Savage, despicable evil. That's what we were fighting in Iraq. That's why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy 'savages.' There really was no other way to describe what we encountered there.
War is hell. Hollywood fantasizes about it and makes it look good... war sucks.
It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don't regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn't save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I'm not naive, and I don't romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job.
When I grew up, I only had two dreams. One was to be a cowboy and another was to be in the military. I grew up extremely patriotic and riding horses.
You have to slow your heart rate, stay calm. You have to shoot in between your heartbeats.
I'm just trying to get back to normal life.
Every person I killed I strongly believe that they were bad. When I do go face God there is going to be lots of things I will have to account for but killing any of those people is not one of them.
I am not a fan of politics.
I would love for people to be able to think of me as a guy who stood up for what he believed in and helped make a difference for the vets.
I really don't care what people think of me. I've got my family. I've got my friends. Yes, I have been trained to be a little more aggressive if I need to be, but I don't go around thumping people.
The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any other American service member, past or present.
After I was discharged from the military, it was difficult trying to become a civilian.
But even before I was in the military, I was extremely jumpy when asleep.
In the end, my story, in Iraq and afterward, is about more than just killing people or even fighting for my country. It's about being a man. And it's about love as well as hate.
Every time I kill someone, he can't plant an I.E.D. You don't think twice about it.
I don't have to psych myself up, or do something special mentally - I look through the scope, get my target in the cross hairs, and kill my enemy, before he kills one of my people.
I like war.
You're not just going out there, maybe sacrificing your own life. There's also sacrifices still going on at home. You can serve in the military and have a good marriage, but you just need to be aware of it so you can take those steps to take care of it.
I'm trying to raise the awareness of the troops that, when they deploy and go to war, it's not just them at war - it's also their family. Their family is having to go through all the hardships and the stresses.
Other people are talking about writing books about my life, or about some of the things I've done. I find it strange, but I also feel it's my life and my story, and I guess I better be the one to get it on paper the way it actually happened.
There's definitely still a lot of hurt from losing my guys or the fact that I got out and I felt like it wasn't my time yet.
The media cause more problems than they do good.
You're in a combat zone one day. You come home, and then you have to readjust, and it takes a few days. We just sit in the house, hang with the family and then things get better.
I'm a better husband and father than I was a killer.
I really don't care what people think of me.
It's not a problem taking out someone who wants your people dead. That's not a problem at all.
