The man who inspired Clint Eastwood's film American Sniper Chris Kyle is lovingly remembered by his wife as a good Christian with a "huge heart."
His widow Taya defended her husband, who was known as the most lethal sniper in United States military history, as a hero and a man of faith. He reportedly had 160 confirmed kills.
Since his story was told worldwide due to the movie "American Sniper," debates have been going on as to whether or not Chris was really a moral man.
On social networking site Twitter, Chris drew flak particularly from filmmaker Michael Moore, who indirectly called the fallen sniper a coward. The tweet generated even more debate after Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin slammed the tweet and called Chris a hero.
"There's an inaccurate stereotype of these guys, that they love war," Taya, 40, told People in an interview. "I can promise you, they don't love war. But they do love that fight for what they would say is justice for each other."
"I remember Chris saying that he never knew what it was like until that first shot, that there is no way you know until you are on the gun," said Taya. "It was hard. These guys don't do it easily. For Chris it was, 'This is what I trained for. I want to go back.'"
Taya also shared that Chris is a very dedicated guy in the community, and would often urge her to do simple acts of kindness, such as mowing a vet's lawn or helping them with their groceries.
"Any little thing would have a massive impact, so if this film can help Chris spread the message he wanted to spread, then we will all have done our job," said Taya.
When asked if he regretted any of his kills, Chris only said, "I regret the people I couldn't kill before they got to my boys."
The modest Chris also downplayed his talent as a sniper. Before his death, Chris even talked to the actor who played him, Bradley Cooper, and said that he wanted Clint Eastwood to direct the film, and he got his wish.
He lost his life at 38 in 2013 when he was shot at a Texas gun range by Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine he was helping overcome PTSD.
