Redeeming Warriors: Veteran Suicide, Grieving, and the Fight for Faith by Joshua D. Holler

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MWSA Review

Redeeming Warriors seeks to offer hope to struggling veterans at risk for suicide and grappling with all of the accompanying complications—such as broken marriages and various addictions—through vertical and horizontal reconciliation, in a Christian context. If you are seeking information of this type but are not currently a person of Christian faith or seeking to explore the Christian faith, it may not be easy to separate the relevant secular information from the faith-based messages.

Having said that, the author writes from a tremendous position of credibility from his “real world” experiences as a young enlisted combat Marine twice deployed to Iraq between 2007 and 2009 and as a witness to the plight of many of his fellow Marines confronting the onslaught of challenges that can lead to isolation, addictions, and suicide. His subsequent journey through academia and theological scholarship to become a pastor, and his “holistic” approach to veteran healing and emphasis on community to fight isolation, are highly appealing.

An extensive glossary of military terms is provided, as well as a listing of support organizations and resources. Trained counselors of Christian faith and clergy should find this a very useful guide to helping distraught veterans, and others similarly afflicted, they encounter professionally, however, veterans and their families may not find this book easy to follow without assistance.

Review by Terry Lloyd (March 2025)

 

Author's Synopsis

Twenty–two veterans take their own lives every day. The word ‘tragic’ only begins to describe the brokenness of this painful reality. Josh Holler, Marine Corps veteran and pastor, argues that veteran suicide is not primarily a problem born out of exposure to combat and PTSD, but out of a broken relationship between people and God. He tells some of the stories of men he has known and addresses the reality of the reason veteran suicide is such a problem.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Other—Religious/Spiritual

Number of Pages: 304

Word Count: 94,392