"Taking Chance" - Lt. Col. Michael Strobl

The HBO Film "Taking Chance" chronicles Lt. Col. Michael Strobl's experiences while escorting the remains of Private Chance Phelps to his hometown. It was once of HBO's most watched original films and received numerous awards. Mike Strobl joins us to share his first hand account.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
We all owe them, but very few of us know them.
They are the men and women of our military and
first responder communities, and these are their stories. American Warrior
Radio is on the air.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to American Warrior Radio. This
is your host, Ben buler Garcia American Warrior Radio broadcast
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those of you joining us a our new affiliates across
the country, the mission of America Warrior Radio is to
bridge the gap of understanding between those who wore the
military uniform or carry a badge and the civilian communities.

(01:07):
We do so by allowing those people to tell their stories.
In the first person. I've been told that when one
of our fellow Americans takes the oath to serve in
the military, they're writing the rest of us a check
signed in blood, payable up to and including their own
lives as necessary. Some heroes are not able to join
us and tell their stories in the first person because
they did make that ultimate sacrifice. It's up to others

(01:30):
to tell their stories so that they're never forgotten. Today
you're going to hear the story of a Marine private
who made that ultimate sacrifice while bravely saving several Pillow Marines.
He would possimously be awarded the Bronze Star with Valor,
a promotion to corporal, and the Purple Heart. His story
would inspire another story, that of a fellow Marine who
found himself fulfilling the Marine Corps model Simper Fidelus, Always Faithful.

(01:54):
On April nine, two thousand and four, Private Chance Phelps
unit was providing convoy escort outside the Alramadi Era when
a convoy came under heavy small arms and rock propelled
grenade fire. Despite being wounded, Chance refused evacuation. He continued
to man his M two forty machine gun and provided
covering fire until the rest of the convoy could move
to safety, while withdrawing Chance would receive another fatal wound

(02:17):
to the head. Now, over the years, I developed several traditions,
if you will, of honoring Memorial Day. I always check
which of our American Warrior Radio guests have passed on
and said a little prayer for their families. I find
the stories of less known heroes who fell in combat
and post their pictures and their stories on my social
media so other folks can read it. I listened to
the song Angel Flight by Radney Foster, and I watch

(02:39):
a movie. Correction, I watched one particular movie, the HBO
film Taking Chance, where not for Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobel,
Chances felt stories might likely have faded into the realm
of official documents, remembered only by his family and comrades,
like thousands of others who made the ultimate sacrifice on
our behalf. Welcome to American Warrior Raider. Lieutenant Colonel Michael's trouble.

(03:00):
US Marine Corps retired.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, thank you, good afternoon. Glad to be here.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Now, Mike, you retired from the Corps, but you continue
to serve our nation as the If I get this right,
the Assistant Deputy Commandant from Manpower and Reserve Affairs. That's
that's a mouthful, which as I understand, And so you're
the second command at a three star level. Describe your
role and your responsibilities in that position.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Mike, Yeah, thanks. So I retired from active duty in
two thousand and seven and I took a job at
the Pentagon and the Office of Secretary of Defense, and
then in twenty sixteen there was an opening at Marine
Corps man Power Reserve Affairs for the Deputy Director of
Manpower Plans and Policy, and I was fortunate enough to

(03:41):
be selected for that role, and August of two thousand
and what was it, twenty twenty one, I was selected
to be the Assistant Deputy Commandant for man Power Reserve Affairs.
And I like to think of it as being the
executive officer or EXO of man pown Reserve Affairs, where
the CEO, if you will in air quotes, is a

(04:02):
lieutenant general three star general in the Marine Corps, and
like any XO, the way I see it, my primary
function is to be prepared to assume the duties of
the CEO if he is unavailable. So that's the overarching
mission as I see it. But we have a very
large portfolio, and essentially what we do here is to
take care of marines and their families, make sure the

(04:23):
right marines get to the right unit at the right time.
We formulate, analyze, and promulgate Marine Corps Manpower policy. We
have what we call Marine and Family Programs, which is
a range of support activities to help our marines. Marine
Corps Exchange is under our portfolio, the Marine Corps Lodging,

