The Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History is an American Sniper!
Review:
American Sniper, the Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, is autobiographical creative nonfiction by United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, written with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice.
This book featured as #1 New York time seller and also a movie was produced based on the book featuring Bradley Cooper (Chris Kyle) as an American Sniper, directed by Clint Eastwood.
Who is Chris Kyle? He served the SEAL Team 3 member who was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, and numerous other citations majorly four combat tours in Iraq, and he became chief instructor for training Naval Special Warfare sniper teams.
The Plot:
Chris Kyle grew up in Texas and was taught by his father how to shoot a rifle and hunt deer. Years later, Kyle has become a ranch hand and rodeo cowboy, and returns home early, to find his girlfriend in bed with another man. After telling her to leave, he is mulling it over with his brother when he sees news coverage of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings and decides to enlist in the Navy. He qualifies for special training and becomes a sniper with the U.S. Navy SEALs.
Kyle meets Taya Studebaker at a bar, and the two soon marry. After the September 11 attacks, he is assigned to Iraq. His first kills are a woman and boy who attacked U.S. Marines on patrol with a Russian made RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. Kyle is visibly upset by the experience, but later earns the nickname “Legend” for his many kills. Assigned to hunt for the al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Kyle interrogates a family whose father offers to lead the SEALs to “The Butcher”, al-Zarqawi’s second-in-command. The plan goes awry when The Butcher captures the father and his son, killing them while Kyle is pinned down by a sniper. This sniper goes by the name Mustafa and is an Olympic Games medalist from Syria. Meanwhile, the insurgents issue a bounty on Kyle.
Kyle returns home to his wife and the birth of his son. He is distracted by memories of his war experiences and by Taya’s concern for them as a couple — she wishes he would focus on his home and family.
Kyle leaves for a second tour and is promoted to chief petty officer. Involved in a shootout with The Butcher, he helps in killing him. When he returns home to a newborn daughter, Kyle becomes increasingly distant from his family. On Kyle’s third tour, Mustafa seriously injures a unit member, Ryan “Biggles” Job, and the unit is evacuated back to base. When they decide to return to the field and continue the mission, another SEAL, Marc Lee, is killed by gunfire.
Guilt compels Kyle to undertake a fourth tour, and Taya tells him she may not be there when he returns. Back in Iraq, Kyle is shocked to learn Biggles died in surgery to repair the wounds he sustained. Assigned to kill Mustafa, who has been sniping U.S. Army combat engineers building a barricade, Kyle’s sniper team is placed on a rooftop inside enemy territory. Kyle spots Mustafa and takes him out with a risky long-distance shot at 2,100 yards (1,920 m), but this exposes his team’s position to numerous armed insurgents. Amid the gunfight, and low on ammunition, Kyle tearfully calls Taya and tells her he is ready to come home. A sandstorm provides cover for a chaotic escape in which Kyle is injured and almost left behind.
After Kyle gets back, on the edge and unable to adjust fully to civilian life, he is asked by a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist if he is haunted by all the things he did in the war. When he replies it is “all the guys he couldn’t save” that haunt him, the psychiatrist encourages him to help severely wounded veterans in the VA hospital. After that, Kyle gradually begins to adjust to home life.
Years later, on February 2, 2013, Kyle says goodbye to his wife and family as he leaves in good spirits to spend time with Eddie Ray Routh, a veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at a shooting range. An on-screen subtitle reveals that Kyle was killed that day by Routh, followed by archive footage of crowds standing along the highway for his funeral procession.
Conclusion:
This book is very inspirational to people who struggle on the field to safeguard the Nation, but always remains the other side of the story on kyle faced during the period of time! It is a jaw-dropping story that impacted many of the people who were inspired by the war heroes.