Letters Old and New Illuminate Faith in War's Trenches

by Holly Lebowitz Rossi, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 2/14/2007

In 1989, when he was 20 years old, Andrew Carroll's family home in Washington D.C. burned down. Though no one was hurt, Carroll was deeply affected by one particular tragedy the fire wrought: it destroyed generations' worth of family letters.

Carroll, a writer who still lives in D.C., became fascinated with the idea of letters and the powerful histories they tell. Though he had no personal or family connection to the military, he focused his interest on war letters, collecting material from veterans both recent and historical. The latest result of this project—which expanded considerably in scope after it was touted in a 1998 "Dear Abby" column—is Carroll's new book, Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War (Doubleday, Mar.).

Carroll had previously published War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (Scribner, 2001), but this latest volume focuses more on the spiritual insights—and struggles—that servicemen and women have recorded in letters (and now e-mails) dating from the American Revolution to the current War on Terror.

Members of the armed forces, said Carroll, are "in many ways the greatest unrecognized theologians in the country. Being in a war zone shaves away everything that's frivolous and superficial, and that engenders these very philosophical and profound letters and e-mails."

For Carroll, collecting the letters brought up more than simple feelings of admiration for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. The letters inspired nothing less than a spiritual awakening for him, re-connecting him with a God in whom he had lost faith in the vulnerable time after his house fire.

"In a world that seems like it's being torn apart at the seams, there are so many examples of heroism and beauty," he said. "That's what brought me back to God."

Carroll hopes his work can awaken more Americans to the needs of today's service members, as well as the heroics of the military past. He is donating a portion of his royalties to military support groups, and he plans a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq to give away copies of the book to troops and military chaplains in the field. "I think we need to do more as a country to support our troops in any way we can," he told RBL.

Grace Under Fire is a co-publishing venture between Doubleday and WaterBrook Press, Random House's evangelical Christian publishing unit, with Doubleday handling general trade distribution and WaterBrook getting the book into the CBA market. The WaterBrook edition is slightly different, including Bible verses at the beginning of the book.

"The Doubleday format will reach certain areas where we don't normally reach, and we can reach the Christian market as well," said Joel Kneedler, publicity manager for the Colorado Springs, Co.-based WaterBrook. WaterBrook will advertise the book in Christian publications and is planning a church outreach initiative that will help churches connect with their local military communities.