Article: Chris Kyle January 2012.jpgborder
"The Legend", "Devil of Ramadi", "Tex"
United States
Chief Petty Officer E7
U.S. Navy SEALs
Sniper element, platoon "Charlie", SEAL Team 3
Silver Star Medal (2) Bronze Star Medal (Valor; 5) Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (1) Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2)
Wayne Kenneth Kyle (father)Deby Lynn Mercer (mother)Children: 2
American Sniper (2012)American Gun (2013)
Christopher Scott "Chris" Kyle (April 8, 1974 − February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL veteran and sniper, with 91 kills officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. Kyle served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He received two Silver Star Medals (one in secret), five Bronze Star Medals, one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and numerous other unit and personal awards.
Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009 and published his bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, in 2012. An eponymous film adaptation of Kyle's book, directed by Clint Eastwood, was released two years later. On February 2, 2013, Kyle was murdered by Eddie Ray Routh at a shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas. A former Marine suffering PTSD, Routh was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Early life
Kyle was born in Odessa, Texas, the first of two boys born to Deby Lynn (née Mercer) and Wayne Kenneth Kyle, a Sunday school teacher and deacon. Kyle's father bought his son his first rifle at 8 years old, a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield rifle, and later a shotgun, with which they hunted deer, pheasant, and quail. Growing up, Kyle, along with his brother, grew up raising up to one hundred fifty heads of cattle at a time. Kyle attended high school in Midlothian, Texas, and after graduating, became a professional bronco rodeo rider and ranch hand, but his professional rodeo career ended abruptly when he severely injured his arm.
Military career
After his arm healed, Kyle went to a military recruiting office, interested in joining the U.S. Marine Corps special operations. A U.S. Navy recruiter convinced him to try, instead, for the SEALs. Initially, Kyle was rejected because of the pins in his arm, but he eventually received an invitation to the 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL school (BUDS), which he joined in 1999.
Assigned to SEAL Team 3, sniper element, platoon "Charlie" (later "Cadillac"), within the Naval Special Warfare Command, and with four tours of duty, Kyle served in many major battles of the Iraq War. His first long-range kill shot was taken during the initial invasion when he shot a woman approaching a group of Marines while carrying a hand grenade. CNN reported that the woman was cradling a toddler in her other hand. As ordered, Kyle opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack. He later stated, "the woman was already dead. I was just making sure she didn't take any Marines with her. It was clear that not only did she want to kill them, but she didn’t care about anybody else nearby who would have been blown up by the grenade or killed in the firefight. Children on the street, people in the houses, maybe her child."
Because of his track record as a marksman during his deployment to Ramadi, the insurgents named Kyle Shaitan Ar-Ramadi (English: "The Devil of Ramadi"), and put a $21,000 bounty on his head that was later increased to $80,000. They posted signs highlighting the cross on his arm as a means of identifying him.
In his book, American Sniper, Kyle describes his longest successful shot: in 2008, outside Sadr City, he killed an insurgent sniper aiming at other members of the US military with "a straight-up luck shot" from his McMillan Tac-338 sniper rifle from about away.
During four tours of duty in the Iraq War, he was shot twice and survived six separate IED detonations.
Kyle became known by the moniker "The Legend" among the general infantry and Marines whom he was tasked to protect. This title nickname originated in jest among Kyle's fellow SEALs following his taking of a sabbatical to train other snipers in Fallujah (and sometimes jokingly, was supplemented by the handle "The Myth"). During four tours of duty in the Iraq War, he was shot twice and survived six separate IED detonations.
