‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle’s widow on her husband’s legacy and on the next commander in chief
Taya Kyle, widow of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, Chris Kyle, hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate. But she believes whoever is the next commander in chief needs to face terrorism head on.
“We see [attacks] happening in France and Brussels, and we know that it’s not going away anytime soon,” Kyle told Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga. “Hopefully whoever is in charge will be strategic, they’ll be aware and they will not cover things up … to the American public.”
Kyle’s latest venture is preserving Chris Kyle’s legacy in her book, “American Wife: Love, War, Faith, and Renewal.” While her husband was portrayed by actor Bradley Cooper in the blockbuster movie “American Sniper,” she hopes the new book will allow the public to view her late husband not just as a hero but as a funny and warm human being.
“[“American Wife”] was sort of my love letter to him too, to let other people know his heart and the parts that I loved,” says Kyle. “But it was also for a lot of wives and a lot of people that seemed very hungry to know more of the story from a wife’s perspective.”
Chris was murdered at a Texas shooting range by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh in 2013. As painful as the past three years have been, Taya admits she tries not to think about Routh because it does not change her reality.
“I don’t know if I’m quite at the point where I necessarily can say I forgive [him] for acting in such an evil, horrific way and taking two lives that were so beautiful and so powerful,” said Kyle. “I cannot live and do good in this world if I focus on that and carry the hate and bitterness.”
Kyle maintains that her husband’s murderer did not suffer from PTSD. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, PTSD affects 11 to 20 out of every 100 veterans who served in the Iraq War or the global war on terrorism.
But she does acknowledge that PTSD is “very real,” and that it’s important to destigmatize the disorder and open up dialogue to help others.
“I know that when ‘American Sniper’ came out — the movie and the book — there are a lot of people that said, ‘Man, I’m not alone,’” said Kyle. “It’s never just Chris’ and my story. I mean it really is a collective story of a lot of people if you think about it.”
Though Kyle’s two children have not seen or read “American Sniper,” they are old enough to remember their father as a respectful, charming and fun person.
“They really have this moment frozen in time of knowing him as the very fun dad who also held them to a high standard,” said Kyle. “I feel like they are very, very fortunate to know him and remember him in that moment in time, but also to have all this other material that they can go back and see and look at later.”
