Fields: “American Sniper” Was An American Idiot
BY SAM FIELDS
You wouldn’t have an Overeaters Anonymous meeting in front of the buffet at Golden Corral. And I am pretty sure a Grateful Dead concert is not the place to bring people for a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
It therefore follows that you would not treat mental illness at a gun range.
Yet, that is precisely what American Sniper Chris Kyle and his buddy Chad Littlefield did… with predictable results.
Eddie Ray Routh, who was just convicted of their murders, was severely disturbed. He was suffering from PTSD and being medicated with drugs reserved for schizophrenics and other psychotics.
Rather than medication and the therapist’s couch, Kyle and Littlefield thought that a loaded gun and target practice was the appropriate treatment.
And there is little doubt they knew he was mentally ill.
Just before arriving at the gun range, Kyle texted Littlefield: “This dude is straight up nuts. Watch my 6.” That’s military talk for “watch my back.”
Nevertheless, Kyle blithely handed his personal handgun to Routh who proceeded to kill both of them. Why? Because, as he later explained to the police, on the drive over to the range, “they wouldn’t talk to him”. In Eddie Routh’s twisted world that countenanced justifiable homicide.
If, instead of killing Kyle and Littlefield, Routh had killed innocent bystanders, any prosecutor worth his salt would have charged them with Second Degree murder also known as “Depraved Indifference”.
It was like handing the car keys to a staggering drunk who then runs a red light and kills a couple of pedestrians in the crosswalk.
No one should be surprised at the results. The law will not tolerate either behavior.
If Kyle had been arrested, that would have certainly changed the script on “American Sniper”.
I’ve got more to write about this but I must cut it short. I don’t want to miss my A.A. meeting at Maguires Hill 16 Irish Pub.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:37 am
This article is about as “well said” as it gets….case closed……..
February 26th, 2015 at 9:45 am
I am not hiding behind some fake name so you can come right after me Mr. Fields. I won’t use disgusting words to tell you how I feel about your opinion of Chris Kyle. But I would like to know how much direct experience you’ve had with PTS, and people who work with others who may have it. Also, the comments Chris made in a text, well, my wife calls me nuts all the time (she’s probably right), People use the term tongue in cheek as well. I believe Chris thought he had a situation under control and was merely trying to insure an outcome by having his friend “keep an eye out”. Regardless of the obvious lack of good judgement in hindsight, to call him an idiot is disgusting and cheap.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:55 am
sam your message was fair all but the headline, he wasn’t an idiot he tried and sorry to say died. sam never saw you at the hill, not sure they would let you in but ill be there at 6 tonight, id love to see what your like with a buzz on…
FROM BUDDY:
I want to make it clear that Sam Fields wrote the headline.
February 26th, 2015 at 11:10 am
Sam;
Maybe there is a God, and he is just.
February 26th, 2015 at 11:52 am
Chaz, if God was just, that Festivus Pole would be located much more intimately closer to you than at the Capitol.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
DEAR MR. BEHRMAN
So when he indicated that he needed his back covered this was also a joke???
…..
Maybe the fame and fortune had made Kyle into an arrogant know-it-all and brought this down on himself.
Do you actually think any trained professional would think that giving a gun to someone with PTSD is anything less than gross stupidity?
February 26th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
It is highly insulting to call an American patriot who fought for his country honorably “an idiot.”
He may have been misguided because of his actions on the day he was killed and over confident that he could control the situation at the gun range. That does not make an idiot.
An idiot is someone who sits confortably at home sounding off on the Internet while others fight. By that definition, Sam Fields is an idiot.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:55 pm
Sam,
Is Buddy Nevins an American Idiot for giving someone as deranged as you a forum to spout your poison?
February 26th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Sambo, your buddy Obama is going to give him a Medal of Honor….
February 26th, 2015 at 6:39 pm
So, in Sam’s world, a woman who wears provocative clothing deserves to be raped, an obese 5th grader deserves to be bullied, a person who makes minimum wage should be ridiculed and shown disrespect. Sam, victims deserve respect.
February 26th, 2015 at 8:41 pm
Sam, of course I dont think that. I think it was a terrible judgement call from someone trained to know when to allow or not allow certain actions. Yes, it is possible he didnt think this would happen but made the comment “watch my 6” in a rhetorical sense, just my opinion. I take issue with calling him an idiot. I think more respect should be paid, while even acknowledging a terrible mistake.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:25 pm
“Idiots” like Chris Kyle have made it possible for conversations like this to exist in the United States since 1776. In the country where he served 4 tours of duty there is no freedom to say whatever one pleases. But the right to do that is paid for in blood. Idiots blood.
The man died recently trying to help another veteran shake off his demons. He wasn’t a social worker or a psychologist but just a fellow veteran who cared enough to try and help a very disturbed man. I myself would use many words to describe him. Idiot is not one that would occur to most.
Asshole.
February 27th, 2015 at 8:59 am
Well, if anyone knows idiots…..
February 27th, 2015 at 11:26 am
>> He wasn’t a social worker or a psychologist …
Nope, and he won’t be making that mistake again.
Perhaps it’s payback for all those people he “shot” in NOLA.
Or the vast proceeds donated from his book sales.
February 27th, 2015 at 11:29 am
Hey loud mouth Sam I have a question for you? Would you tell his widow she married a idiot. You sir are a reason for abortion. You have no guts just sit and relish in the freedoms we veterans fought, wounded and many died for. You like many in leadership in the WH think that only idiots join and serve. Well sir me, my wife, and my oldest son think you are a spineless jelly fish…..The term got my six is universal language for vets if you had ever been one you would know that. But being a under the bed bad mouth you dont know that. Would you say the same to all the vets who try to help there own folks? I gotta go wash people like you are one of the main reasons for water waste to get the filth off our fingers…
February 27th, 2015 at 4:14 pm
If Fields is this careless about his language and his opinions, what kind of lawyer is he really? What a jerk.
February 27th, 2015 at 7:36 pm
I am liking these positive comments…. Sammy, you should eb ashamed of your pompous self. BTW…are you a military combat veteran? By that I mean, did you ever see combat…and not as a cook or manservant? Pussy.
February 28th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
So what does one reckon the average IQ is of the negative commenters responding to this piece?
“I’d give it a 65, Dick”
George Bush
Dick Cheney
Condi Rice
IF one is going to question Sam’s military combat record, tell me which one of these three saw actual combat. They bear more culpability for Kyle’s death than Sam.
Shooting & killing people while hidden away at a safe distance doesn’t require much courage or patriotism, just an accurate eye.
March 1st, 2015 at 11:14 am
How ironic. People who are afraid to use their real names are accusing me of being a coward!
Comparing Chris Kyle to the Revolutionary War soldiers is a joke.
Kyle and the millions who got sucked into the Vietnam, Iraqi and Afghani war did nothing to protect my freedom. To the contrary, they are part of a system hellbent on the diminution of all our freedoms.
And, like Vietnam, they marched into the Iraq and Afghanistan Big Muddy based on bright shining lies.
Maybe the unbridled expansion of warrantless surveillance of all Americans is your idea protecting freedom. It’s not mine.
Maybe pissing away a Trillion each year on so-called defense is your idea of protecting our freedom. It’s not mine.
No, I have never served in the military. I graduated college in 1966 and did everything I could to avoid Vietnam. Ultimately, I avoided the draft in what was one of the strangest stories you ever heard…it does not involve wearing a dress!
Anytime and anyplace you want to debate policies of the last fifteen years I would be happy to show up. But I guess that would require you to identify yourselves.