Number of kills as a sniper
While the Navy, Pentagon, and U.S. Special Operations Commands (SOC) have not challenged the claim that Kyle was the current top sniper, his exact number of sniper kills is obscure. To be counted as confirmed, "They basically had to see the person fall and be clearly dead", according to Jim DeFelice, one of the coauthors of Kyle's autobiography. Kyle's shooter's statements (shooter's statements are filled out by every sniper after a mission) were reported to higher command, who kept them in case any kill were contested as outside the Rules of Engagement (ROE). However, Wayne V. Hall, a spokesman for the Army, stated: "the U.S. Army does not keep any record, official or otherwise, of [the number of] confirmed kills", and the U.S. Special Operations Commands spokesman, Ken McGraw, says SOC treats a sniper's tally as "unofficial": "If anything, we shy away from reporting numbers like that. It's so difficult to prove." The publisher HarperCollins states: "The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 160 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book." In his autobiography, Kyle wrote: "The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any other American service member, past or present. I guess that's true. They go back and forth on what the number is. One week, it's 160 (the 'official' number as of this writing, for what that's worth), then it's way higher, then it's somewhere in between. If you want a number, ask the Navy—you may even get the truth if you catch them on the right day."
Weapons
As a sniper, Kyle was often asked about his weapons. While in training, he used four different rifles in order to know which weapon was the most useful in the given situation. In the field, he used the following:
a semi-automatic 7.62 NATO Mk 11 sniper rifle (patrol)
a 5.56 NATO Mk 12 Designated Marksman Rifle modified with the lower receiver off a M-4 to get a collapsible stock and allow full auto (for urban patrol)
a .300 Winchester Magnum M24 sniper rifle with MacMillan stocks and customized barrels, later replaced with a .300 Winchester Magnum Accuracy International. These two rifles were the ones he mostly used while in overwatch.
a .338 Lapua Magnum used for Long Range Targets
Post-military life
Kyle left the U.S. Navy in 2009 and moved to Midlothian, Texas, with his wife, Taya, and two children. He was president of Craft International, a tactical training company for the U.S. military and law enforcement communities.
In 2012, HarperCollins released Kyle's autobiography, American Sniper. Kyle had initially hesitated to write the book but was persuaded to move forward because other books about SEALs were underway. In his book, Kyle wrote bluntly of his experiences. Of the battle for control of Ramadi he says: "Force moved that battle. We killed the bad guys and brought the leaders to the peace table. That is how the world works." In the book and ensuing interviews, Kyle stated he had no regrets about his work as a sharpshooter, saying, "I had to do it to protect the Marines."
American Sniper had a 37-week run on The New York Times bestseller list and brought Kyle national attention. Following its release, media articles challenged some of Kyle's anecdotes, but the core of his narrative was widely accepted. "Tales of his heroism on the battlefield were already lore in every branch of the armed forces", writes Michael J. Mooney, author of a biography of Kyle.
Kyle paired with FITCO Cares Foundation, a nonprofit organization which created the Heroes Project to provide free in-home fitness equipment, individualized programs, personal training, and life-coaching to in-need veterans with disabilities, Gold Star families, or those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. On August 13, 2012, Kyle appeared on the reality television show Stars Earn Stripes, which features celebrities pairing up with a special operations or law enforcement professional who train them in weapons and combat tactics. Kyle was teamed with actor Dean Cain.
Defamation lawsuit
In Kyle's book American Sniper, Kyle wrote a subchapter titled "Punching Out Scruff Face" about an alleged altercation in a bar. In the book he claims he punched a man he refers to as "Scruff" who told Kyle, "You deserve to lose a few." According to Kyle, the encounter took place at McP's, a bar in Coronado, California, on October 12, 2006, during a wake for Kyle's comrade, Michael A. Monsoor, a U.S. Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient who had been killed in Iraq.
On January 4, 2012, Kyle appeared on the Opie and Anthony Show to discuss his book. On the show Kyle alleged that the character "Scruff" in his book is former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura.
Following these allegations, Ventura denied the incident had happened, and filed a lawsuit in January 2012 against Kyle for charges of defamation, appropriation, and unjust enrichment. After Kyle was killed the following year, Ventura continued the lawsuit against Kyle's estate.
On July 29, 2014, the jury returned a divided verdict of 8 to 2 that Kyle was guilty of defamation and unjust enrichment, and not guilty of appropriation. The jury concluded that the Kyle estate owed Ventura $500,000 for defamation, and $1.34 million for unjust enrichment.
