon can be read using the following link: Exeter Cathedral Sermon

This entry was posted on December 16, 2012 at 15:24 and is filed under Armed Forces Charities, poetry, poets, Post Truamatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, Theo's Posts, Vetrans with tags , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Deeply Touched.”

  1. Steve congdon Says:
    January 1, 2013 at 21:48

    Hi Theo (boss)

    I have just finished your fantastic book. I too served for over ten years in the Australian Defence force. Thankfully I was not exposed to the same horrors as you were, The feelings of loss and despair you felt after leaving the Army were almost the same as mine. I was not prepared for what it actually meant to “get out”.

    I was given a four hour session on how to transition, then nothing, the support and structure which I had for so many years was gone. I didn’t realise it at the time but 100% of my friends and support group were military.

    I have been out for 12 years now and still struggle with these feelings from time to time.

    While the Defence Force did allow me to gain education and a career after the military, nothing prepared me for leaving.

    There are only two groups of people I know of that use the term “get out or getting out” referring to leaving something, criminals in prison and servicemen.

    Thanks again for you book sometimes raw but that is what’s needed.

    Cheers

    Steve.

    Reply
    • Theodore Knell Says:
      January 2, 2013 at 17:11

      Hi Steve

      Thanks for buying my book, then taking the time to read and comment on it, it’s much appreciated. As I said in the book it was my wife’s idea, although the response I’ve had from others, especially the wives and families of ex and serving soldiers has been incredible, a lot of them feeling that the book answered so many questions they had about the changes they had seen in loved ones on their return from operations.

      I can’t believe the number of people in Australia and New Zealand that have bought the book and dropped me a line, which is great for me as I served alongside both countries SAS Regiments in the eighties.

      You take care Steve.

      Theo

      Reply
  2. Dan Martin Says:
    September 29, 2013 at 12:38

    I bought your book at A book shop in London Heathrow prior to returning to my home in the United States.I couldn’t put it down.Having two son- in-laws who served in the U.S. Marine Corp and saw action in Irag I feel that maybe I understand a little better the effects of PTSD.A great read! Best of luck to you in the future and look forward to your next book.

    Reply

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