TV Watch: Taking Chance

Every other review that I've done in these 'TV Watch' items has been about a television series, and so HBO's 'Taking Chance' is the first movie-length program that has made the grade.

An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, this true story is one of the most moving and emotional war films of all-time, yet it contains no more than a couple minutes of actual combat action. Instead, 'Taking Chance' tells the story of two men who never meet in life, but whose paths cross in a most unusual and pivotal manner.

Kevin Bacon plays the starring role of United States Marine Colonel Michael Strobl who served his country well in Operation Desert Storm back in the early 1990's and who then drifted later in his career into an office-type desk job position. Strobl is now an analyst with the Department of Defense, and he struggles with his desk job role, particularly when he passes over an opportunity to serve in Iraq in order to remain home and close to his wife and two young children.

His struggle is that of a former warrior who still feels the call of the battlefield, and the responsibility that only those who have warn the uniform can know. That responsibility is not only for your country or municipality, as those in the military or in other uniformed service such as police officers know, but also to your fellow men and women in uniform.

To put it directly, Strobl wrestles with the idea that he may not have done enough in his career to earn his Marine title. He spends some of his off-duty time searching through the Department of Defense website, scouring the casualty lists to see if anyone that he knows or has a connection with has been injured or killed in battle.

One day as he searches the site he comes across the name of PFC Chance Phelps and notices that Phelps comes from the same small hometown as Strobl himself came from. Strobl feels the call to do something, and volunteers for the mission of escort duty, the person who travels with the deceased body from its arrival on U.S. soil through to the funeral home.

This is the dramatic story of Lt. Colonel Strobl and PFC Chance Phelps, their travel together from Philadelphia to Minnesota to the final resting place at Phelps' family home in Wyoming. It is the story of the emotional reaction of regular people, from airline pilots, ground crew, and service staff to Strobl's fellow passengers, to all manner of regular people along the way who take the time to stop and reflect as they see Chance's body being transported, or as they become aware of Strobl's assignment.

Chance Phelps was inspired, as were many young Americans, to join the military after the attacks of September 11th, 2001. These fine men and women understood that the United States of America is not the product of words on a paper, but is in reality the product of men and women like them who were willing to stand up and fight for freedom and democracy. P

helps was just 19 years old when he was killed in Iraq, but he was highly decorated for such a young man. He was the recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Valor, among a number of other decorations. He was also a wise-cracking young man with an infectious sense of humor which he never lost right up to the day he died.

The folks at HBO put together some of the finest work on television today, and that they bring this kind of quality film to the small screen is no surprise. Kevin Bacon does an outstanding, understated job of somehow in the end relating that his is really the supporting character. It is Chance Phelps who is the star, and the story of Michael Strobl taking Chance home is one that you simply should not miss. NOTE: This is the latest in the 'TV Watch' series, all the reviews of which you can read by clicking in to that below label.

