It seems everyone, until Sunday, had seen American Sniper but me. The tale about Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, starring Bradley Cooper, has made quite an impact, angering the liberal left, and rising to a level of popularity that has made it a box office smash hit because conservatives have been flocking to their theaters to see it. According to fans, for once a Hollywood film got it right regarding our heroes in uniform. I suppose, we should expect no less from Director Clint Eastwood.
My son, and one of his buddies, invited me to join them, to go see the film. With my normally busy schedule as a writer and public speaker, I figured I better take advantage of the opportunity when I could. Sunday is normally the day I sit at my desk and work on my next book, and get some work done regarding emails and my Constitution Study educational materials. However, a chance to go to the movies with my thirty year old son, something I don't think I've done since he was a kid, was something all of those things could be set aside for. . . for at least a few hours.
We got to the theater early, and the room was already packed with movie-goers. The age-range of the audience was from the latest generation to the eldest generation. This film was attracting everyone.
I met Chris Kyle, once. He was a stand-up guy. Not "The Legend," just yet, but a respected sniper. I doubt he remembered me, but I definitely remembered him. So, as I was watching the film, even though Bradley Cooper was the man playing him, I saw Kyle's face. I saw the man I met.
American Sniper began with Chris as a cowboy, but quickly his patriotism emerged, and his military career began. The portrayal brought back memories, not just of my short conversation with Kyle, but of my own time in the military. I was Navy, and in my opinion, and the opinion of a number of buddies I know in the Marine Corps that spent some time aboard ship around Sailors, sea-going United States Navy Sailors are the hardest working members of the United States Military. Ships don't take breaks, and the operations happen night and day. . . out to sea, usually with no land in sight, in the cold, in the dark, aboard a haze gray flat-bottomed vessel that is rocking and rolling in ways that defies the imagination. Kyle, however, was an even harder working part of the United States Navy. He was a Navy SEAL, the elite of the elite. The top of the special forces from any of the branches. Or as I like to say, the SEALs are so bad-ass, even the Marines are willing to admit it.
Cooper's portrayal of Kyle was spot-on, and the film portrayed the military in a way I have only seen in independent films like "Forgotten Heroes." Unlike the rest of Hollywood, who tends to call our heroes "baby killers," or "cowards" (I can't remember if that was Seth Rogan or Michael Moore who verbalized that tripe), American Sniper showed us what our military personnel are really like, and what time in combat truly entails. They are human, with human emotions, doing a job that few are willing to do, or are able to do. The training kicks in, and sometimes, so do the emotions. War is a horrible thing, hesitation spells death for yourself and your brothers in arms, and they realize that reality. But, our heroes also recognize that combat is sometimes necessary, and evil must be resisted.
As the film ended, the audience applauded. Actual footage of Chris Kyle was displayed across the screen, and my memories of the man emerged once again from the annals of my brain. My moment with him was but a few words, nothing to be broadcasted, just a quick moment. I am a partially disabled veteran, and it was just nice that there was this young guy, who had seen action I could never imagine, willing to take a moment and say, "You gave the same oath, and you were willing like all of us to do what it takes to defend our freedom. Thanks for your service."
I left the theater with tears in my eyes, and a couple of them dropping down my cheeks. The film was done right, and Chris Kyle's story is an incredible tale about an incredible individual. If you are one of those few individuals that has yet to have seen American Sniper, I urge that you do.
Before we went home we visited a friend of mine. He spent two years in the Middle East. He was a Master-at-Arms in the Navy, and humped the terrain with the Marines in the sand. I asked him if he'd seen the movie. "Yeah," he said. "It was good."
"So," I said to him, "from the point of view of someone that spent time in the furnace, was the movie accurate in its portrayal of a tour in the Middle East?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it was done right."
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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