to physically do them. I donât envy you. I do love you so very much. I miss you like crazy. Canât wait to touch you again. Well, I just got back from working, and I am gonna go to bed for a while now. Like three days! I wish, but I do have some down time now. Anyway, take care of yourself and the little ones. Tell them I love them, and give them a hug and a kiss from me. I love you, baby!
Around this time, Chris and his platoon were on a patrol in Baghdad when they came under attack. Chris was shot in the headâfortunately, he was wearing his helmet, and between that and the grace of God, the bullet did nothing more than ring his ears. But for him, I think, it was the start of the end. The impact of the round had slammed his helmet and vision gear down so that he couldnât see; for a moment, he thought he was blind.
While Chris continued to work just as hard as he always had, he was as aware as ever that he was vulnerableâfriends had been killed, heâd been hit. At the same time, he had three big reasons to want to come home in one piece: the kids and me.
That didnât change the fact that he loved being a SEAL and was dedicated to saving people. It was just something that clouded his vision of those things.
May 9, 2008
Thank you for all your emails. I loved opening it up and seeing you all over it. You made my week. I love you so much, and miss the hell out of you. I love to hear about the kids and orange poop, too. Hope your gums are feeling better. Do you like your hair the way it is now? Wish I was there to see it for myself. We are really staying busy here. Work is good and the morale is high. The army is in love with us. We have already done so much to save them. They never want us to leave. Good news for me. The quality of life is OK. We all live in open bay, and the food isnât bad, but we arenât here often to enjoy even that. We came in last night and it looked like we just crawled out of the sewer. I had several daysâ growth on my beard and it caught all the dirt. My face was almost black from all the soot, gunpowder, and everything else. Our uniforms were almost completely brown. By the way, we are wearing army cammies that are more green, so that should tell you how dirty we were. But we are loving what we are doing. I am gonna try to call you tonight. I really miss talking to you. I love to hear your sexy voice and picture being able to see you in front of me. Canât wait to see you again. I gave Mark Spicer your email address and phone number in case he or Diane wanted to talk to you. [Mark Spicer was a British sniper whom Chris had befriended; they would later start Craft together. Diane was his wife.] Hope you donât mind. Tell everyone there I said hi, and tell the kids I love them and miss them. Please give them both a big hug and kiss and tell them itâs from daddy. I am sending you tons of them. Just canât wait to deliver them. I love you more than anything in this world, baby. You are everything to me. No more leaving you to fight some war. You are all I need. I honestly feel now I have done my part, and donât mind someone else fighting the next one for me. Take care of yourself, gorgeous. I love you!
While he was in Baghdad, Chris was involved in one other incident that illustrates his character and the lines that he drew.
People have criticized him for his willingness to shoot a woman and her child who had a grenade and were about to blow up American Marines. (The incident is described, though toned down, in the first pages of American Sniper. ) Though he balked until ordered to shoot, Chris realized that the mother and child were already dead, thanks to the womanâs pulling the pin on the grenade. Because of that, his decision to shoot didnât bother himâhis action saved a number of Marines.
Contrast that with this incident in Baghdad, also in the book:
A Shia terrorist armed with a grenade launcher attempted to kill
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