(04:44):
and we also have our Wounded Warrior Regiment, which takes
care of our marines that have been wounded, have become wounded,
ill or injured. So it's a large portfolio. Definitely keeps
me motivated and glad to still be on the Marine
Corps team.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
And I'm glad to hear that someone like you is
still continuing to look after our marines out there. That's
very heartwarming. Over the years doing this show, on occasion
there'll be a guest who makes a statement that just
I mean, it just sticks in my mind. It's just
burned in my mind forever. One of which was with
a pilot who flew for Air America in the Far

(05:20):
Easter in the Vietnam War and he was, I think
that maybe the last plane out of Cambodia, and he
described for he's there on the tarmac and the fellow
who is running the airport there is standing and looking
at him in the cockpit, and he gives him a salute,
and he said, and I quote, there were tears streaming
down his dusty face. He knew his life was about

(05:41):
to come to an end, you know, just before they
took over Cambodia. And there was another who I interviewed
who was part of the Dover Honor Guard and on
his first assignment, they were unloading the containers from the
plane that had just landed, and he said, you know,
the first two caskets were heavy and the third one
was light. And at that moment, it struck me the

(06:01):
importance of the sacrifice that these men and women are
making on behalf. And I got to tell you, sir,
that movie Taking Chance, the whole thing is inspires me
and I guess kind of shocks me a little bit,
and in a good way, sir, And I really encourage
everybody to see it now. As I understand, Mike, this
first started when you were assigned this duty, or you

(06:24):
volunteered for the studio. I want to correct myself there.
And it really started off. You were required to write
an after action report, and that turned into a twelve
page essay, which I've been very fortunate to read. And
next thing, you know, this whole thing went viral.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right, So yeah, I, like a lot of officers and staff,
in staff, noncommissioned officers, I volunteered to be an escort
if the need should arise. You know, soon after nine
to eleven. I was stationed at Quantico, Virginia Marine Base
with obviously a lot of Marines. That's relatively close to
Gobra Air Force Base, so a lot of I want

(06:59):
to make sure that everyone understands I was not alone
in volunteering to be an escort. There were dozens, if
not hundreds of my fellow Marines, officers and staff, noncommissioned
officers that volunteered. And then, like you said, it was
actually good. Friday, April ninth, two thousand and four, I

(07:21):
had gotten into the habit of checking every morning when
I came to work, checking the dd press announcements, press
releases about casualties in Iraq Afghanistan, partly because I knew
a lot of the Marines that were over there. I
was still on active duty at that time, of course,
and on Good Friday, April ninth, two thousand and four,
I noticed there was a PFC Private first Class Chance

(07:44):
Phelps was killed in action and it listed his hometown
as the same relatively small town I'm from in western Colorado.
So I thought, this is the marine I'm supposed to
escort home, And you're right. We were tasked to submit
an after action report after the escort mission, you know,

(08:07):
which was intended to be more maybe mundane, things like,
you know, don't forget to bring a charger for your phone,
or you know, bringing written directions to where you're going,
things like that. But I think knowing that I was
tasked to provide an after action report when it was
finished made me more observant as the trip unfolded. And

(08:32):
after the funeral and I had gotten back to the
airport in Billings, Montana for my flight home, I decided
I was going to write about what I experienced that week,
and I started jotting notes in a small spiral notebook,
and then it almost felt like the story was being
dictated to me. And once I started writing, I just
couldn't stop, and by the time I got back to Virginia,

(08:55):
I had filled about twenty pages in that little notebook.
So that that's that's how it happened. What what moved
me to write about it in the way that I
did was just the the expressions of sympathy and gratitude
from everyday Americans all across the country on my trip

(09:16):
truly inspired me, and I felt like it was something
I needed to remember. I really wrote this in that
notebook just for me to remember what I experienced.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Okay, so if you don't mind to take a positive,
we've got to take a break. When we come back.
I want to talk a little bit more about that,
because it really I think that's really what you talked
there is the key to the story. Ladies and gentlemen,
there's your host, Benda la Garcia will be back with
more with Lieutenant Colonel retarded Mike Strobel talking about the
movie and his real life experiences with taking Chance Home.

(09:46):
We'll be right back. Welcome back to American Warrior Radio.

