If You See ‘American Sniper’ – Try Reading the Book

I am an avid reader of military history. The politics and battle strategy alone are not what interest me most. The stories of individuals or groups of people are what draw me in. And I'm drawn to them because of my admiration for them, what they have done and sacrificed.

I was not aware of Chris Kyle or his book until the news of his murder came out in February of 2013. I read that he was a record breaking Navy SEAL sniper with more confirmed kills than anyone in history.

As the son of a Marine, who loved to extol the exploits of Carlos Hathcock in Vietnam as I was a kid learning to shoot a rifle, I was intrigued that a Texas frogman had more kills than the famous "White Feather." So I added American Sniper to my mental list of books I'd like to read.

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When I started seeing promotion for the Bradley Cooper movie sped up the time table for reading the book, which I finished exactly one week before the January 16 opening.

The book left me with two feelings of Chris Kyle. One was that he was a hero, a good family man with a big heart and a strong sense of duty to protect others.

The other was the off-putting feeling when he so casually wrote about killing. On one hand it feels a little stupid to think this. Of course he was a killer, that was his job as a SEAL sniper. But it was very blunt and cold. It struck me solidly in the face.

A unique feature of the American Sniper book was that Kyle's wife, Taya, interjects throughout. As Chris would be talking about the next battle he and his team would be up against, Taya would speak as to where their relationship was from her perspective; that his service was more important than his family.

When I saw the Hollywood version of on Friday I was awestruck at the performance given by Bradley Cooper, transforming himself into Chris Kyle. Never once while watching did I think I was watching the guy from The Hangover. His bulked up portrayal gave humanity to Kyle's personality that was difficult to glean from from the book.

Differences between the book and the movie are inevitable. When cramming 370-plus pages of source material into a two-hour movie, things need to change. Most of the changes were only different in chronology. Others differences merely combined different events into single events. None of the alterations detract from the story

I strongly recommend to anyone who sees the movie that they read the book. It will give you a greater understanding of Chris Kyle. You will see where he was actually coming from.

In an effort to get clicks, political columnists, bloggers, and social media noise makers from both sides have been giving their incomplete view of a man who voluntarily put himself in harms way in service of his country.

The reaction to American Sniper the film has seemed predictable after having read the book. The book did not generate this type of reaction, I suspect because the average Internet noise maker is too busy making noise to read a book. But they can watch a two-hour movie, or at least watch the various trailers on Youtube.

Before you buy in to either side of the Chris Kyle debate -- the one that vilifies him, or the one that lauds him -- read his book. Then make up your mind.

Other books I highly recommend:

• "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by E.B. Sledge, a veteran of the Marine Corps in World War II. Parts of the HBO miniseries "The Pacific" was based on this book.
• "Fearless" by Eric Blehm, a biography of a SEAL Team Six member Adam Brown. His story is simply one of the most amazing I've ever heard. The movie rights to this book were sold back in May, but no word on when production could begin.