A few weeks ago I mentioned the HBO movie Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon. Since that writing I have seen numerous positive reviews of the movie and tonight I finally got to watch it.

As expected, it was moving and inspiring at the same time. Having served in the Marines for ten years and having been to military funerals I knew what to expect but I don’t think we are ever quite ready for the sting of an untimely death, no matter what the cause.

LCpl Chance died in service to our country. Like 4913 other fallen warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan, he volunteered to serve and he served with honor. The story of his return home is an American story for all Americans. It transcends the rancor of politics and the hysteria of the fault finding media. It shows us at our best when faced with something so bad. And, it is true. Hollywood cannot write a better screenplay then the one the American people co-wrote on his journey home.

I encourage you to watch it. There are fewer veterans in America than at any time in our recent history. We have a smaller percentage of people who have served on active duty and, by extension, a smaller percentage of our population that knows someone serving. Regrettably, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is more a television event than something that touches our lives.

I was in NYC on 9-11. I got a ride to my family on Long Island and for the next several days I was stuck. The TV coverage of lower Manhattan was 24/7. There was nothing else on the TV. When I was able to drive off the Island once the bridges were opened I worked my way south. I remember stopping for gas somewhere near the VA/NC line and on the TV in the store was an afternoon talk show. Several hundred miles north a search and rescue mission was still taking place but that would be reserved for the evening news. Life was back to normal. Today I see similar attention and behavior in regard to the war. I understand. Who wants to see that every day? So we put it out of our mind. I get it. I don’t agree but I get it. I just will not do it.

HBO is presenting you with an opportunity to bring it out of the back of your mind for 77 minutes. The war is real. The 4913 are KIA but thousands more are wounded and the toll of casualties from PTSD and suicide is unknown. We are not faced with losses like we faced in Vietnam. Our society is not being profoundly affected because the numbers of people in country and on the casualty list are relatively small. It is about someone else, someone you don’t even know. Unless your last name is Chance. Or Ruocco. Or Whitworth. Or…..

You owe it to yourself as an American to watch the movie. You don’t owe the 4913 fallen anything, nor would they want anything. Except… perhaps…. your respect…. Here is a way to show it.

Semper Fidelis.

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