Taking Chance
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- February
- 23
I’ve been away on furlough, which was a good thing when I was in the Army but is a cost-saving measure in these troubled times.
On Saturday night HBO premiered its latest movie effort – “Taking Chance,’’ a docudrama based on the personal journal of Marine Corps Lt. Col. Michael Strobl’s experience escorting the body of Marine PFC Chance Phelps, who was killed in Iraq in 2004.
I’ve never seen a movie quite like this – it’s not really a war movie and doesn’t make any political statements about Iraq. Mainly, it documents the dignified manner in which our fallen are treated, and the reactions of people Strobl meets on the journey to Phelps’ home.
If you saw it, I’d like to hear your reaction. If not, you should check it out if you get the chance. You might want to keep a box of tissues handy.
In the meantime, click here to see a trailer for the film.
This entry was posted
on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 3:41 pm by Rich Liebson. 
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I first read Lt. Col. Strobl’s story 4 years ago, when my former X0 e-mailed it to me, as it was spreading through the internet. It was one of the most powerfully moving things I had ever read. When I learned last month that it was going to be an HBO movie, I renewed my HBO subscripton. It was well worth it. The restrained, understated performnces by the actors, particuarly Kevin Bacon, were pitch-perfect, and the movie was faithful to the story. While it was heart breaking, it reaffirmed my pride in being a Marine, but it made me prouder to be an American,and to reaffirm my belef that for all the shouting that we do at each other, most people “Get it” My dad told me about how affected he was when, just a few years after his WWII service, he saw the coffins of Korean War Service members in Grand Central Station waiting to be sent home. I wish he could have seen this with us.