Benedict Cumberbatch reads 19-year-old Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher's letter
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- Опубликовано: 29 дек 2021
- On 2nd June 2009, whilst on patrol in Helmand Province, 19-year-old Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher became one of the youngest soldiers to die in the Afghanistan war when killed by an explosion. He had left the following letter at his home in Reading, to be read in the event of his death.
Benedict Cumberbatch read Cyrus' moving letter at Letters Live at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2021. 
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Anyone notice that Benedict is wearing a Rifles Green tie? A very nice little bit of respect he's showing there....
Even for an Aussie, that was noticeable. The man sets a standard a lot of other "celebrities" would do well to emulate.
Thank You👍
I’m a father of three sons. If one of of them ever said to me what this son said to his father I could die that day doing nothing more in my life and know I did my job.
I was sitting in Iraq when Cyrus wrote this, having left Afghan some months before. It hits home and it is a far better letter than any of those 'mors littera' I ever wrote.
Lest. We. Forget.
Well read by Benedict Cumberbatch. Letter writer, Cyrus Thatcher's parents must have been quite special to have raised such a thoughtful and loving young man. This is what war takes from us.
The most profound farewell letter ever read out loud.
I was struggling to fit into a single comment everything I feel after watching this video, from the contents of the letter, to the reading of it, when I realized one word will suffice: Respect.
That is the best, and most appropriate, word.
Oh Cyrus. What a precious gift you gave your family.
Letters can present words like we can never say while spoken and the way he reads is so beautiful
He's not a victim...he soldiered through. It's a difference of attitude that defines one. Well done lad...well done.
I hope this letter gets read in schools.
This letter really affected me. That's probably because it was my son's 19th birthday on the day that Rifleman Thatcher died, aged 19. I am fortunate to be able to say my son has since gone on to get married and raise his own sons. I cannot imagine the void the loss of a child leaves but I hope Cyrus' letter helped his family cope with their grief. He seemed like a very fine young man.
As the father of 3 boys I could hear Ben choking a little as read it too.
I am crying my eyes out. This letter is a beautiful gift to the family, and they will need it to survive his loss. If young men have this kind of beauty hidden inside them, maybe there is hope for us yet.
Me too. And I’m just about to go to work
But then they send them off to die.
@@digitalimager4946wow! Talk about missing the point. Whole letter went straight over your head.
@@criticalcommenter And flew under your radar.
Truly incredible. Both letter and delivery.
Wow, what a find this channel is. I am 60 year old healthy, strapping bloke; this reading made me cry.
I lost my son a year ago,he was 36 and it broke my heart.There were no goodbye words...i would like to think these are some of the words he would've said to me....my darling son,that i be his reason.....my tears roll..
I'm very sorry for your loss, Lynda 🙏🏼
@@MiaDjojowasitoMalik thank you honey...i saw this today and my son as always,fleeting through my thoughts...💔
I am so sorry. I cannot comprehend what you must be going through. R x
@@ruthherring5684 thank you honey💟so kind of you
I am so sorry for your loss, and that your son didn't have a chance to say goodbye, but I imagine he whispers his love and gratitude in your ear as you sleep
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest. We. Forget.
What a brave, brave, very brave young man. Respect to Cyrus and his family who obviously raised a great young man.
Wow, what a letter. I guess I'm not entirely surprised that Benedict managed to hold it together. He's an actor, after all.
Letter’s Live is such a gift. What a letter to leave your family, he really was/is loved.I’m glad he had all of that love and he could appreciate it so much and express it so well at only 19 years.
Benedict Cumberbatch, you go with your bad self! 😎
His kids must be so lucky, having him read a bed-time story in the night.
Thanks Benedict and Letters Live for this emotional moment. It was perfect
That must have been so hard to read without choking up
I like to think that when we go the only thing that Really matters is the love we take with us but above all the love we leave behind, and this young man's letter is so full of love!!!
Beautifully written. Beautifully read. I hate war and yet this heartbreaking state reveals the heroes of our lifetime. We must honor their passing and cherish their stories while we support respectfully those left behind. My deepest sympathy to those mourning today. May you be comforted by bright and beautiful memories of your loved ones. Respectfully always. 🙏💔
War takes and destroys many of the best of us. When you say, “I support the troops,” that should mean that you strive for a world where we don’t have to send the national treasure that is our youth, into harms way. Troops DO NOT need another war! They need - and deserve - peace.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if, all around the world, in every nation, the billions we spend on training our troops, was all wasted money because there was no conflict - anywhere!
Cyrus captured brilliantly the thoughts of those words that were never said, and feelings never shared by our departed loved ones. Emotional but healing.
Such loving words for a family suffering at the loss I cannot even begin to imagine.
This absolutely broke my heart. Such a brave young man.His comments to his mum were so beautiful. I wish I'd told my mum the same.
Damn you! The first few of these letters made me laugh out loud, and now I'm in tears! NOT the way I'd planned to start my day but what wonderful things are letters!
Tears for the first time in years. Letters from war and the brothers who served will always be my weakness or strength. The men you get the privilege to know will stay with you for life. 6535 never forgotten.
What courage! Thanks for sharing this message of love in the face of grief.
So soothing and heartbreaking at the same time.
Lest we forget. A truly humbling experience listening to that letter.
Wow this was a powerful listen tears coming out of my eyes, stand easy rifleman, forever be in peace, once a rifleman always a rifle man.... Swift and Bold brother. You will always be a chosen man
I kind of lost it when he read the part where Cyrus thanked his family, especially his mum.
Kid knew the value of his family.
