When a member of the US military dies in battle, their remains are transferred home for burial through a process called a dignified transfer. The body is placed in a metal casket surrounded by ice packs in the theater of battle and the military member’s peers cover the casket with a US flag, salute the casket, and place it on a military transport plane. The body is flown to Dover Air Force Base Mortuary, where it is cleaned and dressed in a dress uniform or civilian clothes, if preferred by the family. Exquisite care is taken each step of the way as the body is treated with the upmost respect and honor.
A member of the military is assigned to act as an escort for the body and accompanies the body from Dover to the service member’s home. At each step of the way, as the body is transferred, the escort salutes the body. The escort is also responsible for carrying the personal effects of the deceased service member.
Taking Chance tells the story of Lt. Col Mike Strobl who escorts PFC Chance Phelps home to Wyoming. Strobl is a military pencil pusher who served in Desert Storm, but returned stateside to become an analyst who makes manpower recommendations. Although he chose to work stateside so he could see his family every night, he is dissatisfied and feels as if he is letting other people fight the war on terror that erupted after 9/11. Although it is unusual for a senior officer to serve as a final escort for a junior officer, his boss grants his request to accompany PFC Chance Phelps home.
The movie shows the meticulous care that is taken with service members’ bodies as they are prepared for burial or cremation. Even if there will be a closed casket, the body is meticulously dressed and their ribbons are arranged with care. This movie is one of the few that makes me cry each time service members and ordinary citizens paid their respects. Baggage handlers who moved the body off and on the planes stood at attention as Strobl saluted the coffin. The captain who flew Chance on the final leg of his journey announced to his passengers that a service member was on his final journey and made sure to note Chance’s name. And as the hearse carrying Chance’s body traveled the final 90 miles from Billings, MT to his hometown, vehicles turned on their lights and created an honor guard to escort him home. Although Strobl had not known Chance in life, his platoon mates and friends from his hometown made sure that Strobl knew how special Chance was.
This movie shows the grief of a country honoring the military dead, of Chance’s friends, and final of his family who is mourning a son and brother.