Islamism Series: Mumbai

Radical Islam has once again reared its ugly head, this time in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, the financial and entertainment capital of the largest Democracy on the face of the earth in India. This marks yet another major attack by Islamic military forces against the free world in their efforts to spread the rule of Islam around the globe - which is their ultimate goal. Their aim in attacks such as this is not only to kill, injure, and generally terrorize those in the free world, but it is much larger. Their aim in Mumbai was the same as in New York, in Madrid, in London, in Paris. It is nothing less than creating enough fear and damage, both physical and psychological, to effect political and societal changes in those nations that will make it easier and easier over time to effectuate the ultimate control of these nations by Islam. They wish to unite the world in a new Caliphate, the rule by Muslims of every nation under Islamic Sharia law. They will play off governments such as those in Pakistan and India, Russia and the United States, China and Tibet, against one another anywhere that they can to use existing differences to undermine these governments. As is evident from the elections here in the United States earlier this month, normal everyday people simply cannot stomach fighting a lengthy war of civilizations. That is exactly what the Jihadist forces are counting on: their victory in the long term over more physically and financially powerful forces by demoralizing the citizens of those non-Islamic nations. They will fight, deceive, and by any means necessary spread their Jihad slowly but surely. Meanwhile, many Western news and political sources will look only at the distraction of ethnic and national differences and disputes, will be distracted by smaller terror groups and individual ideological leaders, and will miss the bigger, more important picture. Radical Islam has declared war on the West, and any nation or government that is not Islamic. The attacks in Mumbai, like those in the U.S. and other places around the world, are not isolated. They are another front opened in the global Jihad, just one more battle to them in a larger war. It bears being mentioned once again that if we fail to fight them fully and defeat them utterly, this will be a battle that our grandchildren's granchildren will be fighting. Since we appear to be unwilling to do the heavy lifting, there will be many, many more attacks like those in Mumbai, many more governments turning sympathetic towards Islam, many more Americans eventually paying the price here on our home soil. More to come in the days to come on the developing Mumbai situation and its relation to the big picture.

Islamism Series: Challenging Obama

Welcome to the real world, President-elect Obama. It was one thing to use speaking eloquence and the Chicago political machine to rise to power. It was one thing to win a U.S. Senate seat, and then use dissatisfaction with the status quo to rise to the Presidency. But that inexperience is about to catch up to you. A few years in the Senate, most of it spent running for President, is simply not enough experience to be the leader of the free world. We in America and the entire Western world have to hope that the man is a fast learner. Just a day after Barack Obama received his first official security briefing from the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, the New York Sun reports that Obama and the American public will soon receive a video address from none other than Osama bin Laden himself. Fanatical hate preacher Omar Bakri has led chats in extremist Arabic chat rooms announcing that the new video will likely come when Obama names his cabinet, and will warn Obama that "We will fight him if he fights against Islam." A key Iraqi al Qaeda propagandist, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, made an internet speech in which he told Obama that "it's better for you and us to withdraw your forces and return to your homes." Obama has pledged that he will redeploy American resources in the Middle East in order to go after bin Laden in the Afghani tribal regions where the al Qaeda leader is believed to be hiding. However, the CIA apparently has far greater intel on the whereabouts of al Qaeda's #2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, which might lead to addressing efforts to go after him first. President George W. Bush will meet directly with Obama on Monday in a further effort to update him on homeland defense, among other issues. In a recent speech in front of various White House staffers, President Bush stated that the terrorist threat is a main reason that they “all of must ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running.” During the campaign, Obama pledged to give commanders a new mission in Iraq: to successfully end the war with a 'responsible and phased' withdrawal of troops. Dissatisfaction with the prosecution of the war was a key component to Obama's election victory. It was also yet another sign that the American press and public simply do not have the fortitude at this stage to win this vital struggle between civilizations and ideologies. The Obama camp and many of its followers simply do not believe the magnitude of the threat that Islamofascism poses to Israel, the United States, and the world. Either that, or they know and simply do not care, choosing instead to focus on other issues for now, and deciding to deal with military issues as they develop in the future. In other words, they are choosing to once again put a band aid on a longterm serious problem, rather than address it now and completely. This is a recipe for disaster that will likely play out now in an Obama administration. Islamofascists will view any U.S. withdrawal as an opportunity, and a victory. They will rightly say that they again simply waited us out, that they knew we could never defeat them long term, that we simply didn't have the stomach for it. They will consolidate their power in the Middle East once we leave, including increased pressure on Israel, igniting even worse conditions than exist today. The Veep-elect, Joe Biden, stated in the run-up to the election "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama...we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy...he's gonna need help...because it's not gonna be apparent initially that we're right." It's a shame that those of us who know this will be the outcome have not been able to convince enough of America, but apparently it will take another 9/11, or worse, to awaken that sleeping giant fully. I have to hope that the President-elect is finally exposed to the reality of the situation in the coming days, weeks, and months, and changes his tune on what needs to be done. Otherwise, the Islamofascists will seriously challenge a President Obama, judging correctly that he will do little or nothing to stop them.
NOTE: All items in the 'Islamism Series' can be viewed by simply clicking on that below 'Label'.

