This is the first part of a two-part story.
Two Marines. One, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, was a seasoned veteran who knew the taste of war; the other was Pfc. Chance Phelps, a 19-year-old who lost his life after barely a month in combat.
The story of both men is told in an upcoming HBO Films production, “Taking Chance,” on which Magnolia resident William D. “Zig” Zwicharowski served as technical advisor. A licensed funeral director, Zwicharowski is a senior mortuary specialist at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs on Dover Air Force Base.
Zwicharowski had been on hand when HBO officials visited the mortuary during pre-production scouting. When the producers realized they needed an expert on military protocol and mortuary affairs, Air Force officials tapped Zwicharowski and Marine liaison Master Sgt. Vic Szalankiewicz for the job.
“I was caught a little off guard that Air Mobility Command decided I would go,” Zwicharowski said. “I was honored to go and felt very confident I could do it justice.”
An unusual mission
Strobl never met Phelps, but the private’s death in Iraq would have a far reaching effect on the Desert Storm veteran. In 2004, while stationed at Quantico, Va., Strobl was given a casualty report that listed Phelps’ name and, erroneously it turned out, showed the two shared the same hometown. In an unusual move for a senior officer, Strobl asked for the duty of escorting the young enlisted man’s remains back for burial in the tiny town of Dubois, Wyo.
During the cross-country trip, Strobl got a first-hand look at the deep and abiding respect Americans have for their fallen countrymen. He was so touched by the experience he put his thoughts in a memoir that later found its way into the hands of Oscar-winning producer Ross Katz. That journal was transformed into “Taking Chance,” with Katz assuming the roles of executive producer, co-writer, and for the first time, director.
Strobl is played by actor Kevin Bacon, who was Katz’s only choice for the role.
“One of the rules of working in film is you always make up a list of actors you’re interested in and you have a few names on that list as backup,” he said. “The reality is that I had a list of one, and that was Kevin.”
Bacon, who also played a Marine in “A Few Good Men,” and “Frost/Nixon,” was the perfect choice to play a man roiling with emotion inside while exhibiting controlled calm on the outside, Katz said. To prepare, Bacon spent a day with Strobl, looking for nuances he could bring to the role.
“I needed an actor who could convey those emotions yet not do it in an overt way,” Katz said. “He had to do it with the same truth and dignity a Marine would have. I found that in Kevin.”
In a separate interview, Bacon said he considered the role a unique one.
“I thought that what the character was going through was a great challenge for an actor because it’s obviously a very internalized thing,” he said. “You know, it’s not one of those kind of ‘wear your heart on your sleeve’ characters.”
The goodness of the American people
Now retired from the Marines, Strobl said “Taking Chance” began as a series of notes he wrote for a standard after-action report. But almost as soon as he started the escort duty at Dover, he realized there was something going on that could not be expressed in the unemotional style typical of military writing.
“It was striking how professional the military and civilian staff are who work there,” Strobl said of the Carson mortuary. “They’re dedicated to doing the right thing for the service member and their families.
“It’s even more poignant because their work is never talked about,” he said. “No one thinks about what goes on there.”
As his narrative progressed, Strobl recalled how airport personnel would escort him everywhere he needed to go, how his government-issued ticket was upgraded to first class and the time a flight attendant pressed a crucifix into his hand. Strobl later gave it to Phelps’ mother, Gretchen Mack, who placed it on her son’s coffin before it was lowered into the ground.
It seemed that wherever Strobl went, people talked their pride in what he was doing. Many asked him to express their condolences, even though none knew anything about the young Marine Strobl watched over.
“The whole reason I wrote it was to remember the goodness of the American people and how they reacted to Chance’s sacrifice and his family’s loss,” Strobl said.
“It really affirmed what I think is good about America, and I wanted others to see that,” he said.
The movie is not an Iraq war film, Strobl added, but something he hopes will show the human side of the conflict.
“If people see this movie and think that all of these people had lives in front of them, and they have families that think about them every day, then that would be worthwhile,” he said.
Afterward, Strobl found his time on escort duty affected him so completely he actually missed Phelps’ presence.
“I had basically been inseparable from him for a week, and that’s a lot of time to think about who he was, what he sacrificed and about his family,” Strobl said. “When I returned home, it was very surprising that I missed him though I had never actually met him.
“I learned so much about him that now I miss him in a different way.”
Always looking out for the underdog
Phelps’ father, John Phelps, thinks his son would have wondered why people would be interested in him.
“I think he’d just go, ‘Wow, that’s all about me?’” Mr. Phelps said. “He would not believe it, I’m sure.”
At 6 feet 2 inches tall, Chance Phelps was a skilled football player, wrestler and baseball player who could throw a 90 mph fastball. He was self-effacing, loved to keep people laughing and always a champion of the underdog, Mr. Phelps said.
“Some of those kids he protected came to the funeral and said how Chance had helped them at one time or another,” he said. “That’s just the kind of person he was.”
His son felt it was his duty to enlist after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A junior in high school at the time, and he shipped out to boot camp almost immediately after graduating in 2003.
Phelps was killed Good Friday, April 9, 2004, during an insurgent attack in Ramadi. Firing his weapon to keep the guerillas from escaping, he was hit in the head and died instantly.
Phelps was buried in Dubois, where he spent most of his early years. The Marine Corps posthumously awarded him the Bronze Star with valor and the Purple Heart.
Mr. Phelps first heard of “Taking Chance” when Strobl called and asked permission to share his narrative with others. It wasn’t long before he was contacted by HBO Films.
“When they had called about making the movie, the one thing we wanted was that they stick to the integrity of Col. Strobl’s story,” he said. “If they did that, it would be fine.”
It turned out there was little to worry about as Mr. Phelps realized when he saw the final version of “Taking Chance” at a special screening in Dubois.
“They did a fine job,” he said.
Next week, Zwicharow-ski discusses the making of “Taking Chance,” and how he almost immediately violated a cardinal rule of filmmaking.
“Taking Chance” is currently airing on HBO. A trailer for the film may be seen at www.hbo.com/-
Milford, Del. —