He chooses right letters , and reads them in a charming way👌🏼😌
As a mother and human being this would break the strongest 😥
I'm almost 67 and while I came from a family like Cyrus grew up in, I wouldn't mind if I had grown up in his family with him as a big brother.
As a Dad that lost his eldest son senselessly, I feel EVERY syllable of this young man's letter. Needless to say, I am in floods of tears listening to Benedict's reading
To be able to express himself like that on paper at the age of nineteen speaks wonders of the future he gave up to serve his fellow man.
His family and all the United Kingdom lost so much that day
Damn. I wrote two of these in my time (it should have been five but I was selfishly optimistic when I was young) and I thought mine were good but, if I'm honest, they don't compare to the eloquence of this young man. I was in my thirties before I had the balls or the foresight to write such a letter. Respect, brother - I'm sorry you're gone.
Never fear, we all were selfishly optimistic feeling ten feet tall and bulletproof. The rest echoes my own mind too... Well said!
This letter from a complete stranger has me in tears. So sad for the loss, but so beautifully full of love and thanks and strength and hope. How can anyone listening not imagine themselves as the recipient of such a letter? All wars are such a waste of young lives.
I'd be a blubbering mess if i tried to read this out to an audience...
one hell of a letter
My favorite letter so far. Unlike most of the other ones, this one lacks flowery metaphors and contains profanity. However, you can feel the honesty.
These are the true thoughts of a regular guy. Probably doesn't have a PhD or a long career in the arts, or anything like that, but you know that these words really reflect how he feels.
Listening to this sad letter read by Benedict Cumberbatch and don't get sad...? Impossible..
Well..I'm crying .
he just makes my week everytime i hear him
Very humble and beautiful
What a lovely Son & soldier. Cheer's Cyrus!
Profoundly moving
It's sad that he didn't live long enough to see through the ra-ra gung-ho and understand the futility and tragedy of war and killing. The grief for dead soldiers is icing. The cake is the grief for a humanity that continually creates the need for people to become soldiers in the first place. No should ever have to find the courage to die bravely in a war, it's only due to the failure of others to find the courage to live together in peace that it ever happens.
I served in the RAF during the Cold War, much to the distress of my parents but I knew the risk and hoped for peace - now in my 70s, I still hope for peace - but I do nit think politicians are capable of it!
No words, just tears
There's so much about this letter that is heartbreaking. Look at the state of Afghanistan now. He died for someone's cause that a few years later would be politically forgotten and handed back a few years later to religious fascists. The army is designed to give young men companionship and meaning, and spill their own blood for somebody else's cause. I wonder how many Russian soldiers are currently dying proud of their war crimes. I'm not sure how to process this young man's sacrifice.
@Sam Harrison (now Apr 2023). Your words here are very open, recognising perhaps that you exceeded Cyrus's age in safety. /I wanted to write that - I believe, for some people - living close to the possibility of death - means feeling aliveness in a sharp, crystalline focus. Such that another person, who lives without personal danger for say ninety years, may never feel.
@@comealongcomealong4480 Your right, I'm sure, about feeling alive. But there must be better ways to feel alive than at the expense of others deaths, and eventually your own. Perhaps evolution needs to move past this kind of conflict. I hope it can!
Wow. Love this channel.
Gut wrenching and inspiring…
They shall never grow old…
How heartbreaking.
❤❤❤❤ HERO 🙌🏾 standing ovation only 😢 Cyrus i needed this TODAY. You Sir, continue to INSPIRE.
Sad but amazing
Crying. So sad and lovely❤
While listening to this I can only think about my dad who passed away an year ago...who is the reason for what I am today but couldn't say good bye during his last moments. Something which I am going to regret till my last breath.
Beautiful!
Wow!
Oh Benedict amazing 😍😍
Oh this hit hard.
Only the dead have seen the end of war
True Dat !
Holy shit this hits the feels
Somehow reminds me of Ben‘s film The Third Star. It’s just so heartbreaking to watch and listen to him reading this.
A remarkable testament.
That was heartbreaking.
"I can't be held responsilbe for creating the conditions in where you all ate each other"
"All I did was create those conditions"
"You're the ones who ate each other"
How did Benedict come to be reading this?
Til Valhalla brother. SWIFT & BOLD
Heartrendingly brillant
Heartbreaking but beautiful letter. I wrote 5 separate letters, wife, kids, mum and dad, brother, sister.
Took me around 12 hours, singularly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. ❤
Peace.
Wow.
That was a moving letter. But if you think about what the great thing is he thought he'd accomplished it gets even more sad
All wars are a waste in some sense. No wars are a waste in some sense. We are on our side, God, king, and country.
nothing but tears-- it is a crying damn shame the men we lost in Afghanistan and for what???
Wonderful.
BRAVO....!!!!!!!
So beautiful.
Wow
here's to letters that didn't have to be opened.
What a mature young man
I‘ve been to war, jumped out of planes, did alot SOF stuff, thought i was a tough guy: cryed like a bit**
Wow! Utmost respect from a Yank that listens to this on our Independence Day.
The audience all in masks at 0:37 dates this beautiful work of art so precisely. If only people in 2022 still cared that much about each other.
I'm not sure how he read that with dry eyes, I certainly didn't listen to it that way.
Damn
😥😥😥😥
Sorry Cyrus, I'm balling and I don't know you. Profoundly moving and the beyond your years.
The dust is getting thick in here.
🥺
❤
I thought this was going to be the Todd Rundgren song.
My tears make it hard for me to make this comment.
Carpe momentum temporis!
Love his eggs!