New ALS Study Reveals Military Link as Rachel Kerr Schneider's Memoir The Widow Chose Red?

Now a Hot New Release on Amazon. Foreword by Patty Aubery, NY Times Bestselling Author of Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul.
Dallas, TX, USA - July 18, 2025 - In a powerful blend of personal testimony and timely science, Rachel Kerr Schneider's memoir, The Widow Chose Red? My Journey with Jesus, John, and ALS, continues to resonate with readers across the country. Now an Amazon Hot New Release in the Spiritual Biography category, the book arrives just as groundbreaking research deepens our understanding of ALS and its devastating impact on military families.

Image: https://www.globalnewslines.com/uploads/2025/07/c271defe8d4952c5cd14c094af24adf5.jpg

Rachel's husband, John, was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. In her memoir, Rachel recounts the emotional, spiritual, and practical challenges of caregiving, parenting, and grieving, all while clinging to her faith.

New Study Links ALS to Combat and Paratrooper Service

A recent study published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (May 2025) by Dr. Marc Gotkine of Hadassah Medical Center has revealed a striking correlation between military combat roles and ALS diagnoses. Among 191 Israeli Defense Forces veterans with ALS, 46% had served in combat roles, compared to just 22.7% of matched controls. The odds of developing ALS were 2.49 times higher for combat veterans, with paratroopers facing an even greater risk.

These findings echo U.S.-based studies, including a meta-analysis by Tai et al. (2017) and the National Longitudinal Mortality Study, which found elevated ALS risk among veterans of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

No stranger to military service, Rachel Schneider was born on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL. Rachel's father was a pilot and a member of the second graduating class from the Airforce Academy. "This new research validates what so many families have long suspected: that the cost of service can extend far beyond the battlefield," says Schneider.

A Memoir That Moves and Mobilizes

The Widow Chose Red? is more than a memoir, it's a call to awareness. With raw honesty and spiritual depth, Rachel invites readers into her journey of caregiving, grief, and grace. Her story is interwoven with journal entries, moments of humor, and reflections on faith that offer comfort and courage to others walking similar paths.

"Rachel doesn't shy away from the hard parts," writes Patty Aubery, NYT bestselling author of Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul. "She lets you into her moments of fear, sadness, and uncertainty-but what makes her story so powerful is how she responded."

(Watch the book trailer here: https://youtu.be/tZ1uWd-NJkU)

Rachel's searing personal memoir The Widow Chose Red? is full of life lessons, along with a compelling journey of her husband's battle with ALS and her life beyond it. It combines faith, hope, and humor to teach that there is a way to find light amid life's darkest tunnels.

John Kelly, Detroit Free Press

In simple terms, ALS (also called Lou Gehrig's Disease) causes the muscles to break down until they lose functionality, and ultimately, death. Rachel makes this journey while raising young children, running the home, planning for an uncertain financial future, managing medical treatments, welcoming hospice, and accepting the help of supportive friends and relatives. It is challenging to remain Christ-like while living in a cloud of chaos. There's never enough time to breathe, to sleep, to eat, to relax, to pray, or to take a bath. However, there's plenty of time to suffer. On a very personal level, Rachel shares how she accesses her reservoir of faith to cope with heartache, hopelessness, and hurt.

Rachel Kerr Schneider places before the public this sensitive, entertaining, compassionate, and yes, humorous memoir and spiritual guide, and in doing so, provides support for those encountering tragedy-words and thoughts to cope.

Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Hall of Fame Reviewer, 5-Stars

The Widow Chose Red? My Journey with Jesus, John, and ALS, ISBN (Paperback) 978-1-966561-10-1, ISBN (Hardcover) 978-1-966561-11-8, ISBN (eBook) 978-1-966561-12-5, and soon an audiobook, Rachel Kerr Schneider, 2025. On the last pages of the book, it features a QR code which directs readers to the author's website and video podcast with helpful information about ALS and resources. Available on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Widow-Chose-Red-Journey-Jesus/dp/1966561105/].

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About Rachel Kerr Schneider

Since her husband died in 2011, Rachel's faith continues to be challenged by widowhood, single parenting, a son with an addiction, relocation, relationships-a new husband, after ten years of long-distance dating, bonus mom to four girls who lost their mom to breast cancer, and becoming a Yaya, unexpectedly. Through it all, her reliance on and relationship with Jesus has given her the resilience that only the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit can provide. Her mission is to remind women that they do, in fact, possess a super-power of their own in the form of the Holy Spirit which lives and breathes in each one of us.

Rachel is a member of the National Association for Christian Women Entrepreneurs and BRI Talks. She enjoys travel, which is good, since her parents live in Melbourne, Australia. She is a graduate of Cottey College and holds a B.B.A. from Southern Methodist University. A southern gal at heart, she currently calls the Dallas area home.

On a professional level, Rachel created Spirited Prosperity to provide support, encouragement, and inspiration for women seeking to grow their faith, with a special emphasis on their relationship with the Holy Spirit. Her work has included personal training with Patty Aubery, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman's Soul , and Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Ignite with Lisa Nichols, John Tesh's All Access Coaching, and Platform with Michael Hyatt. As a Senior Regional Vice President for PartyLite, she was a contributing author to the bestseller Build It Big and has trained and spoken with hundreds of women. Visit Rachel's website at www.SpiritedProsperity.com [http://www.SpiritedProsperity.com/].

Media Contact: For a review copy of The Widow Chose Red? or to arrange an interview with Rachel Kerr Schneider, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Book Marketing [https://www.westwindbookmarketing.com/] at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com. Reach Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist [https://twitter.com/aBookPublicist].
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