Chris Kyle
Chris Kyle | |
|---|---|
| Born | Odessa, Texas |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1999-2009 |
| Rank | Chief Petty Officer[1] |
| Unit | SEAL Team 3, Sniper Element, Charlie platoon |
| Battles/wars | Iraq War *Second Battle of Fallujah |
| Awards |  Silver Star (3)File:BronzeStarV copy.jpg Bronze Star (5)(V)[n 1] [1][2] |
Chris Kyle (born 1974) is a former United States Navy SEAL, who with 255 claimed kills, 160 of them officially confirmed by The Pentagon, is the deadliest marksman in United States military history.[1][2]
Early life
Born in Odessa, Texas, Kyle is the son of a Sunday school teacher and a Deacon.[1] His father bought him his first gun at 8 years old, a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield rifle and later a shotgun, with which they hunted pheasant, quail, and deer.[1]
After school, Kyle became a professional bronco rodeo rider before joining the United States Navy in 1999.[3][4][2]
Iraq War
Assigned to SEAL Team 3, Sniper Element Charlie platoon within the Naval Special Warfare Command, over four tours of duty Kyle served in every major battle of Operation Iraqi Freedom.[1]
His first long-range kill shot was taken during the initial invasion, when he shot a woman approaching a group of US Marines with a hand grenade in her hand. As ordered, he opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack.[5] During the Second Battle of Fallujah, while US Marines fought running battles in the streets with several thousand insurgents, Kyle killed 40 enemy combatants.[2]
For his deadly track record as a marksman during his deployment to Ramadi, the insurgents named him Al-Shaitan Ramad (English The Devil of Rahmadi) and put a $20,000 bounty on his head.[1][2][5]
In 2008 outside Sadr City, he made his longest successful shot, after he spotted an insurgent with a rocket launcher near a US Army convoy at a range of 2,100 yards (1.2 mi). He fired a shot from his .338 Lapua Magnum rifle, killing the insurgent.[1][2]
During four tours of duty in Iraq, Kyle was shot twice and caught up in six separate IED explosions.[2][5]
Post-military life
Kyle left the US Navy in 2009,[2][4] and moved to Mid-Texas with his wife and two children. He now runs Craft International, which provides military and law enforcement sniper training, as well as private security and protection.[6][2]
In 2012, Harper Collins released his autobiographical book American Sniper.[3][4] While promoting his book on the Opie and Anthony Radio Show, Kyle claimed to have knocked down former Governor of Minnesota and Underwater Demolition Team member Jesse Ventura with a punch to the nose at a popular Navy SEAL bar in Coronado, California in 2006 after, according to Kyle, Ventura had “badmouthed the troops.”[7] Ventura released a statement on his Facebook page calling Kyle’s claims completely false, denying he said anything derogatory about the troops, and also denying Kyle’s claim of punching him in the face or even having met Chris Kyle.[8]
See also
- Simo Häyhä, holds the record with 542 Soviet soldiers shot during the Russian invasion of Finland in World War II
- Jack Coughlin, retired Marine sniper with over 60 confirmed kills whose service includes Iraq and Somalia
- Craig Harrison, British Army marksman in Afghanistan, killed two Taliban machine gunners in 2009 from 2,700 yards with a .338 Lapua Magnum rifle, longest sniper shot in history
- Carlos Hathcock, killed 93 people as a long-range sniper in the Vietnam war, subject of the book One Shot, One Kill
- Chuck Mawhinney, previously held the highest number of confirmed kills (103) for any USMC sniper
- Adelbert Waldron, previously held the record for the most confirmed kills in U.S. military history, with 109 kills in Vietnam
- Longest recorded sniper kills
Footnotes
- ^ The Valor device (also known as a "combat distinguishing device", "V device", and "Combat V") is an award of the United States military which is an attachment to certain medals to clarify that it was received for valor vice noncombat service.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Buiso, Gray (January 1, 2012). "Meet the big shot - SEAL is America's deadliest sniper". Retrieved 2012-01-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Zennie, Michael (2 January 2012). "255 confirmed kills: Meet Navy SEAL Chris Kyle... the deadliest sniper in US history". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
- ^ a b Kyle, Chris; McEwen, Scott; DeFelice, Chris (February 5, 2012). American Sniper. Harper Collins. ISBN 0062082353.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Kyle, Chris; McEwen, Scott; DeFelice, Chris (2 January 2012). "American Sniper". Harper Collins. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Sanchez, Raf (2 January 2012). "'The Devil of Rahmadi' named America's deadliest sniper". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
- ^ "Craft International". Retrieved 2012-01-02.
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083235/Americas-deadliest-sniper-killed-255-Iraqi-savages-protect-friends--punched-Jesse-Ventura-bad-mouthed-troops.html
- ^ http://www.Facebook.com/OfficialJesseVentura
External link
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