{"id":120563,"date":"2014-05-01T23:52:42","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T05:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-family-never-forgets\/"},"modified":"2014-05-01T23:52:42","modified_gmt":"2014-05-02T05:52:42","slug":"a-family-never-forgets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-family-never-forgets\/","title":{"rendered":"A family never forgets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Phelps\"
Phelps<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It was April 9, 2004, Good Friday, when Marine Lance Cpl. Chance R. Phelps was killed during combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.<\/p>\n

At 19, Phelps had been out of boot camp less than a year when he was killed in action. He enlisted in the Marine Corps just 10 days after high school graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was 17, so I had to sign for him,\u201d said his mother, Gretchen Mack. \u201cBut that\u2019s what he wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her suffering still evident 10 years later, Mack paused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were behind him 100 percent,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Tucked along the west wall of the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, past the oldest rifle believed to be on display at the Cortez Gun and Sportsman Show, Mack was selling $50 raffle tickets for a chance to win a brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The proceeds benefited the Chance Phelps Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a way to honor our son\u2019s memory,\u201d said Mack, who established the foundation in 2006.<\/p>\n

An avid hunter and fisherman, Phelps lives on through the foundation, which provides an oasis to returning veterans and their families at a guest ranch near Dubois, Wyo. There, they enjoy horseback riding, hiking, fly-fishing and hunting, to name a few, all free of charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe close the ranch down, and invite as many military families as possible,\u201d said Mack. \u201cThere\u2019s no costs to them whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open to all military branches, Mack said she hopes the weekly retreats offer veterans suffering from mental anguish a time to refocus their life. She said Phelps\u2019 father, a Vietnam-era combat soldier, continues to suffer from mental war wounds, and if she can help just one returning veteran, then she\u2019s accomplished her task.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty-two veterans commit suicide every day,\u201d Mack said. \u201cThat\u2019s almost one an hour. One is too many.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are just falling through the cracks,\u201d she described. \u201cThey protected us and defended our country. We\u2019re just doing our part. That\u2019s our job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps story came to life in a 2009 HBO film starring Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance. The movie was based on Lt. Col. M.R. Strobl\u2019s trip report, one he was required to log during a weeklong military transport mission to return Phelps\u2019 home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a basic report that turned out to mean so much more to him,\u201d Mack explained. \u201cHe basically poured his guts out.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the journey, Strobl recalled that Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed. Eight days later, he handed the medallion to Phelps\u2019 mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know Chance before he died,\u201d Strobl would later write. \u201cToday, I miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the story first went viral, Hollywood approached.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to do the movie,\u201d Mack said. \u201cWe just wanted our son back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family eventually agreed to the film with certain stipulations, including the story remained apolitical and it honored their son in a positive fashion. Mack said she\u2019s only been able to view the movie once, in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great movie,\u201d she said. \u201cThey did a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strobl\u2019s journal and subsequent film also helped to alter governmental policy. Mack described it as a historical change in military protocol that finally allowed families to attend ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base when flag-draped caskets returned home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest thing now is Dover has a great chapel and a place for families to stay, said Mack. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

In closing, Mack invited any area veteran wishing to arrange a ranch getaway to visit chancephelps.org for details.<\/p>\n

tbaker@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

casualty of war raises funds at gun show to honor Phelps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5843],"tags":[255,2836,184],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-120563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living","tag-death-and-dying","tag-international-military-intervention","tag-veterans-affairs"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120563"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=120563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}