Monday, June 14, 2010

Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, USMC, 1984-2004

Chance Phelps
Yesterday I visited the grave of Chance Phelps at the cemetery in Dubois, Wyoming. The cemetery is located on a hill overlooking Dubois. This was the information that I got from a gravestone and a grave marker:

Chance Russell Phelps
July 14, 1984-
April 9, 2004

Lance Corporal
U.S. Marine Corps

Bronze Star with Valor
Purple Heart

Operation Iraqi Freedom

KIA, Al Anbar, Iraq

I then walked to the elementary/middle school on the north side of town. There was this little park with a sign that read: "Chance Phelps Community Memorial Park".

In the past year, there was a film about Chance Phelps starring Kevin Bacon: Taking Chance. It was a 2009 Sundance Film Festival Award Winner. Kevin Bacon won The Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild Award for his portrayal of Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl. I have yet to see the film; I have heard that it is very good.

I remember well back in 2004 I was hitchhiking in the Dubois-Riverton neighborhood and I got dropped off in some town and I looked at this newspaper. There was a photograph on the front page of the Casper Star-Tribune. There was a casket and it had an American flag draped over it. The casket was carrying the body of Chance Phelps and it was being transported to the cemetery with a wagon and a team of horses. You could see the Wind River Mountains in the background.

Freedom is not free. Lance Corporal Phelps sacrificed his life so that others could live free.

The Chance Phelps Foundation
Tears of a Warrior
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Hand on the Helm
At a Cafe in Merriman, Nebraska
Fisher House
Dubois, Wyoming
Freedom to Bear Arms
Alvin C. York
No Jump Tonight!
Two Cabins in the Wind River Mountains
Chris Kyle:  An American Hero
GUNS UP!
A Conversation with a Vietnam Veteran
The American Flag:  A Christian Symbol
They Tortured My Father. That's Why I Fight

8 comments:

  1. Tim. Thanks for taking the time to honor this fallen warrior. I watched the movie. It was very moving and powerful.

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    1. As i watch the movie from beginning to it's end,I could not stop the tears. We have lost so many. It was an honor to watch. Thanks to the family for sharing this with others who may not know what it takes to send a fallen home. God Bless you and God Bless America!

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  2. I have not yet seen the film "Taking Chance". I have heard a lot of good things about it. Once I was hitchhiking through Dubois and Kevin Bacon and his brother were going to perform in a band at a local park--I think it was a year ago. It was a benefit for some organization--it might have been for The Chance Phelps Foundation.

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  3. I finally saw the film "Taking Chance" last night in a motel room. It was very good. I thought Kevin Bacon did an excellent job in his role as Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl.

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  4. This brave young man is the very reason that every American should stand for the National Anthem. My grandfather was KIA in WWII, so my mom grew up very poor without a dad. I think of her whenever I see movies like "Taking Chance." God bless.

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    1. Teresa: Thank you for your comment. I also think that every American should stand for the National Anthem.

      To the players in the NFL who refuse to stand for the National Anthem: I hope the NFL goes belly up. The United States needs the NFL like someone needs a hole in their head.

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    2. I agree everyone needs to stand for the National Anthem. If they think they can find a better country, they should go there. No one is worth that much money anyway. NFL or any other celebrities!

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  5. Great movie. Have watched it several times.

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