I’ll admit that until the tragic death of Chris Kyle in February of this year, I had never heard of him. So I had no idea he was the most lethal sniper ever in the history of the American Military. I was also amazed by the wide range of reactions to his death. It was in the midst of the news coverage about his death I learned that he had written a book. When I heard that I decided I wanted to read American Sniper to learn his story and luckily my brother owned it.
Regardless of your opinion about war, I believe that those men and women who put on a uniform and risk their lives to protect the freedoms and lives of the American people deserve a great deal of respect. Their job is not politically based and they are not the people who make the call to go to war. The decision for war is ultimately made by politicians and once that decision is made the men and women in our Armed Forces are following orders and doing their job. I was amazed by the reactions of people who don’t believe Chris Kyle is an American Hero. As far as I am concerned the day he joined the Navy he became a hero.
As I began reading American Sniper I found myself not being able to put it down. The fact that I knew someone one at least one of the missions he provided cover for made it hit home. I found it fascinating to read about the war that has impacted my generation in many ways. This book was not the most well written book I’ve read and sure it was the perspective of Chris Kyle with a little bit of tooting his own horn; but that does not mean this wasn’t a great book! Kyle would probably tell you he was not an author by any means, but as he says in the there was a good likelihood someone would try to tell his story so he wanted to beat them to it. To me that makes complete sense.
The hardest part about reading American Sniper was coming across the few places were Chris Kyle talks about things he’d like to do one day and talking about his kids growing up. Reading it now that he has passed away, those moments really tugged at my heart.
I did get a little “bored” in the few instances he discussed the different weapons he used or talked about ammo. But those moments are rare and I’m sure some people just eat that stuff up. If you get a chance I highly recommend reading American Sniper; besides it is my understanding that the proceeds from the sale of the book go to help veterans suffering from PTSD.
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