Kyle's widow appealed the verdict on behalf of Kyle's estate. Attorneys for Kyle's estate asked the appeals court to throw out the verdict or at least order a new trial, because a lawyer for Ventura allegedly told jurors that the $1.8 million judgment would be paid for by Kyle's book publisher's insurance policy, not his estate. Ventura was reported as saying that if he loses on appeal, he will move to Mexico.
Death
On February 2, 2013, Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, age 35, were shot and killed by Eddie Ray Routh at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range in Erath County, Texas. Both Kyle and Littlefield were armed with .45-caliber 1911-style pistols when they were killed, but neither gun had been unholstered or fired, and the safety catches were still on. Kyle was killed with a .45-caliber pistol, while Littlefield was shot with a 9mm SIG Sauer handgun. Both guns belonged to Kyle.
Routh was a 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Lancaster, Texas. Kyle and Littlefield had reportedly taken Routh to the gun range in an effort to help him with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Routh had been in and out of mental hospitals for at least two years, and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His family also said he suffered from PTSD from his time in the military. On the way to the shooting range, Kyle texted Littlefield, "This dude is straight up nuts." Littlefield responded, "Watch my six", military slang meaning "watch my back". Four months later, while he was in his jail cell, Routh shared with former Erath County Sheriff's Deputy Gene Cole: "I was just riding in the back seat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me. They were just taking me to the range, so I shot them. I feel bad about it, but they wouldn't talk to me. I’m sure they've forgiven me."
After the killings, Routh went to his sister's house in Midlothian and told her what he had done. His sister, Laura Blevins, called 9-1-1 and told the emergency operator: "They went out to a shooting range ... Like, he's all crazy. He's ... psychotic." Local police captured Routh after a short freeway chase, which ended when Routh, who fled the scene in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck, crashed into a police cruiser in Lancaster.
A memorial service was held for Kyle at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 11, 2013. He was buried on February 12, 2013, at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, after a funeral procession from Midlothian to Austin that stretched more than . Hundreds of people lined Interstate 35 to view the procession and pay their final respects to Kyle.
Routh was arraigned February 2, 2013, on two counts of capital murder, and was taken to the Erath County Jail for holding under a $3 million bond. His trial was set to begin May 5, 2014 but was delayed to allow more time to comply with DNA testing requirements. The trial began on February 11, 2015.
On February 24, 2015, Routh was found guilty of killing Kyle and Littlefield. The jury returned the verdict after less than three hours of deliberations. Since prosecutors decided beforehand to not seek the death penalty, the trial judge, Jason Cashon, immediately sentenced Routh to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Routh is imprisoned at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Powledge Unit near Palestine, Texas.
Legacy
In August 2013, Texas governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 162, also known as the "Chris Kyle Bill", to recognize military training in the issuance of occupational licenses. The bill had been co-sponsored by Republican Representative Dan Flynn of Van and Democratic Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio. The ceremony was attended by Kyle's widow Taya.
Sculptor Greg Marra created a memorial statue of Kyle for presentation to his widow. Fundraising for production of the statue was provided by members of the Tea Party movement.
Clint Eastwood's film American Sniper (2014) is based on Kyle's autobiography. Kyle is portrayed by Bradley Cooper, and his wife Taya Kyle is portrayed by Sienna Miller. For his portrayal of Kyle, Cooper received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and the film was nominated in five other categories, including Best Picture. The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.
On February 2, 2015, exactly two years after Kyle's murder, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared the day "Chris Kyle Day".
Legal issues between Craft International and Kyle's estate
On May 30, 2014, Craft International, LLC, which company Chris Kyle co-founded and owned an 85% share of, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in Dallas, Texas. (Their earlier Chapter 11 case, filed on February 24 that year, was dismissed on May 30 because of a paperwork mixup.)