(10:13):
Las gentlemen, this is your host, Ben Delagarcia. We're talking
with Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobel, the United States Marine Corps retired.
If that name sounds familiar. Hopefully it's because you've seen
the HBO film Taking Chance, that is a narrative of
Mike's experiences in returning a fellow falla marine back to
his home and Mike one thing, it's really interesting to

(10:34):
me you touched on this. I'm guessing at that point
in time we're talking two thousand and four, were you
maybe in a mindset where you just you didn't want
to chat with anyone along the way, You just want
to kind of keep your head down and you fulfill
your responsibility. And was that part of the reason that
you were so surprised at the outpouring of sympathy and

(10:59):
so you're getting from just common citizens out there everywhere
along the journey.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
Well, first of all, you're you're right. I was reticent
to talk about the mission. I didn't want to get
into a discussion and field questions about maybe what happened
to the marine I was escorting. I didn't want to
explain the nature of my mission. I didn't especially didn't
want to get into the politics of the war during
a mission like that. So yeah, I was very introspective

(11:32):
and quiet as much as I could be on the trip.
I don't know if That's what surprised me or what
made me notice. You know, it might have been a
little bit that, you know, working every day on a
Marine Corps base with thousands of marines, you maybe I

(11:55):
got a little desensitized to the uniqueness of the Marine
Corps and and how special our young marines are when
you know, when you work with them and see them
every day. But when you get out in the heartland,
hundreds of miles away from a Marine Corps base or
any any military base, there just was a different at

(12:19):
least it felt to me at the time, a different
and a profound reaction to the loss of just one marine.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
Well, and that strikes m too, because I'm guessing, as
an analystic quantico, you didn't have the chance to interact,
for your often with your average kind of citizen out
there on the street.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Right.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Yeah, that's a that's a good observation. I maybe live
kind of an insular life where, you know, I went
to work, obviously with marines every day, and then after
hours or on the weekends, I would socialize with marines
and their families, and there just were not a lot
of civilians in my life at the time that were

(12:58):
unrelated to the Marine Corps or disconnected from the Marine Corps.
So it was almost a twenty four to seven immersion
in the Marine Corps.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
As I understand it, I saw an interview you did
where you talked about kind of the backstory, and you'd
mentioned really, you initially took notes on this and you
wrote it just for your own personal memories of what
you experienced and what you saw and what people shared
during that journey. But then you sent that out as
an email to some close associates. Initially, and as I

(13:30):
understand it, there was a father who had also lost
his son who was a marine, and that was really
the flashpoint. Next you know, you're getting a phone call from.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
HBO, right. Yeah. So when I got home from the trip,
my wife asked me, as you would expect, she's asked
how it was, and I said, I really can't explain it,
but I took some notes in this notebook and let
me type them up so you can read them in all.
So I did that. I typed them up, and I
printed them and left them in the next morning and

(14:00):
off to work. I just intended for her to read it,
but then I decided, since I had it in an
electronic format, I might as well send it out to
a few friends and colleagues, which I did, and then
it went, as they say, viral and became very widely circulated.
And you're right. It ended up in the hands of
a man whose son was killed in Iraq, a fellow marine,

(14:23):
and that man happened to know a movie producer, and
he shared the original story with the producer. The producer's
name is Brad Crovoy, and Brad pitched it to HBO
and they were interested in kind of the rest is
history and HBO, you know, they when they approached me,

(14:46):
I was very jealous and guarded about sharing this story
with a wide audience there. You know, I felt like
there could be some chances to spin it a little bit,
and I didn't want that. I just wanted them to
tell the story. And they brought me and my family
and Chances family out to Los Angeles to sit around
the table and talk about it, which we did, and

(15:08):
they assured us that they would just tell the story.
And I can't command HBO enough. They kept their word
and they just told the story, and everybody involved just
gave it their you know, all their energy and their heart,
and it really shows I think in the end product,

(15:29):
but you.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Also had a hand in the screenplay, correct, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
I asked them if I could have the first crack
at writing the first draft again, because I was very
jealous of protecting this story and I had never done
anything like that at all. But strangely enough, I had
a script to a movie, and if you've ever seen
a script, it's a weird format with scene setting and

(15:55):
dialogue and so forth. So I set in my kitchen
with my original story on one side and this movie
script on the other side, and I tried to craft
it into a screenplay. And then the man who was
the director of the movie named Ross Katz, he came

(16:18):
on as a co author, and he added a mints
value to my first draft, and we're credited as co
authors of the screenplay.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
You know, I tell you, Mike, it's was even And
I've honestly, I've seen this film two dozen times. I
could probably recite the dialogue as good as any of
the actors. But in reading your twelve page essay, it
struck me there's a lot of small stuff that we
didn't see in the movie. For example, after you had
volunteered with your co saying okay, I want to take

