Taking Chance (2009)

March 16, 2009 by Optimistic

I recently was told about a HBO movie titled Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon. I saw the making of Taking Chance and was intrigued about the story line. Unbeknowedst to me, every soldier that is killed on foreign land is brought back to the United States by an "escort". The escort ensures that the soldier's remains are respectfully brought back safely to the states for a proper burial by the family.

In the movie based on a true story, Kevin Bacon plays Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer, accompanying the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming. The movie opens up a window into military practice and the care that is given to our fallen heroes abroad.

I found myself crying throughout the movie, and actually being grateful to those volunteer escorts that take on the job of returning our fallen countrymen back to their families. It makes you appreciate every single person involved in the transport of our military from the battlefield to their loved ones.

Before this movie I believed that the bodies of our men and women were brought back in "bulk" and transported to their families as quickly as possible, but this movie showed the care and concern that is given to every single fallen soldier. The procedure of saluting the coffin every time it is moved from one mode of transportation brought goosebumps to my arms and tears to my eyes.

Our men and women deserve the honor that this movie shows they receive in death. I just wish that those veterans that make it back physically, pyschologically, and mentally disabled receive the same treatment.

There is one part that I want to note. Kevin Bacon's character is sitting on the plane while escorting the body of Chance Phelps and the man sitting beside him is reading a paper with the headline about Bush's declaration on the importance of the war. It showed how those same headlines may mean nothing to some, but it meant the world to the escort and Chance Phelp's family.

The movie is a must see.