In July 2014, Craft International, LLC "threatened to sue Taya Kyle unless she forked over some of the royalties made from 'American Sniper.' The company said Kyle had written his books and done his book tours on company time." Moreover, Steven Young, Craft International's chief executive, questioned the widow's right to her husband's stake in the firm; he alleged Kyle had intentionally limited the power of spouses, citing "his belief that divorce [from Taya] was a very real possibility". In response, Mrs. Kyle counter-sued Craft "on the grounds that it was wrongfully using her husband's name and likeness to sell its goods", and that she and her children "have the right to control the use of Chris Kyle's name, likeness and image" after his death. Additionally, Mrs. Kyle's lawyers accused Young of mishandling Craft International's money.
In February 2015, Craft International, LLC requested clearance to implement a settlement with Kyle's widow, as well as the dismissal of its bankruptcy case. The proposed deal would resolve any pending disputes between the parties and includes an agreement to request case dismissal, for which Craft filed a motion on January 15, 2015.
Awards and decorations
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation ribbon.svgborder Navy and Marine Corps Achievement ribbon.svgborder Combat Action Ribbon.svgborder US Navy Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon.pngborder Joint Meritorious Unit Award-3d.svgborder Navy Unit Commendation ribbon.svgborder Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svgborder Navy Good Conduct ribbon.svgborder National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svgborder Iraq Campaign ribbon.svgborder Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary ribbon.svgborder Global War on Terrorism Service ribbon.svgborder Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.svgborder USN Expert Rifle Ribbon.pngborder USN Expert Pistol Shot Ribbon.pngborder
BadgeSEAL Insignia1st RowSilver Star (2)Bronze Star Medal (5) w/ Combat VNavy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ Combat V 2nd RowNavy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2) w/ Combat VCombat Action Ribbon (2)Navy Presidential Unit Citation3rd RowJoint Meritorious Unit AwardNavy Unit Commendation w/ 1 service starNavy Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ 1 service star4th RowNavy Good Conduct Medal w/ 2 service starsNational Defense Service MedalArmed Forces Expeditionary Medal w/ 1 service star5th RowIraq Campaign Medal w/ 4 campaign starsGlobal War on Terrorism Expeditionary MedalGlobal War on Terrorism Service Medal6th RowSea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ 3 service starsRifle Marksmanship Medal (Expert)Pistol Marksmanship Medal (Expert)BadgeNavy and Marine Corps Parachutist Insignia
See also List of snipers
Longest recorded sniper kills
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Simo Häyhä, the record-holding sniper for any major war with 505 confirmed kills
Bibliography
Kyle, Chris; McEwen, Scott; DeFelice, Jim (2013). American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. New York: W. Morrow, 2012. ISBN 0-062-08235-3
Kyle, Chris; Doyle, William (2013). American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms. New York: William Morrow, 2013. ISBN 0-0622-4271-7
References Further reading
Mooney, Michael J., The Life and Legend of Chris Kyle: American Sniper, Navy SEAL (e-book, 70 pp.), Little, Brown and Company (an imprint of Hachette), April 23, 2013
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/349817/we-need-more-extremists-chris-kyle-david-french We Need More 'Extremists' Like Chris Kyle
http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2013/april/the-legend-of-chris-kyle-01
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs A Reporter at Large: In the Crosshairs (Chris Kyle, a decorated sniper, tried to help a troubled veteran. The result was tragic)
Interviews
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mmnrk Today, former US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle was responsible for 150 officially confirmed deaths in his ten-year military career Bannister, Matthew (Host) & Kyle, Chris Outlook
http://www.georgejarkesy.com/2012/03/05/marita-noon-author-of-energy-freedom-and-chris-kyle-american-sniper-join-for-military-monday/ Marita Noon – Author of ‘Energy Freedom’ – and Chris Kyle ‘American Sniper’ – Join for Military Monday Jarkesy, George (Host) & Noon, Marita & Kyle, Chris
http://www.c-span.org/video/?305347-1/author-chris-kyle-american-sniper Book Discussion on American Sniper Slen, Peter (Host C-SPAN) & Kyle, Chris (Veteran U.S. Navy)
External links http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062238863/american-sniper
Craft International at thecraft.com, tactical training company Kyle founded to serve the U.S. military and law enforcement communities. |
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Justifying the Murder of Savage Iraqis: However You Get to Sleep At Night
January 31 06:38 2012 Print This Article
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by DDA 0 Comments Adam Michael Luebke Natl Affairs, Los Angeles
If you want an intimate glimpse into the total brainwashing of our US military, read the following excerpt from Chris Kyle’s book, “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History”. Kyle calls any Iraqi who defends his or her country “savage” and “despicable”, and he says how much he hates that evil inside of those savage people.
