Taking Chance is an HBO film based on the true story of a marine leutenant colonel (Kevin Bacon) who escorts the body of a young soldier from his hometown who was killed in Iraq.
The story outlines what happens when an American soldier is killed overseas in combat. His body is returned to the US where it is taken care of by a series of people before finally reaching his family and buried.
Such a high-ranking officer would not normally be an escort, but Lt. Col. Michael Strobl volunteers to escort 19 year-old Pfc. Chance Phelps as he is reading the daily casualty reports and sees that Phelps was originally from the same small hometown as he. Through the journey, the Lt. Col. is taken aback by the honor shown the soldier by complete strangers, from the mortuary workers who take great pains to make his body presentable and uniform perfect to the people throughout all of the airports that take the time to pay their respects.
I was really struck by the people touched by the soldier being flown home, a soldier they'd never met, but still mourned for. Do I appreciate and honor those who are fighting for the freedom that I so desperately love? Do I appreciate the sacrifices they make in both life and death? Freedom is not free and I am so thankful for those willing to serve our great nation.
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