How Would Jesus Vote ?

'What Would Jesus Do?' is a popular saying sometimes shortened to the simple acronym 'WWJD' on bumper stickers. A new play on that might be 'HWJV', or 'How Would Jesus Vote?' Now some might say that it is more than a bit presumptuous for myself or anyone else to try and get inside the head of Jesus Christ and determine who he likely would vote for in Tuesday's U.S. Presidential election. But I definitely do not think that it is a question that should not be at least thought about and explored. Let's look at the issues, and see how one might interpret Christ's view of them. He was not against taxes, telling us directly that we should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's." What Jesus was about on this issue was excessive taxation, and so we find that He understands the necessity of taxes to support public works, but is against over burdening the taxpayer. On the issue of taxation, Barack Obama claims that he will give a 'middle-class' tax cut, but will raise corporate taxes. Of course as has been proven time and time again, corporations who have their taxes raised will not take on this burden, they will pass it along to their customers in the price of the goods they sell. In addition, if their tax burden gets too high, it has often resulted in businesses laying off workers, even shutting down completely. So as we see, Obama's plan might give that middle-class a tax cut on one hand, and effectively take it away or even worsen the situation on the other hand. With John McCain, the 'Bush tax cuts' due to soon expire, tax cuts that stimulated our economy, will have an advocate to keep them going. Those are very real tax cuts that have already been given to the middle-class. If allowed to expire, as Obama wants, they will result in a tax increase to that middle-class. The fact of the matter is that on taxes, in my opinion, Jesus would be squarely in the McCain camp. Let's move on to the important issues of judicial appointments and the key issue of abortion. This one is almost a no-brainer. Obama supports a woman's perceived 'right' to 'choose' to kill her baby as a method of birth control, even up to the point of not providing medical care to a child that survives the abortion procedure. That is not an exaggeration, that is his actual position. John McCain believes that the abortion procedure should only be a last resort for medical reasons, and would appoint justices who would hopefully overturn the 'Roe vs. Wade' decision that has resulted in a holocaust of millions of American babies begin killed over the past 30+ years. The fact is that without the 'Roe' decision, tens of millions of Americans would have lived, and had their own children. Just imagine what some of these young people might have accomplished had their parents chosen simply to allow them the most basic gift of the life that those parents got to live. Let's move on to the recent issue of war and national protection. Clearly, Jesus would have been against war as an action, because by it's very nature it involves the taking of human life. Just as clearly, Obama would like to end the current war actions in the Middle East and 'bring home the troops'. McCain would just as clearly continue the actions of our military in battling Islamofascism. The fact is that Jesus certainly would not have taken his 'turn the other cheek' teaching, one that he directed towards individuals to seek reconciliation rather than retribution, to apply to nations trying to defend the existence of Christianity. If you don't understand that the radical Islamists in the Middle East fully intend to destroy Western civilization, Judaism, Christianity, and every other 'ism' that stand in the way of their world dominance, then you simply are not educated enough on this issue. If the U.S. pulls its troops out of the Middle East before strong, stable democracies are formed there that can stand up for themselves, then the Islamofascists will overrun the region. If you say 'Who cares?' to that, then you are extremely naive. Jesus Christ was far from naive, and would understand that a war to stop Adolf Hitler from dominating the world and spreading racial and religious hatred, a 'Cold War' to stop Soviet socialism from dominating the world and destroying individual freedoms, and a war to stop Islamofascism from dominating the world and destroying His message would need to be fought. Sometimes making the hard decision in life, and having to roll up your sleeves and fight, is the only way to defend freedom and even life itself. War to save lives? That is exactly right. The Church has always supported the idea of a 'Just' war, and so would Christ. He thus would not support us coming home, turning our back on world responsibilities, and allowing the systematic ethnic and religious cleansing, death, regional conflict, and destruction that would result from our leaving the Middle East. Finally, on the issue of health care for all, would Jesus support the government giving away a poor quality of health care at a burdensome cost to everyone in massive tax increases, or would he support continuing to allow the greatest medical and health care system in the history of the planet to remain the way it is? My belief is that he would keep the current system that allows freedom of choice, opportunities and incentives for research into further advances, advanced care like none other in the world, and that still finds a way to give basic care to the most indigent who walk through emergency room doors. He certainly would not support a socialized system such as the all-inclusive government health care of Canada, where citizens literally die while on a waiting list for operations, and where in desperation they cross the borders to partake of the current American health care system. Jesus certainly would be attracted to the idea that Obama is part African-American, and thus would take that social aspect into consideration. Of course, he would also be attracted to Sarah Palin's candidacy as Vice-President on the Republican side, and the fact that she very well could end up as the first female President. My guess is that Jesus would not in the end be swayed by race, sex, religion, ethnicity, or anything other than who would be better at guiding the nation under a Christian ideal. No matter what campaign rhetoric might say, both candidates would support aid to the truly poor and needy in our country. This election's 'Choice' has perhaps been clearer than any in history. You can choose to vote for Obama: raise taxes, spend ourselves further into debt, embolden terror regimes, kill more babies, trash our Constitution. Or you can choose to vote for McCain: controlled taxation, reduced spending, strong military defense, supportive of traditional American values, and perhaps most importantly an administration that will value human life. Many opinion polls, broadcast news shows, entertainers, and liberal print media are trying to sell the public that this election is already over. Republicans, conservatives, traditional Americans, just stay home because you can't win anyway. I say this election is going to shock the liberal elements with its closeness, and two nights from now they will be wondering what could have happened to those big leads that they were being sold. I also say that, if he were alive today and a U.S. citizen, the answer to the acronym 'WHJV' is that Jesus Christ would be voting for John McCain for President.