(16:49):
I want to take Chance home to his family. A
couple of days go by, but you got to call
at what like so sixteen hundred hours, that's what four
o'clock saying that you need a report to fly to
Denver in an hour.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Right, that was Dover, Dover. I'm sorry, Yeah you might, yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was. I had a little bit of uncertainty I
was actually going to do the mission. I did volunteer
as soon as I saw the press release, but it'd
been it had been a few days, and you know,
there there's a lag between when someone is killed and

(17:26):
overseas and when they get to Dover. A number of
things have to happen, including long travel in this case.
So when I did get the call, I had relatively
short notice to meet a van Quantico and get up
to Dover Air Force Base. But but it all worked out.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
So we've got just about a minute left before the
next we have to take the next break. And I'm
curious you I didn't read the citation. I kind of
described the situation where where Chance, you know, heroically gave
his own life to save his fellow marines. Were you
aware of the details of that combat? Action as you
were escorting him, or did you not find out until later.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
I didn't find out until later, and it was interesting.
I have since seen and actually have in front of
me right now, the summary of action for his Bronze
Star Award. But maybe after the break, I can tell
you an interesting story of how I learned more details
about Chance.

Speaker 3 (18:24):
Okay, and actually, if you wouldn't mind, if you've got
it there in front of you, if you would read
it for our listeners as well, I think that'd be
very okay powerful.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
This will take a couple of minutes if we have time.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
No worries, ladies and gentlemen, there's your host, Ben deler Garcia.
We're talking to the Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobel. He is
perhaps the best well known for his movie Taking Chance,
which to describe just a powerful film. I encourage you
to watch an HBO film. Look it up Taking Chance.
We'll be right back. Welcome back to American Warrior Radio.

(19:13):
Laser and gentlemen, there's your host, Ben bu la Garcia.
We're coming to you from the Silencer Central Studios. Solencer
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(19:33):
all the paperwork and ship right to your front door,
making silence simple. Since two thousand and five, Silencercentral dot
Com or very privileged to be speaking with Colonel retired
Michael Strobel. You provided the escort to return fallen Marine
Chance Phelps home, and his notes from that story became
an HBO film called Taking Chance. I watch it every

(19:54):
Memorial Day. I encourage you to watch it as soon
as you hear this broadcast. Mike, we just for the
break you'd mentioned, you have got the actual citation from
a Chance's action there. If you wouldn't mind just take
a little bit and read that and share that with
our listeners.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
Sure. So this is the Bronze Star summary of action
Lance Corporal chants Are Phelps. On nine April two thousand
and four, Lance Corporal Chance Are Phelps was performing duties
as a two forty golf machine gunner for second Platoon
Battery l third Battalion, eleventh Marines, first Marine Division. He

(20:32):
was riding in the trail hum vy of a five
vehicle convoy moving southeast along alternate supplier out San Juan
in the vicinity of jurff Oshukar in northern Babo, Iraq.
At approximately sixteen thirty the convoy was attacked with an
improvised explosive device. This ied detonated approximately one hundred meters

(20:54):
in front of the convoy and caused the platoon commander's vehicle,
which was the lead vehicle, to slowed down momentarily. The
convoy was immediately engaged with a high volume of accurate
medium machine gun AK forty seven and RPG fire from
three seven man positions at a range of approximately two

(21:14):
hundred to three hundred meters. The initial burst of machine
gun fire disabled the lead vehicle and wounded all three occupants.
The vehicle was caught in the kill zone. As Lance
Corporal Phelps's driver moved his vehicle to a position of advantage.
Lance Corporal Phelps immediately began to suppress the enemy in
order to relieve pressure from the Marines caught in the

(21:36):
kill zone. The enemy, realizing that they were being engaged
from two locations, shifted some of their fires to the
rear of the convoy. The focus of the enemy fire
was clearly the UMV mounted crew served weapons as they
attempted to destroy them with machine gun and RPG fire.
Mance Corporal Phelps, exposing himself to enemy fire to suppress

(21:57):
their positions, continued to fire his weapon effectively despite receiving
a high volume of intense and accurate machine gun AK
forty seven and RPG fire at his vehicle. His fires
were crucial to relieving pressure from those Marines caught in
the kill zone so that they could better orient on
the enemy and the convoy leader could call for the

