By now I'm sure everyone has heard the verdict in the Chris Kyle/Chad Littlefield murder case. While I usually stay away from posting anything that may be a hot button issue for someone, I decided to make an exception in this case.
While I have no personal connection to the case, I followed the trial through various news outlets. I don't think I followed the case out of morbid curiosity. There have been plenty of sensational murder cases in the past few years that I didn't feel a connection to or a need to know how the cases were going as they were being tried. I think I felt a connection to this case because most of the male members of my family have served or are currently serving in the military. What happened to Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield could have happened to any one of my male relatives who now work with veterans as a way to give back to the military community and as a way to continue their service.
The fact that Mr. Kyle survived four tours in Iraq only to be killed back in the US while trying to help a fellow service member just seems wrong in so many ways. I felt very sad for Mr. Littlefield's family because he seemed little more than collateral damage - I suppose one could say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was at the gun range to help Mr. Kyle help the man who killed them
What was going on in Eddie Ray Routh's mind when he killed the two men who were trying to help him? Was it really an episode of mental illness? Was it because he consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana just before he was taken to that gun range? We may never really know, but I'm glad (and somehow that seems like a terrible thing to say) that he was found guilty and will pay for taking the lives of two men who wanted nothing more than to help someone in need.
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