Real American Hero: Jason Dunham

On November 10th, 1775, at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, what was then known as the 'Continental Marines' was organized directly by the Continental Congress for the Revolutionary War as the on-board force directed to protect the Captain of a naval ship and his officers.

In January of 1783, with the war over, the Marines and the Navy were disbanded. However, a few individual Marines remained as security for the few American naval vessels remaining until, in 1798, the entire institution of both the Navy and the Marines was reconstituted to meet the needs of a pending naval war with France.

Since that time, the Marines have fought in every American military campaign, rising to particular prominence with their efforts in World War II. My own father, Matthew Veasey Jr, was a United States Marine, serving during the time between Korea and Vietnam. My wife's father, Robert Marshall, still living, actually served in the Corps during WWII. They are a part of the great tradition of defending our nation, as are the approximately 194,000 active-duty and 40,000 reserves of today's United States Marine Corps.

As many heroic Marines as there are serving today, and have served in the decades since the end of the Vietnam War, there have been none more heroic than 22-year old Corporal Jason Dunham of Scio, New York. Dunham is the latest Real American Hero to by highlighted here at the website, the only U.S. Marine since Vietnam to be awarded the nation's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A man who had selflessly served his country and was scheduled to go home, Corporal Dunham had nevertheless extended his service in order to continue on with his group, some of whom told him he was crazy to stay when he was able to go. But Dunham had told them that all he wanted was to do whatever he could "to see that my boys all get home."

As CNN told the story, Corporal Dunham was leading a patrol in the Iraqi town of Karabilah near the Syrian border on April 14th, 2004. The patrol stopped a convoy of cars that was leaving the area of an attack on another Marine convoy. One of the vehicle occupants suddenly attacked Dunham, and the two began a hand-to-hand struggle during which his attacker suddenly pulled a grenade.