(22:18):
quick reaction force from adjacent units and for close air support.
As the engagement ensued, Lance Corporal Phelps's vehicle was preparing
to displace in order to better support the Marines in
the kill zone. Lance Corporal Phelps was mortally wounded just
as they displaced. Lance Corporal Phelps was killed saving the
lives of his fellow Marines for his undisputed bravery and

(22:41):
heroism during the heat of battle, bravery that saved the
lives of others and cost him his own. He is
awarded the Bronze Star with Combat Distinguishing Device posthumously.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
That's some powerful stuff. I appreciate you sharing that with us, sir.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, welcome. Let me tell you I got an email
when I got back to my office after this mission
from a then Brigadier General John Kelly. And General Kelly
was the assistant Division Commander for first Marine Division, and
he was the marine that Chances Platoon was providing security
for during this convoy. And Brigadier General Kelly wrote me

(23:22):
an email and told me what happened when Chance was
wounded and killed. He slumped down through the turret of
the Humbie and another young marine jumped right back up
into that hail of fire and got the machine gun
back in action. And if the name General Kelly sounds familiar,
that's because he went on to be a four star

(23:45):
Marine and eventually the White House Chief of Staff.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
Wow, okay, that's a great backstory. You know, Having watched
the movie so much and then also having read your
initial essay, I found it very heartening that a lot
of the encounters that you had along the way actually
made it into the film. And that's the core of
the story. Your evaluation if you don't mind. You know,
in your case, almost everything that you mentioned, HBO did

(24:11):
a really really good job of presenting the story in
an accurate and compassionate way with very few tweaks.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yeah. They I do tell people that the movies not
a documentary. There were a few things that they changed,
but I can point out some of them, but they
always kept the intention and the meaning of the moment.
One example is the night at the VFW that in

(24:42):
the movie happened before the funeral. In reality, that happened
after the funeral, but for dramatic effect, they wanted the
funeral to be the last thing in the movie. But
it doesn't change what happened either at the funeral or
at the VFW post.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
I tell you one of my things favorite scenes in
the film, Mike, apparently never did happen, and that's the
scene where you're on the flight and there's a young
lady just you know, texting her heart out. I'm sitting
next to a hot soldier and you correct her, no,
I'm a marine. But apparently that never happened, but it
was important. The directors felt it was important that little
bit of trade craft there.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Huh Yeah, And I was I cringed with embarrassment when
I first saw that screened, and I asked the director, well,
you know, why did you do that? And I forgave
him after I heard his explanation. He said, in a
story like this, you have to give the audience a
moment to breathe. You have to give them something to

(25:41):
smile about so that you can carry on with the
rest of the story and the culmination. And I haven't
timed it out exactly, but I think that that moment
you're talking about where there's a quick laugh and a
light moment is about halfway through the movie. So it,
like the director said, it gives the audience a chance
to catch their And.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
I'll tell you one of the scenes, Mike that really
chapped my hide was your encounter with the I don't know,
the TSA agent or whatever you have, the Homeland security
when you're first looking to board the plane. And did
that was that accurate? Did that actually happen?

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, that that happened. So for your listeners who haven't
seen the movie, I imagine I'm in a full uniform
with a jacket and tie and you know, all metals
and ribbons and everything, and I'm carrying this deceased marines
personal effects on me, and you know, you can bet

(26:37):
I don't want to lose a handle on those and
the the TSA agent And to his in his defense,
he was he was doing his job. But when he
asked me to take my jacket off and put the
personal effects through the X ray machine, it didn't sit

(26:59):
well with me, and I asked if I could be
screened privately, and they accommodated that, but you know, we
had a bit of a standoff at that moment. I
felt like I definitely did like I said, I did
not above all, I did not want to lose sight
of or control of Chances personal effects. But I also
didn't want to start taking a part in my Marine

(27:21):
Corps uniform, you know, in full view of the public.
So I was a little prickly about.

