3. TIL that American Sniper Chris Kyle admitted to lying about a fight with Jesse V...

TIL that American Sniper Chris Kyle admitted to lying about a fight with Jesse Ventura in his book and his widow has ignored her late husband's wishes and withheld millions from the bereaved families of his fallen friends that he publicly had promised to support prior to his death.

To get psychological for a minute, here are my two cents.

Being in the SEAL Teams requires a huge fucking ego. You have to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are not going to fail during BUD/S, Jump School, Seal Qualification Training, and the constant training after that. You are surrounded by men who are also in the best physical and mental shape that the military can create, who also have huge egos, and who all know that they are the best in the world at what they do.

You have to have absolute fucking confidence that you cannot fail. Failure means you and your friends dying. Failure means failing the mission, which is just as unthinkable.

You are constantly on edge, wound up, walking on the edge of a knife.

There is a lot of bullshitting and ball-busting in the Teams. You're always giving each other a hard time. There is a constant desire and obligation to continue improving yourself and proving yourself. Miss a shot during a pistol session on the range? You'll get razzed. That new, younger guy on the team beat your three mile run time? Better run faster next time - you need to show that kid how good you are, that you haven't lost a step, and there's always the lurking thought that there are more young men just like him and your time is limited.

There aren't many options for a SEAL after he leaves the Teams. You've been doing it for 15-20 years and you're not even 40 yet. Your whole life is ahead of you and being a SEAL, being the best, is all you know.

Your whole adult life has been spent being the best and training with the best. They are your friends, your brothers. You probably have a family, but you don't know them, not really, not like you do your brothers.

So you're getting old, losing a little physical ability, feel threatened by younger guys and losing your spot in the Teams, you never fail, have spent a lifetime proving yourself, are most likely suffering from PTSD, and are terrified of what life will be like for you after you retire. You have tons of injuries, medical bills are piling up, and the health care options available for veterans are byzantine in complexity and disgustingly inadequate in quality.

And then the day comes and you are out. You're no longer in the Navy. You're trying to find out how to have a "normal" life. You're at home a lot. You ache constantly, aren't sleeping, have depression, and you still feel the need to prove yourself. All. The. Time.

Chris Kyle found a great way to help himself deal with his issues, while at the same time helping others with theirs. He didn't suffer from all of the problems I discussed above, but what I described is common among former Team guys. He had a huge ego, was used to high stakes and high confidence, and was used to his actions speaking for themselves. But then he had no outlet for all of that. He's no longer confident that he's the best and needs a way to prove that he's still bad ass, still top dog, still the best.

I'm not defending his lies. In fact I find them deplorable. I'm just trying to show how it's possible that he acted out because he had a lot of baggage and was trying to find outlets for some of his mental issues. Maybe he felt like telling those lies would somehow help him prove himself.

But that's just my thought on the matter.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - nationalreview.com
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