American Sniper – Week 4

What an interesting perspective that we have this week in our last chapters. Chris Kyle definitely does not hold anything back. He sees everything in black and white.  It is very straight forward and simple.  He blames himself for the ones that he could not save. He felt responsible, that nothing he had done was enough. His actions saved hundreds of lives, but the ones that you can’t save, those are the ones that stay with you. The feelings that he lays out on how the ROE work, and how they prohibit troop movement, and tie hands. His frustration with the entire process is evident as you read through the pages. His disdain is dripping off the pages.

While Chris Kyle works through his fourth deployment, things get more crazy at home, and Taya is about to call it quits. She wants him out and home. She is tired of the time he is away, and the feelings that he cares more for the men he works with than her and their children. The underlying current is there, and you can feel her frustration as well.. more on that later.

With the war winding down, and the way things have been going, Taya puts her foot down on Chris reenlisting in the Navy. She is done and she wants him home. He finally agrees and is soon back home trying to figure out what he is going to do, and provide for his family, but there is quite a bit of readjusting that has to happen on both sides for the marriage to last.

Chris and Taya are both pretty open about their relationship, the issues, the downfalls, and the triumphs. There is a lot to overcome with the military, and some adjust to it better than others. As we moved through the book, the emotions are all there. Sometimes you wish you could reach in and offer advice as to how better to handle a situation or family life. The book itself was amazing, and I for one, really appreciated the sense of humor that he and others had about their work, and the honesty in how they handled certain situations.

This week we are reading Chapters 11-14

Thoughts from the reading:

1. Taya really struggles with the life that Chris has chosen, and gives him an ultimatum. What do you think about that? Could you have done it?

2. Chris Kyle is very open about the fact of his guilt over losing guys that he feels he was there to protect. The saying the ones you cant save are the ones you remember is more true than most realize. What could he have done to help appease that feeling?

3. What did you think of the book? Did you enjoy the sense of humor that Chris Kyle utilizes in the book?