Who was Chris Kyle? Was he a conflicted hero superbly portrayed by Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood’s film or the thuggish psychopath of his ghost-written autobiography? Certainly, he has become one of the more controversial characters of his generation.

 

To those who hate war and disagree with our involvement in the midst of Middle East politics, Kyle represents everything that is wrong with our violent society—a gun nut who takes pride in killing and sees others as stereotypes and targets. As he stated when he wondered how he would feel about killing someone, “It’s no big deal.”

 

On the other hand, to the ultra patriots and those who believe that Islam is an evil religion and its followers are equally without human virtues, Kyle was a true American hero willing to do whatever it takes to protect the country and its Christian values.

 

I suspect that neither characterization is completely true. To me, Kyle was as much a victim of war as those who fell under the crosshairs of his scope. It is hard for me to believe that a sane person can easily reconcile killing 160 human beings, even though the shootings might be justified. Taking another person’s life is against every moral and religious teaching in the world and is only overcome by extensive psychological conditioning. Men have always been willing to die for their nation; only a few are naturally ready to kill others.

 

According to research, ninety percent of the muskets recovered from the Battle of Gettysburg of the America’s Civil War were loaded, and more than half had undischarged multiple loads. Soldiers were brave, standing unflinchingly shoulder to shoulder with their comrades, clearly willing to die for their cause. However, the average soldier on either side would load his musket and bring it to his shoulders, but could not bring himself to pull the trigger to kill. Faced with the natural aversion to taking a life, he lowered the weapon and loaded it again, some soldiers repeatedly—one musket was found with 23 loads in the barrel. It is also believed that, of the small minority who did fire, most fired over the enemy’s head.

 

In 1946, the Army, in an effort to increase its killing efficiency, replaced firing at paper bull eyes with realistic man-shaped, pop-up targets that fall when hit. As a consequence of more effective psychological training, the rate of Americans firing their weapons during combat increased from fifteen to twenty percent in World War II to ninety-five percent in Viet Nam. At the same time, the number of victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has exploded.

 

In modern times, we ask more and more of our military, requiring them to return again and again to the same battle conditions. Chris Kyle had four tours of duty in Iraq between 2003 and 2009. Being a sniper, Kyle was forced to see the devastation of every shot he took. It is not difficult to imagine the psychological toil of his experiences.

 

For most of us, war is something we see on the television news while we sit safely in our air-conditioned home and enjoy the fruits of the world’s greatest economy. Rather than look too closely at the real cost paid by our veterans, we engage in jingoistic patriotism and chest-thumping, putting our veterans on display a couple of days a year while ignoring the physical and psychological needs of individual soldiers and their families trying to return to a measure of stability and security. We consistently refuse to fund Veterans programs or even require that the health benefits to a wounded soldier be efficient and effective. It is easier for most of us to pledge allegiance to the flag and cry at a soldier’s funeral than insist our Government recognize and fund the real cost of our wars.

 

Was Kyle a hero? Certainly to those soldiers he saved. But he and his family were also victims of a dysfunctional system who ask more of our young than we have the right to ask. Before you condemn or praise Kyle, pray for him and those like him. Remember their families who struggle unseen and ignored. And tell your Congressman you are willing to pay more taxes and go without to ensure that no American soldier is required to face death and killing without our country’s full emotional and financial support.