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Eleanor Clift

The Human Cost

A new HBO film shows the pain—and the reverence—that comes with bringing a body home from the Iraq War

Feb 13, 2009

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Every seat was filled in the screening room at the Motion Picture Association of America in Washington, which is not unusual for the invitation-only previews of major films hosted by the MPAA. What was different this Monday evening was the number of military officers in attendance, including some four-star generals in uniform. Among them was Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff, who had been the commanding officer in Iraq in the deadliest presurge days. They were there to see the HBO drama, "Taking Chance," which is about a military escort officer returning to the family the remains of a young Marine killed in action outside Baghdad.

MPAA head Dan Glickman said later he had been nervous about how the military brass might react, but their take was positive. "Taking Chance" is not an antiwar movie, but it is a graphic depiction of the cost of war, images that for the most part Americans have been deliberately shielded from. The movie is based on a true story and depicts in painstaking detail what happens to the bodies of the fallen from the time they are bagged and iced for the plane trip that takes them first to the American air base at Ramstein, Germany, and then to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware—and then, more often than not, to some cemetery in rural America.

At his press conference that same evening, President Obama was asked if he planned to lift the ban enforced by President Bush on photographing the caskets arriving at Dover. Obama said his administration was conducting a review of the policy, and that he wanted to know more before he made a decision. He added that this had become personal for him, that in just three weeks on the job he's found how painful it is to sign letters of condolence to the families that have lost loved ones. The prohibition on taking photographs at Dover has actually been in place since 1991 when Bush Sr. was in office, and while there are good arguments both for and against the ban, that's not what "Taking Chance" is about. None of the movie was filmed at the Dover Mortuary, but the facility is faithfully re-created, taking us inside a process most Americans aren't aware of. If they were, they would be intensely proud of the respectful, even reverential, treatment given to the fallen every step of the way. Each time remains are loaded onto a hearse preparing to leave the mortuary, an announcement is made and everybody at the facility stops work and lines up along the driveway for a ceremonial salute. They've done this more than 4,000 times since the Iraq War got underway.

Lt. Col. Michael Strobl had a desk job when Operation Iraqi Freedom began, and he would routinely scroll through the casualties, feeling guilty for his comfort while others made the ultimate sacrifice. When he saw a Private First Class Chance Phelps who hailed from the same hometown, he volunteered to escort him home. Except home was now Dubois, Wyoming, a place Strobl had never heard of, much less been. Their journey together begins at the Dover Mortuary, where we see water suctioned out of caskets after the long trip on ice, and personal effects carefully removed from arms, fingers, and necks. Phelps, 19, whose remains Strobl is there to escort, was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday in 2004. Strobl is given the medal along with Phelps's watch still set to Baghdad time, a wooden cross and dog tags, and instructed to keep them on his person until he delivers them to the family.

Tall, lean and standing ramrod straight, Strobl attended the screening with his young son. They sat in the front row. Kevin Bacon, whose portrayal of Strobl in the film captures a man who is military through and through, from his close-cropped hair to his tightly controlled emotions, lingered in the back, looking very nonmilitary with tousled hair and crediting technical advisors from the military for his spot-on performance. "I couldn't be a Marine; it's not in my DNA," he told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "They were all over me; they didn't want me to look like a jerk." The actor said he had played very few real people in his career, and it was an honor to be able to hang around Strobl and capture his essence.

Arguments for and against the war fall away in the presence of the sorrow that "Taking Chance" lays bare. One of many affecting moments in the film is when Strobl sees the meticulous care given to the uniform Phelps is wearing even though no one will see it because his extensive injuries require a closed-casket funeral. He had earned six ribbons in less than a year in the corps, just two fewer than Strobl had accumulated over a 17-year career. The movie closes with photos of Phelps as a boy full of life, playing sports and grinning for the camera. The screening room remained darkened as the credits rolled and many in the audience, judging by the audible sniffling, struggled to regain their composure.

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Posted By: chilling @ 03/15/2009 9:30:59 AM

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.
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Posted By: charliecoo @ 02/20/2009 11:26:57 AM

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."
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Posted By: Soulmentor @ 02/17/2009 4:48:39 AM

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.