Speaker 3 (27:27):
That, I understandably so, and just real quick. So was
that the moment when it became I mean, obviously this
was real, this was important, this is is solemn. But
when you were actually presented with with chances personal effects.
Was that when it really really struck you? Is that
when you started to get to know Because you'd never

(27:48):
met Chance Phelps, you never heard of him before you
got this assignment, but that's when you really started to
get to know him.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Right, Yeah, that's a good observation. I didn't know anything
about him other than his name is Rank and you
know where his hometown was and what province he was
killed in. Didn't know what he looked like or anything.
And when they presented me with his personal effects, it
was kind of a gut punch, and I felt like

(28:15):
I was starting to get to know him, and and
that was all I had other than, you know, images
that I made up in my mind of what he
might look like.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
Okay, MIKEA when we come back, I'm gonna take some
of that tradecraft and we're going to take a pause
and allow the audience to breathe a little bit. We're
going to talk about these six degrees of separations from
Kevin Bacon. Ladies and gentlemen, there's your host, Ben Bula
Garcia speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Mike Strobel. Will be right back.

(29:10):
Welcome back to American Warrior Radio Laser. Gentlemen, there's your
host Ben Bler Garcia. We're talking with Lieutenant Colonel Mike Strouble.
Mike was a key person inspiration involved in the HBO
movie Taking Chance, and I encourage you to watch that film,
Lazier and Gentlemen, particularly for you civilians out there, to
really get a sense of the sacrifice and what our
nation does to take care of these brave men and

(29:31):
women who make the ultimate sacrifice for us. Yeah, Mike,
I teased you know, there's this, I guess a parlor
game I've never played, or something called six Degrees of
Separation from Kevin Bacon. Kevin was chosen to play you
in the film. Although frankly, sir, you're a lot more
handsome than Kevin was. But I mean, you know, if
you got to have Kevin Bacon, I guess you got

(29:51):
to have Kevin Bacon. You told a funny story you
would just this is progressing and Kevin is selected to
be the lead actor in your role, and you'd only
been on your job like two or three days, and
you've got to go to your boss and say, I
need to take a break because Kevin Bacon's come to
visit the Pentagon.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah. Well, yeah, you nailed it. When I retired from
active duty, I started at the Pentagon and started on
a Monday, and I had to go ask my boss
for a couple of days of unpaid leave because I
hadn't didn't have any leaves built up yet to take.
And he said, it's your first week on the job.
What do you need leave for? And I said, well,

(30:34):
Kevin Bacon's coming to visit me. And I'm sure my
boss was skeptical at first and wondering who's this guy
that he just hired. So Kevin graciously agreed to come
with me to the Pentagon so I could show him
to my boss, and we walked around and my boss
ended up giving Kevin Bacon a tour of the Pentagon.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
Did you have a chance to interact with Kevin at all?
And the reason I asked that, I've interviewed navy veteran
and I can't remember her rank. I think she was
senior on listed. She might have been a chief, but
she's very active in Hollywood. And she expressed discomfort with
one role she was given where she was playing a
major general, an Air Force major general, and she said,

(31:16):
you know, I just I didn't feel quite right putting
on a general's uniform. Did Kevin have as a civilian?
Did he ever share any reticence about that or a
role as a role as a role.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
No, he didn't express any reticence to me about wearing
a uniform. Here's a good trivia question, how many times
how many movies has Kevin Bacon played a marine? The
answer is three. One was A Few Good Men, okay,
and another one was Frost Nixon and where he was

(31:50):
usually in civilian clothes, as I recall. But I think
Taking Chance came after both of those, and so he
was he had some experience where in a marine uniform.
I will say he approached that role with seriousness and
honor and humility and dignity, and I think he really

(32:11):
did himself proud the way he executed that role.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah, he definitely nailed it, sir. I tell you there's
for me, one of the most powerful series of scenes
in the film are these little snippets and flashes that
we get of the teams that aren't I hate to
use the word processing, but basically that's what they were.
They were, you know, cleaning up his remains. You know,

(32:39):
they're air brushing the cross, not airbrushing, but cleaning the
cross and the medallion he was wearring.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
And just.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
What comes through is just how respectfully and lovingly these
people who once again never met Chance Phelp and he
might have been the you know, twentieth marine that they
had handled that month. That just really struck me.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Sir, Yeah, I have to agree with you. I would
point out that as an escort, I didn't see that
part of the of the preparations. But what was interesting
is there was a marine Master gunnery sergeant was the
staff and CEO in charge of the Marine detachment at Dover,

(33:26):
and they made him an advisor on the movie. So
and the Department of Defense gave the crew of the
movie limited crew like the director and some others, access
to the port mortuary at Dover. Now, they didn't go
and see bodies, but they learned about the process. And