I’ve never been to war, and I’ve never killed anyone, so am I crazy to ask why Kyle and others with his mindset don’t see the bigger picture here? That would be the fact that the U.S. invaded Iraq, which was its own sovereign country, under the auspices of rooting out fully developed weapons of mass destruction. Does that invasion count for nothing when considering how “savagely” those Iraqis fought against the foreign, occupying army?
What are they supposed to do? Sit back and go along with the US-led invasion and occupation of their land? Support the destroying of mosques and marketplaces, homes and neighborhoods? And anybody in Iraq who doesn’t like having their families and lives destroyed are terrorists?
Are our military men and women so brainwashed that they can’t understand why a native of the country being attacked would strike back with any means they can muster? Dear Jesus, this world is a wicked, unending nightmare for some.
The woman with the grenade in the excerpt below might have been gripped in an evil spell, but there’s no way that evil was in any way disconnected from the same evil that pushed a swarm of heavily armed American troops into that country to wipe out 1.4 million Iraqis, and forcing another 4 million to flee their homes.
That is foul shit. Of course I support a strong American military, but only one that trains to defend the nation, and not an army that is used to obliterate foreign nations at the whims of a corporate-sponsored White House and Congress. This is the worst kind of karma, and it’s hanging over all of our heads.
As Kyl describes the woman he killed, and her twisted soul, and how he can stand before God with a clear conscience, I can only think, Whatever helps you sleep at night, dude.
Chris Kyl, USN Ret., and the most lethal sniper in US history,
writes :
I watched our troops pull up. Ten young, proud Marines in uniform got out of their vehicles and gathered for a foot patrol. As the Americans organized, the woman took something from beneath her clothes, and yanked at it.
She’d set a grenade. I didn’t realize it at first.
“Looks yellow,” I told the chief, describing what I saw as he watched himself. “It’s yellow, the body–“
“She’s got a grenade,” said the chief. “That’s a Chinese grenade.”
“Shit.” “Take a shot.” “But–“
“Shoot. Get the grenade. The Marines–“
I hesitated. Someone was trying to get the Marines on the radio, but we couldn’t reach them. They were coming down the street, heading toward the woman.
“Shoot!” said the chief.
I pushed my finger against the trigger. The bullet leapt out. I shot. The grenade dropped. I fired again as the grenade blew up.
It was the first time I’d killed anyone while I was on the sniper rifle. And the first time in Iraq–and the only time–I killed anyone other than a male combatant.
It was my duty to shoot, and I don’t regret it. The woman was already dead. I was just making sure she didn’t take any Marines with her.
It was clear that not only did she want to kill them, but she didn’t care about anybody else nearby who would have been blown up by the grenade or killed in the firefight. Children on the street, people in the houses, maybe her child…
She was too blinded by evil to consider them. She just wanted Americans dead, no matter what.
My shots saved several Americans, whose lives were clearly worth more than that woman’s twisted soul. I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job. But I truly, deeply hated the evil that woman possessed. I hate it to this day.
Savage, despicable evil. That’s what we were fighting in Iraq. That’s why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy “savages.” There really was no other way to describe what we encountered there.
People ask me all the time, “How many people have you killed?” My standard response is, “Does the answer make me less, or more, of a man?”
The number is not important to me. I only wish I had killed more. Not for bragging rights, but because I believe the world is a better place without savages out there taking American lives. Everyone I shot in Iraq was trying to harm Americans or Iraqis loyal to the new government.
I had a job to do as a SEAL. I killed the enemy–an enemy I saw day in and day out plotting to kill my fellow Americans. I’m haunted by the enemy’s successes. They were few, but even a single American life is one too many lost.
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