Marvin Gardens
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 R.I.P. Jimmy Chance
>< A funeral in our county this Saturday.>< First State Guardsman to Die in Iraq Buried
Home at Last
By Janet Braswell
American Senior Writer jbraswell@hattiesb.gannett.com
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God Bless, Marv
KOKOMO - Spc. James Anderson Chance III knew the risk when he put himself at the front of a convoy in Iraq, the Rev. Jimmy Jones told mourners at the Mississippi National Guard soldier's funeral Saturday.
"Jimmy only lived for 25 years, but he's considered a hero," Jones said. "Jimmy volunteered to lead a supply convoy. He told them, 'I'm single. In case we get hit, I don't want someone with a wife and children to get hurt.'"
Chance, a member of Company C, 890th Engineer Battalion, Mississippi National Guard, died Nov. 6 when his truck hit a land mine near the Husaybah border crossing with Syria. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and Mississippi's Magnolia Cross medals posthumously.
Volunteering to lead the convoy was in character for Chance, said his uncle, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Cecil Chance, who is home on leave from Iraq.
"He was dedicated," Cecil Chance said. "We discussed if we're not there fighting the terrorists, we'll be fighting them here on our doorsteps. He was glad to be able to do his part."
Cecil Chance, stationed in Germany with the 11th Aviation Regiment, and his nephew were at the same base in Iraq for about four months.
"We got to visit each other several times," he said.
An honor guard of Mississippi National Guard soldiers carried Jimmy Chance to his final resting place in the cemetery behind Kokomo United Methodist Church. The traditional 21-gun salute and bugler playing Taps brought many gathered at the gravesite to tears.
"He deserved every bit of it," said Sgt. Jamie Holmes, a Company C soldier home on leave. "He was one of my best friends, and I'll miss him."
Allen Chance broke down in tears after the family received the American flag that had draped his brother's coffin from Maj. Gen. James H. Lipscomb Jr., the state adjutant general.
Lipscomb, who presented the family with Chance's medals Friday, brought them a letter from Lt. Col. Johnny Sellers of Purvis, commander of the 890th.
"He spoke very highly of his dedication and willingness to take on anything asked of him," Lipscomb said. "It was a very touching letter."
Jones, pastor of Crooked Creek Baptist Church in Lawrence County, remembered Chance as a perpetually happy adolescent with a streak of mischief.
He told the family to resist the urge to blame God, President Bush, his fellow soldiers or even Saddam Hussein for Jimmy Chance's death.
"Jimmy gave his life, first of all for his comrades, the soldiers fighting with him," he said. "But more than that, he gave his life for us, this country and the freedoms it stands for. But more than that, he gave his life for the people of a foreign country.
"We thank God for Jimmy. We just pray that we can continue to honor his life. Where there's a lot of grief and sorrow, there's a lot of love."
The Rev. Andy Rushing, pastor of Kokomo United Methodist Church, reassured mourners that Chance knows peace in heaven.
"Jimmy Chance is alive," he said. "We may not be able to physically embrace him, but in the place where God dwells, the spirit of Jimmy Chance is there, too. Jimmy is in a place you and I can only dream about now."
The Rev. Glenn Nace, pastor of neighboring Kokomo Baptist Church, also spoke of Jimmy Chance's place in heaven and God's love.
"God's a compassionate god, a loving god," he said. "Don't blame God. It's because God sent his son Jesus that we have hope that ol' Jimmy's alive today."
The deaths of Jimmy Chance and the thousands of Americans who have died in combat are the price of freedom, he said.
"It hurts us, doesn't it?" he said. "I see the military people here. It does my heart good to know our country is being protected. Jimmy Chance didn't die in vain. We live in a free world because people are willing to give their lives for freedom. Freedom isn't cheap."
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