(33:46):
the Department of Defense was very supportive. And I say
all that just to say that even though I didn't
see it, I know I've talked to that Master Gunnery
sergeant enough to know that they really got the details
right in what happens behind the scenes Dover and how
much dose people care.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
Well. And there's a scene in the movie that actually
happened where you just before the funeral ceremony, even though
it was going to be an open card I'm sorry,
a closed casket funeral. You wanted to open the casket
and just one more time, just make sure everything was
squared away for chance.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah. We were at the funeral home in Riverton, Wyoming,
and I asked the funeral director to open the casket
so that I could check on his uniform and make
sure everything was squared away. And there were a lot
of strong emotions in that moment, and one of them
I was struck by how perfect Chances uniform was. It's

(34:42):
a very painstaking cask. To tailor a uniform to inspection standards,
to polish the belt buckle to symbol and place the
bribbons and the marksmanship badges and the eagle globe, globe
and anchor and make everything look inspection ready. It takes
a lot of work. But that the staff at Dover

(35:03):
did it for Chance, and they did it perfectly. And
you know, like you said, what's even more amazing about
that is that they knew it was going to be
a closed casket funeral and they expected no one would
ever see how well they took care of that uniform,
but they still did everything they could to make it perfect.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
Sir, We're kind of running out of time. Always happens,
and we have a great guest, but I'd like to
talk a little bit about the kind of the second
and third order effects of this film. I'm sure you
had no idea when you were first Johnny those notes
on the plane, that this would become so huge. I
guess it's the most watched HBO original in five years.
And the former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said that

(35:45):
that film itself had an impact on him on his
decision to allow the media access to the transfer fallen
service members at Dover Air Force Base, which I think
is very powerful as well. And then lastly, real quickly
just touched on it. My understanding, his Chance family also
have done everything they can to redirect any attention from
themselves to other programs to help wounded and the gold

(36:09):
Star families.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, you know, one of the things, although it was
a tragic impetus, I'm so grateful to have met Chances family,
and they continue to inspire and amaze me. And they have,
like you said, they've tried to take the attention that
this movie has brought and redirect it to efforts to

(36:34):
help service members and gold Star families. It's just utterly inspiring.

Speaker 3 (36:41):
Do you think that your experience Taking Chance home continues
to influence you in your current role.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
Sir, Oh you bet, I do you know? I get
to work with marines every day, and it's it's just
tumbling the debtiction and the work ethic, the energy that
they bring to their job, and they're focus on the mission.

(37:09):
And I think you know, when you spend a week
escorting the remains of a nineteen year old junior marine
back to his family, you can't help but be reminded
vividly and unforgettably that you know, all these marines have families,
they all came from somewhere, they all had choices, they

(37:31):
didn't have to join the Marine Corps, and I just
feel truly humbled to be part of the team.

Speaker 3 (37:36):
Still, Mike, has been a pleasure speaking with you, And again,
I'm glad you use that language because it's not I
don't want to say it's my favorite movie to watch,
because it is. It is horard, but it's so powerful
and I encourage everyone to watch Taking Chance. I tell
you one of my concerns, as just a maybe more
educated than average civilian when it comes to the militaries,

(37:57):
I want to remind people that even though We're not
in a full out shooting war. It's a dangerous business
and people are still getting hurt. People are still getting killed,
you know, even in training out there, and I don't
want anyone to let their foot off the gas pedal
when it comes to appreciating the sacrifices that these families
continue to make on our behalf.

Speaker 2 (38:18):
Yeah, thanks for that, very well said.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
And second movie in the hopper for Mike Strobel or
you're one and done well.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
I actually have written a book, a more and much
more fun thing, a children's Christmas book called Santa Camp,
and I've heard many people It's gotten great reviews on Amazon,
and I've heard many people say it would make a
great movie. So that's kind of if there's going to
be another one that might.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
Be it outstanding, well, I look forward to it. The
ten Colonel Struggle. Thank you for sharing your time with
our listeners here today, and thank you for continuing to
serve our nation and support our marines in your current
role there.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah, thank you, Ben, Thanks for what you do.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
It's been a pleasure truly. Sir, Ladies and gentlemen, you've
heard it. Please please share these very powerful messages with
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You can find over six hundred podcasts at American Warrior
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(39:24):
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Speaker 1 (39:27):
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Speaker 3 (39:37):
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Speaker 1 (39:39):
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