My daughter is an English major at UT. She composed this essay after watching American Sniper and viewing news footage of the Michael Moore 'snipers as cowards' debacle. I'm so proud of her. She represents the voice of our family, and I'm sure many Americans, with poignancy.
American Sniper
What makes a man a coward? A rampant fear of the unknown? A less-than-
perfect attempt at being human? An acknowledgment of failure? Before you answer, let me paint a picture for you. You are boiling under the heat
of the summer sun in one of the most desolate environments in the world. Itʼs 3 pm and
you have been lying on a rooftop for hours. Your eyes waver in and out of focus as you
scan the buildings and streets below you for the slightest sign of movement. Radio calls
swirl with dust around your head, signaling changes in shifts, and changes in safety. Itʼs
been six months since you have seen your parents. Your significant other is raising your
two children on their own. And you have chosen the life you are living. You have chosen
to be on this rooftop, in this heat. And in those moments you feel so close to giving up
you can almost taste the crisp, clean air of the cities back home, you remember why
you chose this.
You didnʼt set out for fame or glory. Those things are much easier attained in the comfort of a sport coat and an air conditioned office. You didnʼt set out to be remembered. And, all too often, people just like you go forgotten. Instead, we the people choose to remember celebrity and infamy. So, what exactly did you set out to do? Were you seeking revenge? Retribution? Were you burning so fiercely with hatred that the only way to blow off steam was to undergo cutthroat training and jet off to the nearest middle eastern country? I highly doubt it. You probably set out with the intention of protecting a few lives, when in actuality you have protected millions.
You see, these men and women who are serving the country on the rooftops of abandoned houses in stark, bare towns arenʼt there for the ambiance. They are there because they witnessed, along with the rest of us, the fear in the eyes of a nation when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 shook horror into the bones of millions of people around the world. They are there because they have been raised on the concept that no citizen gets left behind. No personʼs memory, dead or alive, gets swept under the rug of convenience. We, as a nation, refuse to forget those who have perished at the hands of foreign opposition. The men and women who deploy to dangerous countries risk their lives not only for the safety of their own families, but for the safety of the families they will never meet, and the memory of the families they will never get a chance to.
So, again, let me ask you; what makes a coward? Because a rampant fear of the unknown courses through every soldiers blood, but they choose to overcome that fear in order to protect the citizens of their home country. They are less-than-perfect humans, all too often riddled with PTSD and regret, whether personal or political. They know their failures and are reminded of them in public propaganda and their own memory. But they are not cowards. They are the bravest people that walk this earth. They choose to give their lives to a country full of people they do not know and political systems they may not believe in, because they are selfless.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a coward as “someone who is too afraid to do what is right or expected; someone who is not at all brave or courageous.” When was the last time you saw a soldier too afraid to stand up for what he or she believes in? When was the last time you saw a soldier not full of so much courage it border-lined on cockiness? Never. At least I have not, and I do not expect to anytime soon. I am nearly convinced that cowardly soldiers just do not exist.
Chris Kyle was not a coward. He was a solder, a husband, a father, and an American hero, as every soldier should be regarded. He laid down his life for his country on his four tours of duty. When he returned he lent his time to the soldiers who were not fortunate enough to make it back in mint condition, physically and mentally. He didnʼt kill people because he was a masochist. He did what he was trained by the United States Military to do in order to make sure the war he fought kept him deployed in Iraq, instead of New York City, Seattle, or Dallas. He protected and guarded American freedom and the American way of life, as all soldiers pledge to do. When his life was taken from him on that fateful February day, Chris Kyle had been helping a young soldier fighting with the demons of war inside his mind. He died exactly as he lived, serving others. Chris Kyle is not a coward.
You didnʼt set out for fame or glory. Those things are much easier attained in the comfort of a sport coat and an air conditioned office. You didnʼt set out to be remembered. And, all too often, people just like you go forgotten. Instead, we the people choose to remember celebrity and infamy. So, what exactly did you set out to do? Were you seeking revenge? Retribution? Were you burning so fiercely with hatred that the only way to blow off steam was to undergo cutthroat training and jet off to the nearest middle eastern country? I highly doubt it. You probably set out with the intention of protecting a few lives, when in actuality you have protected millions.
You see, these men and women who are serving the country on the rooftops of abandoned houses in stark, bare towns arenʼt there for the ambiance. They are there because they witnessed, along with the rest of us, the fear in the eyes of a nation when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 shook horror into the bones of millions of people around the world. They are there because they have been raised on the concept that no citizen gets left behind. No personʼs memory, dead or alive, gets swept under the rug of convenience. We, as a nation, refuse to forget those who have perished at the hands of foreign opposition. The men and women who deploy to dangerous countries risk their lives not only for the safety of their own families, but for the safety of the families they will never meet, and the memory of the families they will never get a chance to.
So, again, let me ask you; what makes a coward? Because a rampant fear of the unknown courses through every soldiers blood, but they choose to overcome that fear in order to protect the citizens of their home country. They are less-than-perfect humans, all too often riddled with PTSD and regret, whether personal or political. They know their failures and are reminded of them in public propaganda and their own memory. But they are not cowards. They are the bravest people that walk this earth. They choose to give their lives to a country full of people they do not know and political systems they may not believe in, because they are selfless.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a coward as “someone who is too afraid to do what is right or expected; someone who is not at all brave or courageous.” When was the last time you saw a soldier too afraid to stand up for what he or she believes in? When was the last time you saw a soldier not full of so much courage it border-lined on cockiness? Never. At least I have not, and I do not expect to anytime soon. I am nearly convinced that cowardly soldiers just do not exist.
Chris Kyle was not a coward. He was a solder, a husband, a father, and an American hero, as every soldier should be regarded. He laid down his life for his country on his four tours of duty. When he returned he lent his time to the soldiers who were not fortunate enough to make it back in mint condition, physically and mentally. He didnʼt kill people because he was a masochist. He did what he was trained by the United States Military to do in order to make sure the war he fought kept him deployed in Iraq, instead of New York City, Seattle, or Dallas. He protected and guarded American freedom and the American way of life, as all soldiers pledge to do. When his life was taken from him on that fateful February day, Chris Kyle had been helping a young soldier fighting with the demons of war inside his mind. He died exactly as he lived, serving others. Chris Kyle is not a coward.
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