POV of Chris Kyle
I was born a rider, and not really a fighter. Or so I thought. Growing up in Texas was a good childhood. I would always find a way to entertain myself, such as riding horses, taking care of the ranch, and many other things. I was born April 9th, 1974. My family would always go to church, and we would pray every night. My brother and I would always get along. His name was Jeff. Since he was younger than me, I would always make sure kids didn’t pick on him. One day after school, a fight broke out . Unfortunately, my brother was the victim. I had to step in and kick the shit out of the bully. From that day on, I knew I was a fighter.
In my twenties, I wanted to be a cowboy. I didn’t really think about school, I just wanted to ride bulls, and horses. My brother and I would always travel the States together to get to our rodeo tournaments. It was one pretty decent way of getting the ladies. But after a long day of riding, I just wanted to sit back and drink whatever had alcohol in it. I still lived in Texas. I will always be a proud patriot. I knew I was living the dream, but there was just something I wanted to do more, especially for my country. Like becoming a soldier. That was something I always wanted to become. I was a pretty good shot. My father and I would always hunt. He told me I had a hell of a good shot. Just watching TV with my brother, I saw Marines in Iraq, and immediately I wanted to do what they do. So that is when I joined the United States Marine Corps.
I left my cowboy carrier behind, and fought for my country. I joined a branch called Navy SEALS, which stands for SEA AIR and LAND. Those are the fighters. Now let me tell you something, this was the hardest challenge I have ever faced in my whole life. I wanted to quit, but in my head I knew I wasn’t a quitter. If you did quit, you got a donut, and a coffee. After the Drill Sergeants were kicking my ass, that donut was looking really good. But it wasn’t worth it! I kept pushing, and pushing. This training went on forever. The number one thing that you had to keep in mind was that it is NOT a one man show. This is a team. You either work as a team, or you are a coward. I eventually passed my training, and then went on to Sniper school.
Sniper school was right up my ally. I knew everything they were teaching me, and everything I did came naturally. I was the best student the sniper school has ever seen. But now that I had completed my Basic Training for SEALS, I had more free time. In my free time, I would work out, and go to bars with my buddies from school. One night going to the bar, I met a beautiful woman. Her name was Taya. Now, most people say that meeting people in a bar is always not good, but this time God was on my side. I met this lady and she immediately told me that she hated SEALS. For some reason, I stuck with her. I kept talking to her all night, and she knew I was a SEAL! She was a hard woman to read, but I read her pretty well. I took her home that night, and got her contact information. The next morning, the first thing I did was call her. She didn’t answer. The next day I called her, and she still didn’t answer. Then the third day came along! And she finally picked up. We started hanging out, and realised we get a long way better when sober. We started living together after a few months, but realized that it might come to an end. Taya and I got married before I left. We were also expecting a kid a few months before I came home, which is amazing! On September 11th, 2001, the twin towers in New York City were no longer standing. This was a terrorist attack, and I immediately knew I was going to war.
My first tour was in 2003. I was heading to Iraq. To be completely honest, I was shitting my pants. I was leaving home to go to another country and take lives. I remember it was the first day arriving there. The team I was on was called “SEAL Team 3” and that was a pretty elite team in my opinion. Since I was a sniper, I had another dude come with me. He was my spotter. Him and I went to the advantage point to look for enemy soldiers to protect the convoy. Only an hour of laying down spotting, I saw my first target. It was a child and his mother holding grenades, trying to blow up the convoy. The mother handed her son the explosives, and he proceeded to run at the convoy. I knew what had to be done. I aimed my rifle at him, and took the shot. The kid died almost immediately. The mother picked up the grenades from her dead son to the job. I had to shoot her, too. This was not what I wanted my first kill to be like. That night, I was sick to my stomach. I constantly kept telling myself that I had to do it to protect the Marines and the Convoy. All I wanted to do that night was go home. I had enough.
Once my tour was over, I went home. The day after I got back, my wife was going to give birth. I won’t get into too much detail, but it was a successful delivery. It was a boy. We named him Colton. He was a beautiful, healthy boy. This was probably one of the happiest days of my life. But, it wasn’t too long until I was going on my next tour. A few months later, I was back in Iraq.
Because I have been to this place a couple times before, I knew what to expect. I was put with some new people, but most of the guys I was fighting with I knew. One thing that made me happy being back was being called “The Legend.” I was called that because I had the most confirmed sniper kills in history. The guys felt safe, and even invincible being around me. But I was still pretty messed up with PTSD. I never really told anybody about it until I quit. So I just had to stay strong.
I knew this was going to be my last tour. I now had a boy, and a little girl with my beautiful wife. So being a father was going to be important. I remember the call with my wife. She was begging me to come home. And deep down, I was begging myself to come home. But I needed to finish my job. My team, SEAL Team 3, were going to a place called “Sadr City”. This is where my last kill was confirmed. We were on top of a roof, and I spotted an enemy sniper. This enemy was 2,100 yards away, which is 201 football fields. I pulled the trigger, and it took a few seconds but I got it. I killed one of the best snipers on the Talaban army. After the mission was complete, I was heading home, to become a husband, and father.