New Doc 'Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey' Explores Sacrificial Love in God's Service
When one considers the role that combat chaplains serve in our nation’s military, most will quickly conjure up a romanticized vision of cinematic men and women of God performing communion with the wounded.
The fact of the matter is the life and service of a combat military chaplain is much more than this sacred ritual as bombs, bullets, and blood fly overhead. It is actually a calling from God, one of sacrificial love for our fellow man, to provide comfort to a soldier in their most harrowing moments. In essence, combat chaplains consistently sift through the fog of war to bring light to those struggling to survive.
Directed by Richard Hull and executive produced by Chris Pratt, Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey, is available in theaters nationwide this weekend. It is a tribute to those who serve without weapons and have an unquenchable desire to help their fellow man. Along the way, they demonstrate how the immense power of love can converge to produce life-changing moments of healing and hope.
I recently sat down with Hull and retired military combat chaplain Jeff Struecker to discuss the sacrificial calling of combat chaplains, the common threads and similarities that can be found in each chaplain, and what fuels their visceral need to serve in this capacity.
If you were trying to convince a friend to get out to the theater to see Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey what would you say to encourage them? What would your sales pitch be?
Jeff Struecker: I would say everyone needs to be aware of what warriors do on the battlefield. That's something that every citizen in a free country needs to know about. But what those unarmed guys and gals who go onto a battlefield to minister to warriors, few people on the planet recognize this. And that's why there needs to be a film like this. That's why people need to go to the theater and check it out.
Richard Hull: We give people that may not have necessarily had a direct connection to the military or even a direct connection to any faith. We give them a peek into this world that they didn't know anything about. That was the journey for me. There's a lot of journeys taking place here, but I had my own. And my own was like I never knew this even existed as a profession.
And that journey of learning about it was really gratifying for me. I think that's one of the things that audiences see as well. Of course I'm biased when I say this, but I also think that they like the storytelling as well. It is both a peek into this world that they didn't know exists. That's fascinating. And also, it’s just good storytelling that I think everybody responds to. It's natural that they don't know that it exists as a profession because in my experience, chaplains hate being part of the story. They don't like to be seen as taking credit for anything heroic. They're there to serve the soldiers who are serving us as Americans, and that's how they want it. So, in some respect, I had to drag these stories out of people very reluctantly because they didn't necessarily want to be in the spotlight. And so I think we've never seen that before cinematically. I think that's really fun, fresh, and interesting for audiences.
Richard, for any director, there always seems to be a moment where you say to yourself, “I have to make this film!!” For Fighting Spirit, what was that moment for you?
Richard Hull: There was a moment when we were in the edit room and we'd shot interviews with former chaplains who appeared in the film, but I felt the movie was still trying to find its voice. And then we heard about the identification of Father Emil Kapaun’s remains. And if you recall, he died in a POW camp 70 years earlier in Korea. And so they said, ‘We're going to bring the remains of Father Kapaun back to the United States, repatriate him, go to Wichita, Kansas, where he is from, and have a funeral and burial. And we thought, I wonder if anybody will show up to that? That seems like someplace we should be. I don't quite know how it's going to fit into our work but let's send executive producer Justin Roberts and a camera crew to shoot it and we'll just see what happens.
If you saw the film, you kind of know what happens. I think it sent Justin on a journey that, for him, was kind of pivotal in his life. He had just come back from the military. He was trying to make sense of what his next chapter post-military was going to be. He was kind of struggling with that. I think when he got there, he was blown away by the fact that basically the whole town of Wichita was closed down. People came from far and wide to celebrate not just Emil Kapaun, but also all chaplains in general. That was very powerful for him. And if you know anything about the Catholic church and the military, they know how to put on a show. So it was a big deal.
Justin became our tour guide through these different stories of chaplains in the past that had inspired him as he was on his own journey. That to me is “that moment” when I felt like we were supposed to tell this story. This is the moment that kind of gave it the heartbeat.
Jeff Struecker: I was honored to just be asked to show up and to support it in a small way. I'm convinced the guys and gals that serve and minister to the military, they really deserve a voice. But as you just heard from Rich, they're not going to stand up and shout about their accomplishments or what they did on the battlefield. The viewing audience needs to know, but it takes a skilled storyteller to get this out of them. And so I'm glad that it turned out the way that it did.
Jeff, what is it that drove you to become a combat chaplain in the first place?