Dunham yelled to his fellow Marines "No, no, watch his hand" and the attacker dropped what turned out to be a bomb-type hand grenade near the group. Dunham instinctively hurled himself on top of it, using his helmet to help try to blunt the force of the blast. Dunham was critically wounded as the grenade exploded, dying eight days later at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. A member of his group was quoted as saying "He knew what he was doing. He wanted to save Marine lives."

There is no greater love that a man have than he lay down his life for his friends. This is an old motto that encapsulates the split-second decision that Jason Dunham made on that fateful day, the kind of decision that highlights the differences between real heroes and the rest of us.

On April 11th, 2007, President Bush presented Dunham's parents with his Medal of Honor, and in the body of the citation it describes his actions:

"In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Navy."

Michael M. Philips, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, penned Dunham's story in his book "The Gift of Valor: A War Story" which is available through Amazon by clicking into the title of this blog entry.


(NOTE: you will be able to view all the Real American Hero stories by clicking into that below label)

Real American Hero: Paul Smith

The Congressional 'Medal of Honor' is our nation's highest military award. There have been over 3,400 recipients in our history, but just over 840 since requirements were tightened in World War II. In order to be eligible a person must be nominated by his or her commanders. The nominee then must have their story wind through a dozen levels of military and presidential reviews, during which various factors are taken into account to ensure that only the greatest among the many noble sacrifices are selected for the final honors. Some of it's recipients have gone on to fame, or earned it by their honored actions, including President Teddy Roosevelt, Audie Murphy in World War II, and even 'Buffalo Bill' Hickock. It's recipients have been called 'unsung soldiers who acted valiantly in a moment of extraordinary pressure'. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, over a million military men and women have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the first from this 'War on Islamofascist Terror' to be so honored was Sergeant Paul Smith. He grew up in Tampa, Florida, enlisted in the Army in 1989, and served in the first Gulf War in 1991. He didn't join up at first out of patriotism, that developed later. At first he wanted just a good-paying job right out of high school, and saw this as his best shot. A career soldier, Paul Smith was serving in Bosnia when the United States was attacked in 2001. In April of 2003 he had moved on to Iraq, and was serving there as a combat engineer as his unit moved from Kuwait towards Baghdad, seizing a part of the Baghdad Airport on April 3rd, 2003. The following morning, Paul was part of a team that was constructing a holding cell that would house prisoners of war, when the company came under attack by at least 100 Iraqi soldiers of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guard. Paul took charge of their defense and response, calling in for support and hurling a grenade at the Iraqi postions while coming under heavy enemy fire. Iraqi mortar hit an M-113 engineering vehicle, injuring all three occupants, and Paul rushed in to help them to the safety of a nearby medical unit, which was itself now becoming endangered by the growing Iraqi attacks. He could have retreated at that point, saving his life, but that would have meant the Iraqis advancing, and likely dozens of deaths on the American side. Instead, he grabbed control of the M-113's .50 caliber guns and fired back at the Iraqis, reloaded, and fired again, then reloaded and fired a third time. As he got off this round, pinning the Iraqis down, he was struck in the neck by their return fire and was killed. He had killed two to four dozen Iraqi troops, allowed wounded Americans to be evacuated, and saved the aid station and likely all those working, securing, and being treated there. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, with President Bush presenting to his widow, Brigit Smith, who later said: "I'm proud and honored that Paul would be recognized by his country in such a meaningful way. He loved his country; he loved the Army; and he loved his soldiers." That about sums up all you need to know about this Real American Hero, Army Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, who is the first of many who will be highlighted here at my website as we move forward. Far above sporting and entertainment celebrities whom the media would have you believe are heroic and more worthy of your attention, these folks lay their lives, and the security of their families, on the line every day to ensure the security of the United States of America. (NOTE: you will be able to view all the Real American Hero stories by clicking into that below label)