By Paul Dobbyn
“DON’T put any of that God stuff in” was the response Deacon Gary Stone got from several publishers receiving his proposal to write a book about his 45 years of service with the Australian Army.
“Various publishers said there were plenty of stories to tell without that,” Deacon Stone told the audience at the recent launch of his book Duntroon to Dili.
But the absence of faith from his life narrative was never going to be an option for the Australian Army lieutenant colonel turned military chaplain.
“This book follows my journey from being a soldier of Australia to becoming a soldier for Christ,” Deacon Stone said shortly before Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge launched his book at The Gap’s St Peter Chanel Hall on the night of September 26.
From Deacon Stone’s struggles with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder through to a life-threatening battle with peritonitis following an operation for prostate cancer in 2012, the faith dimension was described as triumphantly present in the book.
His wife Lynne, sons Major Michael Stone and Captain Paul Stone and daughters Christy Weldon and Catherine Stone were also present.
Deacon Peter Devenish-Meares set the event’s tone, introducing Duntroon to Dili as the story of “a young military officer who listened to word of God”.
“Death, despair and the desert do not have the last word … but compassion and service do always,” he said. Deacon Stone said Duntroon to Dili was written primarily “to give witness to the possibilities that anyone can have in contributing to making our world a better place”.
He said the book had “four strands” the first of which “celebrated the good work that those people in the Federal Police and the Defence Force have done in our region and in lots of other parts of the world”.
“In the last 15 years we’ve had at least 60,000 people go through East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Other strands comprised the work done within The Gap parish to raise funds to support the people of East Timor and “the multiple and complex health issues that veterans, some only in their early twenties, face”.
“Finally I wanted to share how my life has been guided and supported by being involved in the mission of God,” he said.
Archbishop Coleridge described Deacon Stone as “a man who’s looked death in the face and against all odds found life”.
He said the book had “poignancy and uncanny relevance” given Australia was once again entering war in the Middle East.
“There’s a lot of suffering here and a lot of pain, but it becomes bearable in the telling of the tale,” he said.
“But more than bearable … there’s something in the book of the genuine light of what I would call Easter.
“This is a very hopeful book for all its story of setbacks and sorrow and pain and perplexity.”
Deacon Stone said he was hopeful people would want to give Duntroon to Dili to veterans suffering PTSD to understand how they could receive healing.
“Or even families to help them understand the suffering of their loved ones,” he said.
Duntroon to Dili is available from www.echobooks.com.au or by emailing Deacon Stone at gary@garystone.com.au.
