It’s about time I started blogging about my boys, again, and the movie AMERICAN SNIPER, has given me something good to write about. I didn’t know what to expect from the movie about former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. After reading his memoir by the same name and seeing some poor reviews, I thought I might be let down. But, oh, no. Folks, AMERICAN SNIPER is just as fabulous a movie as LONE SURVIVOR was. It depicts a very realistic picture of the brutality of war and what our service people have endured fighting in the Middle East. I have to give Bradley Cooper huge kudos for impersonating Kyle to such an extent that Kyle’s widow, Taya, said the resemblance was “eerie”.
What I love so much about Chris Kyle is that he was larger than life. There are stories about things he claimed to have done–in addition to killing 160 terrorists–that may or may not be true. We’ll probably never know, but does it matter? He occupies a place in our psyche that is hungry for heroes. One of his most memorable quotes, in my opinion, is when he talked about the hardest part of getting out of the military: “Missing my boys. Missing being around them in the action. That’s your whole life, every day for years. I hate to say it, but when you’re back and you’re just walking around a mall or something, you feel like a pussy.” These words underscore the importance of brotherhood. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL.
In spite of his few flaws, Chris had a giant heart, and thanks to AMERICAN SNIPER, everyone knows what an amazing human being he was. We need more heroes just like him.