The Human Cost

I served at USMC Marine Barracks Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif 1967,,some of my duties were to preform burial duties,,21 gun salute with our M1's or pall bearers for Marines kia'd in Vietnam..very tough duty,,in 1968 I was deployed to Vietnam, Marble Mt Mag-16 where at times I flew out in Hueys and had to extract Marines wounded or kia'd in the field...this was even tougher duty..the movie Taking Chance was very strong and brought back a lot of intense memories for me, but it has to be shown to our new generation of Americans of the extreme sacrifice others make so that the rest of us can enjoy our freedom and our way of life. And the extreme sacrifice the familes of those who
loose warriors in doing so. This movie needs to be shown on every military national holiday so that we can be reminded that freedom does not come without sacrifice. Semper Fi, bros.

I was sent to your column by the film's director Ross Katz. We interviewed him for television prior to a premiere of the film in the same high school gym where Chance's funeral services were held five years ago. We stood at the gravesite on top of a hill overlooking Dubois, Wyoming yesterday morning. There is an elk engraved in the marble. The young Marine loved the outdoors and enjoyed all sorts of activities around Dubois. What we have learned above all else is that he had a sense of humor the size of Wyoming and was dearly loved by all those he touched. Chance's medals and his white, dress hat were placed on the ground at the foot of his monument.. Many coins and other memorabilia have been affixed along the front ledge of the marker. Two items looked to be recent addition. They are the stars that would normally be positioned on the collars of a Marine General. A man of that rank attended the film premier in Dubois and spoke to the large crowd prior to the showing of the film. Maj. General John Kelly was in the protective escort of his men, including Chance Phelps, on Good Friday 2004. General Kelly outlined what happened when his convoy was trapped in enemy fire and how Phelps competently did what combat troops "always do." Rather than running the other way Chance and others moved into the line of fire, attempting to quell the danger. Chance manned a gun turret and it was there he was killled. The General heard the bursts Chance fired from his position at regular intervals and Kelly heard a round repeat at an irregular interval of ten seconds or so and come to an end as Chance died. The General was among a group of Marines that assisted in gaining posession of Chance's body. He also joined in a short period of reminiscing about Chance before the unit returned to the job at hand. The General told us Wednesday night in Dubois the war in Iraq is all but over. He'd just returned to U.S. soil four days prior to the event in Dubois. The war will never end for Chance's family, friends and loved ones. There is much that can be done to help injured troops, the families of the fallen, and others who have been traumatized by combat. One place where people on the ground are trying their best is: chancephelps.org

Thank you for your well measured words about "Taking Chance."

While it is true that this movie transcends opinion on any one particular war, it is impossible to separate it from the current one for two reasons: One, the current war is resurgent in our national dialogue and, Two, Chance Phelps, the subject of the movie, was killed in Iraq.
I am a father of two military officer sons, one of whom was in Iraq. He was lucky. He was a commander of an intelligence unit so not in one of the more dangerous missions, but he had to dress for battle anyway any time he went off base, which was often, and for extended periods, on intel missions. There was much he couldn't tell me. Often I wouldn't hear from him for weeks at a time. It was nerve wracking. Tho he was in less danger relative to so many others, knowing my son "went to war" was something to get my head around.

As the article writer suggests, be prepared to be very emotionally moved. My God!!! I cried just watching the trailer!! I can't imagine how I'll get thru the whole movie.

Now there is renewed talk of once again permitting news photo coverage of returning coffins, to which I say a resounding YES. We need to see what we have been so complicit in not seeing. We need to see what our acquiescence wrought.....while we went shopping. We need to see the cost of attempts to be the world's morality enforcers.

My son, a Marine Capt now with the State Dept, Diplomatic Security, returned safely. God bless all who return with their spirits debilitated, their families destroyed, their dreams lost, their bodies maimed or their lives ended.
"Taking Chance" will wound us.

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Ya...lets have Obama free more of these terrorists so they can go back to killing American soldiers and citizens again....can a President of the United States be more of a dufus than Obama ? ....the answer is NO !

Excellently written--and, whatever our politics or our position on our latest wars, demonstrates again how extremely careful we must be before entering into any war. How amazingly fine and brave our soldiers are.