FIGHTING SPIRIT (2024): A COMBAT CHAPLAIN’S JOURNEY

Here is the decision. This is a compelling, well-made documentary about people most of us never think about — the U.S. Army Chaplains who have walked into battle beside soldiers since George Washington, armed only with their faith. It honors real bravery and real sacrifice, and it does so with heart.

Two things to weigh. First, the film includes chaplains who teach Buddhism, Islam and other false religions, and it presents their comfort as the same hope offered by those who carry a Bible. Second, there's war violence throughout — some blood, gunfire, explosions, and frank talk of death and suicide — though nothing gruesome.

So: if you're an adult or an older child who can watch honest war footage and think clearly about the film's ecumenical framing, this is a moving hour and a bit well spent. For younger children, use caution. It's worth the trip.

Justin Roberts, a chaplain who served with the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan, carries the weight of what he saw there. His story opens a wider journey — through the long history of Army Chaplains who served under George Washington, in the Civil War, the World Wars, Vietnam, and Iraq.

At the center is Chaplain Emil Kapaun, who died as a prisoner of war in North Korea, and whose body was identified and brought home after 70 years. As Justin learns the stories of those who came before him, something begins to heal.

Three stars, and here's what they mean. This is a powerful, well-made film that knows exactly whose story it's telling and why it matters. It's at its best when it leans on the real material — the archival footage from Justin Roberts' deployment, the photos and videos of chaplains past. Those moments are poignant and land.

The weakness is the reenactments. Some are aided by outdated, odd visual effects that distract from the very stories they're meant to serve. It's a shame, because the true footage proves how little dramatization the material needed. Even so, the courage of men like Jeff Struecker — whose service is featured in BLACK HAWK DOWN, and who returned into the fight again and again to save whom he could — carries the film past its rougher patches.

This documentary breathes a strong moral and biblical spirit alongside a deeply patriotic one. It celebrates exactly what Scripture celebrates in these men: moral fortitude, perseverance, faithful service, and a willingness to lay down one's life for others. The chaplains go into battle carrying not weapons but faith, and the film honors that as heroism. Jeff Struecker names the heart of it when he says his perspective shifted to "stop preparing soldiers to meet the enemy and start preparing them for eternity."

There is one place discerning viewers should weigh carefully. The film includes chaplains who teach Buddhism, Islam and other faiths, and it presents their comfort as offering soldiers the same hope as those who carry a Bible. It cannot. What the film reads as a beautiful unity across religious lines, Scripture reads more soberly: real hope has a name. That said, the film's portrait of men from different backgrounds serving side by side under fire is genuinely moving, and worth admiring for what it is.

Underneath the whole story runs one longing — that a chaplain's greatest work is preparing men not merely to survive a battle but to be ready for eternity. That is exactly where the gospel points: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

This is a moving, well-made tribute to some of war's most overlooked heroes — men who carried faith into fire so others might be saved. It asks you to weigh some war violence and a generous but mistaken view of where hope is found. For older children and adults ready to do that thinking, it's worth the trip.