American Sniper

Just wanted to know your thoughts. I have not seen the movie yet, but plan to do so. Have you seen it? What did you think about the movie? What are your thoughts on the murder trial that is taking place right now in Texas? My GF and I got into a heated argument on this trial and PTSD. I personally think the veteran who has killed two other veterans, both men that were killed, were both combat veterans and were trying to help other veterans. Including the vet that killed them. My GF thinks he should be treated for PTSD and is not responsible, nor should he be held accountable for the two men he killed. I think he is a murdering coward period and you can pretty much guess what I think his fate should be.

I know there are many veterans with health and mental health issues. I served with a pilot, that spent six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He suffered and was never the same man again, but he never stopped trying to get healthy and right. PTSD and CFS are for real, with many of our heroes, both men and women suffer from these and other health concerns. I just think this a different case all together, bothers me greatly that a vet, killed two great men. Would like to know what SMF members think, both vets and non-vets thoughts, as we are all entitled to our opinions and those opinions respected.

Haven't seen the movie yet but looking forward to it. IIRC it came out in the last week that the killer never actually saw any combat and therefore doesn't' really have PTSD.

That's exactly what I argued! Many think, just because a vet goes into a combat zone that they have suffered. I do not think this way at all. Sure there is stress in any combat zone, one doesn't even need to be in a combat zone, to experience military related stress. Every time I strap into a cockpit I experienced some level of stress. I know what being afraid is, totally scarred and what hazardous duty is all about, been there done that! It made me a better man and to be accountable for my actions. Not to make excuses and blame others for my actions.

Reports say He never left the base he was located at overseas. That base literally had 24 fast food places like McDonalds and BK. As well as a miniture golf course and swimming pool. He was in a combat resort that actually had speed limit signs because of its size. With bases bigger is better obviously. My point is he never faced stress to claim PTSD. He murdered those two heros and I want to know why or who paid him to do it. Just my .02. I served my time and stuff like this really gets under my skin.

Well let me just say this I've seen his kind before give me a few minutes with him and he will have ptsd after I get through. I was in Iraq 05-06 we got to go to al Asad air base to pick up a few supplies as we were running low been out in the sand taking names. When I got there it was more like a resort. I hadn't had a shower or been near one in 3 or 4 days and these so called combat vets had smell good on and fancy clothes headed to the club literally. I almost lost it when I seen that. I'm getting mad just talking about it I'll stop while I'm ahead. So when it comes to this guy in the news with "ptsd" he needs to ___. You fill in the blank.

Have any of you ever heard of someone having PTSD from being in prison?

I could be wrong but can't one be diagnosed with such from any overly traumatic experience? If so prison would indeed be enough if one saw enough or experienced something there bad enough to scar them. Death is death. Rape is rape. Torture is torture. etc. etc. Regardless of where bad **** happens, it's still bad ****.

Well never mind, I answered my own question with the link below.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Causes - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

Sirscrapalot - ==== * the more you know!

I saw the movie and loved it!!! From what I understand this dirtbag drove Kyle's truck to his sisters and told her he "murdered" two people. Using that word he knows the difference between right and wrong, and he knew what he did was wrong and should get the max. Personally, I think he should fry!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

Just wanted to know your thoughts. I have not seen the movie yet, but plan to do so. Have you seen it? What did you think about the movie? What are your thoughts on the murder trial that is taking place right now in Texas? My GF and I got into a heated argument on this trial and PTSD. I personally think the veteran who has killed two other veterans, both men that were killed, were both combat veterans and were trying to help other veterans. Including the vet that killed them. My GF thinks he should be treated for PTSD and is not responsible, nor should he be held accountable for the two men he killed. I think he is a murdering coward period and you can pretty much guess what I think his fate should be.

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You know what they say about opinions ....... :&

(Please take this with a grain of salt.)

There are some conversations you shouldn't try to have with your woman. They only lead to mutual frustration. There are parts of a woman's thought process that are unique to the way in which a woman looks at the world. The same is true of men. Either way, it's so alien to the opposite gender's thought process that it's almost incomprehensible.

Just love her unconditionally and accept her for the person that she is. Don't try to push it. If she was on the same page she would intuitively understand the idea that you were trying to get across.

As for the vet that went off the deep end ? I don't think i'd call him a coward ... maybe just a mentally defective warrior ? You've got to be able to switch in and out of combat mode at will. If you get back to ordinary life in the states & can't shift gears then you've got problems.

Would you say that the root of PTSD is fear ?

IMHO .... a well trained warrior becomes completely selfless. There's no fear, no compassion,no pity, no joy, no nothing at all. It's just icy cold hard logic and reasoned thinking. Emotions like fear don't enter into his mind when he's in survival mode.

Fear isn't a major factor in ordinary life because he's already mastered it.

Therefore ... he must be defective in some way ?

Question is : What to do about it once he's gone off the reservation ..... he's a loose cannon.

I have read the book and plan to see the movie.

As far as the trail, I have to bow to the jury. They will have more information, emotions, and insight invested in the situation than I will. I try to live my life based on an old saying: Do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. I believe the jury will have walked the mile by the end of the trial.

I should have known better about our argument, for me it will always be stupid to argue with the woman I share a bed with. What was I thinking?

