Taking Chance Page #3

The VFW Post up in Dubois

is having a get-together tonight

in honor of Chance.

- You might want to come up for that.

- Okay. Sounds good.

- I'm glad you're here, sir.

- Yeah, me too.

Your hotel is up in Dubois,

where the ceremony's gonna be.

You'll want to head out

of here and get settled.

- I'm sorry about all the driving.

- Not a problem, Gary.

If I can get you to sign off

on the paperwork,

then we can call it a day.

That sounds fine.

I have some items the family would like

to have inserted into the casket.

They said they'd prefer

not to view the remains,

so I guess now would be

a good time to do that.

Yeah, that would be good,

and I need to check on his uniform.

You know it's gonna be

a closed-casket funeral?

I understand, but...

just want to make sure

he's squared away.

Okay, go ahead.

Look at that.

He's got six ribbons.

- And he's a PFC, it's amazing.

- Yeah.

The folks at Dover did a great job.

They knew he wasn't gonna be

viewed and his uniform is...

perfect.

I'm gonna...

take care of the paperwork.

If you're ready.

Excuse me, sir.

Are you the marine

who brought Chance home?

Yes, sir.

Mike Strobl.

Semper Fi, colonel.

I'm Charlie Fitts.

Listen, this whole town

is grateful to you.

It was my honor.

Korea?

It's a privilege to meet

an old first marine division warrior.

There's some fellows here

been waiting all night to meet you.

Fellas!

This is Chance's escort,

Colonel Strobl.

Larry Hertzog. Welcome.

- Robert Rouse.

- How are you?

A.V. Scott.

Here we have Gunny Mulcahy,

Chance's recruiter.

And Sergeant Michael Arenz.

He was with Chance when he died.

Sergeant.

Jenny, let's get

this man a cold beer.

He's been on a long and lonely trip.

Did you know Chance?

No, I didn't know him.

You missed out.

Sure did.

You know, a lot of recruits,

myself included,

lose a big part of their personality

when they go through boot camp.

Sort of the point.

But, Chance,

he comes back from boot camp,

he sure as hell was a marine,

but he was still Chance.

Same old wise-ass smile.

He could get away with anything

just by flashing that grin.

Our first mortar attack in Ramadi,

everybody's yelling,

''Grab your kevlars! Grab your flaks!''

We were all scared, you know?

Like, ''welcome to Iraq.''

Everybody's running,

trying to get to the bunker.

Phelps,

he's got his shower shoes on,

grabs his rifle, runs outside,

he's like, ''where they at?''

Everybody's yelling, ''Phelps, get

your ass back in here, man! Take cover!''

He's still standing outside

in his shower shoes.

If you guys would excuse us,

we need to head out.

We're building something special

to take him up to the cemetery tomorrow.

- Anything I can do?

- I think you've done enough.

- Colonel, good night. Thank you.

- Good night.

The convoy's moving along,

doing a routine patrol

south of Baghdad, and...

Chance wasn't even supposed

to be there that day.

It was his rest day.

And knowing we were going out,

he just had to come.

Chance was up in the turret

looking out for trouble.

That was his spot.

The most dangerous job

a marine can have.

Yeah, you're totally

exposed up there.

He loved it though.

It always made me feel safe

seeing those shoes there.

In Iraq, Chance was just a big old pair

of size-12 shoes looking out for us.

Anyhow, we were driving along.

Suddenly there's this huge boom.

Out of nowhere, an IED had gone off

in the front of the convoy, so...

I jump out, check on the rest

of the vehicles, and...

It was madness.

There was bullets flying everywhere.

It was chaos,

just total chaos, but...

I could hear behind me

Chance's 240 opening up,

just unleashing an ungodly

amount of fire on the mujahideen.

So I thought, ''okay,

that part of the convoy's okay.''

He attracted all the fire to himself

so that the rest of us

could take cover,

get organized and get out.

So after I checked on

the first two vehicles,

I run back towards

our vehicle, and...

I could see Chance was

shooting all over the place.

He was up in the air, everywhere.

Just erratic, you know?

I yelled at him.

I was like, ''Jesus, Phelps,

don't shoot the birds, man.''

I thought he was trying

to scare them or something.

His finger was still

on the trigger, shooting,

but his head was slumped over.

I got a little bit closer, I could see

some blood coming down of his head.

Inside the vehicle,

Doc checked his vitals, and...

he was gone.

Six of us...

held him in our hands

all the way back to the base.

I just keep running it,

you know, in my mind, like,

''What could I have done better?

What could I have done different?''

What do you say to somebody's mom

when they tell you,

''it's not your fault.

You couldn't have done anything.''

I owed it to him to save him.

I'm the one who trained him.

I just can't believe

that I'm here and he's not.

I'm glad you're here, Sergeant.

Thank you, sir.

It means a lot coming from you.

He'd be so honored knowing

such a senior officer brought him home.

- Sir.

- Sergeant.

What that kid has to live with.

I should've been over there.

- It wasn't your time, Colonel.

- It was exactly my time.

I knew the clock was ticking,

knew my time was coming up.

But I just...

kept ignoring it, you know?

Except for the middle

of the night, when I...

would check

those casualty lists, just...

praying that I didn't recognize

any of the names.

I don't know, you know, I just...

I just got...

used to seeing my wife and kids

every day, and...

So I put in a request

for another office tour,

and it was granted.

They must've needed you here.

My friends went.

Guys I was in

Desert Storm with went.

I stayed home.

I was trained to fight.

If I'm not over there, what am I?

Those guys,

guys like Chance...

They're marines.

And you think you're not?

Want to be with

your family every night.

You think you have to justify that?

You'd better stop right there, sir.

You've brought Chance home.

You're his witness now.

Without a witness,

they just disappear.

You're Chance's escort?

- Mike Strobl.

- John Phelps, Chance's dad.

This is my wife, Chris,

Chance's step-mom.

Welcome.

- And Chance's step-dad Jeff.

- Colonel.

And this is Chance's sister Kelley,

- and her fiance Rob.

- Hello, sir.

I'm Chance's mother.

Thank you for your service.

It's my honor, ma'am.

I'm just so sorry for your loss.

Please come and sit.

A chair.

- Thank you.

- Come on, dear.

First, I...

want you all to know that...

all along the way,

Chance was treated with dignity

and respect

and honor.

I have here a letter from...

Chance's platoon commander.

Thank you.

I also have here

some of Chance's things.

It's still set on Baghdad time.

Here.

This is the medal

that grandma gave him.

Remember?

I want you to know

you do not mourn alone today.

All across America,

from Virginia

to Delaware,

Pennsylvania, Minnesota,

Montana, Wyoming,

people are thinking of you

and praying for you.

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