In his 28 years of military service, Joe Miller* spent a lot of time far from his family. The retired lieutenant colonel remembers combat tours and special assignments in volatile regions like Ethiopia, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

Despite the distance from home, Joe says comfort was within arm’s reach. “I had a Bible that I always carried in my cargo pocket…reminding me that all things on earth are temporary and to have an eternal perspective,” Joe says. “It gets lonely out there. Knowing that God is there comforts you.”

God’s Word not only offers comfort on the frontlines. It also gives healing to those who come home with physical and emotional scars. “God’s Word opens the door to healing,” Joe says.

One U.S. chaplain says, “Not a day goes by when a veteran does not ask for a Bible or Scripture to help with healing and coping spiritually.”

That’s why American Bible Society’s Armed Services Ministry provides Bibles and resources, like the God Understands series, to help veterans dealing with spiritual, physical, and emotional brokenness from active duty find comfort and healing through Scripture.

This year marks 200 years of American Bible Society providing free Scripture resources to U.S. military personnel. Today’s 1.4 million active duty service members and 21.8 million veterans and reservists continue to need God’s Word.

The generosity of American Bible Society partners has made it possible to place Bibles and healing Scriptures in the hands and hearts of millions of American heroes since 1817.

*Named changed to preserve privacy.