The heroism of combat chaplains is the focus of a new documentary that spotlights men and women who step into combat unarmed, driven by a "higher calling" to serve, says the film's director.
Fighting Spirit (PG-13), in theaters on Veterans Day, follows the journey of combat chaplains from the past and present, including one -- Army combat chaplain Emil Kapaun -- who died in a prison during the Korean War and whose remains were identified in 2021 and laid to rest in Kansas.
Actor Chris Pratt is an executive producer.
Director Chris Hull told Crosswalk Headlines he knew little about combat chaplains when he began the project but became captivated by their selflessness and courage.
"The more I learned, the more I was just intrigued by the whole thing," Hull told Crosswalk Headlines. "And I really would scratch my head and say, 'Who are these people that go to battle wearing a uniform but not carrying a weapon?' Why would you do that? Obviously, it's not a job that people do for the paycheck. It's kind of a bigger calling."
More than 400 U.S. military chaplains have given their lives for this unique calling, including Kapaun, a Catholic chaplain whose story made national headlines when his remains were identified. Until 2021, his remains were marked as "unidentified" and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
His remains were interred in Wichita, Kan., on Sept. 29, 2021. He is a candidate for sainthood within the Catholic Church.
"He died in a prisoner of war camp 70 years ago in Korea. The captors actually gave him the opportunity to leave, but he decided to stay," Hull said. "I mean, talk about a higher calling. And he stayed there with the soldiers, knowing that it was going to mean his certain death, and he did die."
Fighting Spirit includes footage of the funeral.
"People had come from far and wide to not just celebrate a single chaplain with Father Kapaun but to celebrate all combat chaplains," Hull said.
Hull and his team partnered with the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps for the film.
Chaplaincy, the film says, is the "awfulness of war colliding with the incredible power of love."
"When you go out to war, you come from a particular faith as a chaplain, but when bullets are whizzing by your head, and you're dealing with real life-and-death questions with soldiers, you're talking to soldiers of all faiths and no faith," Hull said, "and you're having to really figure out how to put your faith into practice in a way that is accessible to everybody. One of the best gifts that a chaplain can give, as we say in the film, is just being present."
Photo Credit: ©Falling Forward Films
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.