Jeff Struecker: Anyone who does this for any other reason than an absolute rock solid sense of God's call to this line of work is doing it for the wrong reason. And at some point, the challenges and demands of ministry in the military will become so overwhelming that if you don't have this rock solid sense of call, whatever your faith is, that the demands will become too much and it will just chew you up and spit you out. So, for me, there was a very specific moment immediately after the biggest firefight of my life where I had this unquestionable sense from God that He wanted me to make a huge transition and to start to pursue ministry. I had never considered it in a million years until this moment. And it was unavoidable. That moment happened 30 years ago, and there's never been a day that I have doubted exactly what I'm supposed to do next. And that’s not just me, but a lot of guys and gals who minister to the military, they feel the same way.
What's the most rewarding thing you have experienced as a military chaplain?
Jeff Struecker: Without a doubt it's seeing somebody, seeing the light come. It’s somebody who's been trying to figure out faith or they've been kind of on the fringes of faith for a little bit, and they finally got real enough or find the right words to ask the question. And then, when they ask the question and start doing some math, they put two and two together. And that's when I'm convinced God showed up and answered some questions that they had. Watching that happen, just being a spectator for something like that, man, it is so satisfying.
Richard Hull: It's hard for me to follow someone as eloquent as Jeff, but in a way that was part of the inspiration for the movie. My partner in this movie is Chris Pratt. And I think the same thing that inspired me is also very similar to what inspired Chris. I mean, this checks a lot of boxes for Chris. He's very much a military supporter. He's very faith-forward. There's a lot of reasons that he wanted to be part of telling these stories. But when you have someone who chooses to go to battle in a uniform but carries no weapon, that's nuts. So, it's obviously motivated by far more than a paycheck. It's motivated by something that is hard to put into words. It's larger than just a profession. Jeff used the word “calling”. I think that's an excellent word for it because it is far larger. And yet that very loving, very faith-based calling is set against the chaos of war. I'm not sure that we've ever explored cinematically the collision of those two worlds. I thought that would be super interesting.
This begs the question, does it take a special person to be a combat military chaplain, or is it simply a willingness to sacrifice yourself in a sense for God's service?
Jeff Struecker: The answer to both of those questions is yes. I think it takes a special person to serve in the military. It takes a special person to go into combat in the first place. And then to go into combat with your focus on the soldier, sailors, airmen, and marines that you're with instead of the enemy, that is an incredibly unique person. And thank God for the thousands of military chaplains that are serving now or have served in the past.
In the film, we learn that 419 military chaplains have given their lives for this unique calling. Are there any common threads or similarities that you can identify as common traits of each chaplain?
Richard Hull: We could spend two hours talking about that question, right? But if you were to really think about it as one phrase, I think it's servitude. I've never met a group of people that are so willing to sacrifice, to go out and serve others, and to put their life on the line. And as you point out, 419 of those have wound up on the wrong end of that. That's a lot of people over a lot of time. Don't forget, George Washington created chaplains in the military. So, that is inclusive of every U.S. battle we've ever had. So that spirit of serving people is incredibly unique. And we throw that word around a lot, but to me, it's all about serving others.
Jeff Struecker: I would agree with what Rich said. The phrase servant leadership gets tossed around, in my opinion, way too flippantly when it comes to military chaplains. You don't just have servants that are leaders in the military. You have sacrificial leaders, the guys and gals that are willing to make any and every sacrifice that it takes for their loved ones. They're really living out Jesus's words in John 15.
After audiences have had a chance to see Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey, what would you like to see people take away from the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?
Jeff Struecker: I personally hope that some people will consider military chaplaincy who are feeling some sense of call into ministry. But I also hope that people will start to be aware that there's more on the battlefield than just bombs, bullets, and blood. There are these powerful forces for good and for God on the battlefield too.
Richard Hull: For me, there is a call to action in the film. And that call to action is to check on your veteran friends. A lot of the work that the chaplains do is not just in battle, but it's also when soldiers come home and help their families at home. It is a lifelong calling. It's not just a moment on the battlefield that you just happen to render some good and then wash your hands of it and walk away. I think when people come home, they're still trying to make sense of it. And the chaplains are there for them and they're still very much a part of their life. But chaplains can't be everywhere. And so, the call to action is to pick up the phone, call your veteran friends, tell them what they mean to you, and make sure they're okay. I think we can all do that.
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