HBO Movie Taking Chance

If you get a chance, make sure you watch the new HBO Movie Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon as the Colonel who escorts PFC Chance Phelps home after his death in Iraq.

It is a deeply moving story and accurate in its portrayal of everyday Americans caring deeply about our men and women military personnel that lose their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I always admire the men and women that are willing to sacrifice their lives in service to our country.

I always think of the families who have given their loved one in service to our country.

The Colonel reads the Killed in Action lists on his computer at night and feels compelled to volunteer his services as an escort for twenty-year-old Pfc. Phelps. The movie follows in painstaking detail, Pfc. Phelps departure from Iraq and how tenderly-cared for he is along every step of the way. His body is prepared, a uniform is made, he is never left alone and honored by all who tend to him. We must face the family and their grief. We must bury him and recognize the loss to all of us, another young person just beginning his life, taken suddenly and violently.

The movie made me dwell again on what has happened to my country. We have lost so much recently, here and abroad.