I have seen the movie and think Kyle is a hero!He and his friend where both shot multiple times in the back.This dude knew what he was doing and i hope he goes to jail for the rest of his life

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

I should have known better about our argument, for me it will always be stupid to argue with the woman I share a bed with. What was I thinking?

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It is hard to know which brain you should use in different situations. For me consistency is the answer, I always use the wrong one. Sometimes it is the little one and other times it is the even smaller one. Never get it right. Do not know which one answered this thread, but I am sure it was the wrong one. This is my quote for the year.

I saw the movie last weekend with a couple of 8th graders. I haven't read the book. I don't know how well the movie follows the book. The most surprising thing was how many house-to-house clearings Kyle did. I had the impression he was up on the roof all the time. The last 5 minutes with the real footage of the funeral procession across Texas with people standing in the rain along the roads and on top of overpasses with flags and signs. Choking up thinking about it now...

As for the killer, if what he actually is quoted telling the cops is true, he sounds more schizophrenic than ptsd. All I know is that he has put on some good pounds comparing what he looks like now vs. his mug shot. 3 squares a day...Because Texas took the death penalty off the table, he'll either rot in regular prison or a prison for the criminally insane. Either way he rots...

Haven't seen the movie but I know some about the book. Not to speak bad of the dead but IMO Kyle may have been a good soldier and a war hero, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was a hero in the truest sense of the word. This guy described killing as fun, called Iraqi's savages and seemed to view the world in a very black and white way in which the USA was good and always right in everything and other non western nations as barbarians and bad guys. He made up a ridiculous story about Jessie Ventura that was later proven false, as well as telling other stories such as claiming he perched on top of the superdome and picked off looters after hurricane Katrina that are less then likely to be true. Not trying to insult anyone or slander but there's always different sides of every story and we as Americans should be careful not to automatically think we're always the right ones or see anyone and anything having to do with so called "national security" as right and heroic lest we slide dangerously close to facism, and it's this attitude and blind trust that allows our government and politicians to pull the wool over peoples eyes so easily.

The idea of Kyle and his life portrayed on film is simple. He was a regular cattle rustling ******* of a cowboy with some gruff to him. He never had any sort of success at alot of things. He joined the military because he figured he could make a difference and for no other reason. Not for benefits or because he couldn't get a job...like alot of military members. He answered the call because he wanted to, simple as that. He happened to excel at something very few people in the world are good at naturally. Now...the movie is designed to portray the act of killing in a very specific way...that it's a choice by both the shooter and the shot. Kyle enjoyed his job immensely, in the book he flaunted that satisfaction and who can blame him he really was an ace at what he did. But having read the book I can't say he ever flaunted the need to kill. He did however have the need to accomplish HIS mission and that had got him into trouble more than once, he was the first person to be investigated for not following ROE and that wasn't advertised either. But I digress.

Like anyone who's viewpoint spends long durations in areas like Iraq you develop an acute sense of what you think is evil and what is just, a jaded view of the world that doesn't apply to civilian life. I think this exposure drove Kyle to be a blowhard to his friends. And why not? The people around him sensationalized who he was to them. They treated him a certain way and he did not see himself that way. I know they put a bounty on his head, we heard about it all over Iraq. It was common practice, we'd find flyers with pictures of our hmmwv telling people what to look for and rewards for blowing us up. However even he admitted not many people worked with him and he didnt care for people in general. He had problems with fellow competitors in the rodeo circuit they don't mention. I also think having read the things he wrote and seen some of his videos, he might have had aspergers syndrome which would explain the tall tales and erratic behavior he had to get people to like him. The guy had a very hard time transitioning back to being a civilian and I think that more than anything is the issue at hand.

If there is anything to take from the movie and the book, it's that there is a struggle going on and I think it's widely forgotten we have more living military veterans who have seen combat in America than any other time in our history, excluding the civil war. Three generations of veterans who all had unique struggles. If anything...acknowledge that there is more to PTSD and the struggles even without it to our military veterans than most of us, myself included are really aware of. The movie made me realize I should be doing my part to help my fellow veterans.

Oh and every 29 minutes a Veteran commits suicide in this country.

Thank you A.G.W. for your thoughts and service!!!

Your welcome, I did what I did because I was an honest to god no count at the time. I needed direction in my life.

We argued over mostly, should there even be a trial? I say hell yes, as he was found to be competent to stand trial. She says he is mentally ill and should be treated as such. As a veteran, I would say I'm more than biased and probably should not be so eager to see this man executed. I'm a strong believer that a jury has a very tough job to do. That they mostly get it right, but the legal system is not perfect, but what or who is? He has a chance of being found insane and why is lawyers agreed on the jury makeup. Ten of twelve are ladies and I'm OK with that!

We argued over mostly, should there even be a trial? I say hell yes, as he was found to be competent to stand trial. She says he is mentally ill and should be treated as such. As a veteran, I would say I'm more than biased and probably should not be so eager to see this man executed. I'm a strong believer that a jury has a very tough job to do. That they mostly get it right, but the legal system is not perfect, but what or who is? He has a chance of being found insane and why his lawyers agreed on the jury makeup. Ten of twelve are ladies and I'm OK with that!