Former RAAF Base Richmond chaplain Troy White has lived several lives in public service. He has worked as a NSW police officer and prosecutor, served as a pastor, and supported Defence personnel and their families as an Air Force chaplain.
Now his experiences, including struggles he kept largely out of sight, are the subject of Sinner, Saint, Servant, a memoir written with Hawkesbury author and former journalist Clare Bruce.
The book has strong local ties. White was the Coordinating Chaplain at RAAF Base Richmond and spent time prosecuting cases at Windsor courthouse. Bruce, who lives in the Hawkesbury, says the pair worked on the memoir for four years.
According to a media release announcing the book, White writes about the pressures of frontline work, a deployment to Afghanistan, and his experiences with alcohol addiction and mental illness. His account also covers the strain of caring for others while facing difficulties in his own life.
Among the events described is White’s work supporting Defence personnel and families following the 2020 crash of a Coulson Aviation firefighting aircraft during the Black Summer bushfires. Three aircrew died in that disaster.
Bruce says the memoir does not leave readers with hardship alone. Humour runs through White’s account, alongside his reflections on faith, recovery and what it means to ask for help. The book’s title, she explains, refers to the tension between human failings and a life devoted to serving others; it is not intended as a label for mental illness or addiction.
White’s experiences were included in evidence submitted to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. His story adds a personal perspective to conversations about the toll that demanding service roles can take on the people who perform them.
For Bruce, Sinner, Saint, Servant is her first book as a ghostwriter. A former journalist who is now studying psychology, she worked with White as he rebuilt his life following significant personal challenges.
Sinner, Saint, Servant is available at The Book Attic in Richmond and through the book’s website.
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