Garett Reppenhagen writes:
I spent many nights in Iraq, lying prone and looking through a 12-power sniper scope.
As a sniper, you only see a limited view between the reticles, and it’s necessary to keep both eyes open to track targets and establish 360 degrees of awareness. I would rotate with my spotter to see the whole battlefield, scrutinizing every target in my scope to determine if they were a threat.
In a way, it’s an analogy for keeping the whole Iraq mission in perspective.
No single service member has a monopoly on the war narrative — it changes depending on where and when you served, your role, and a number of other random elements.
As people around the world get set to watch the Oscars tonight, it’s important to understand that the movie “American Sniper” offers a limited view of the Iraq War.
I shared my story in a piece called “I was an American Sniper, and Chris Kyle’s war was not my war.” I hope you’ll read and share it before tonight’s show.
Read it on VoteVets.org | Share the article on Facebook | Re-Tweet the piece
My war was completely different than Chris Kyle’s war. That doesn’t mean his war is wrong and mine was right. But it does mean that no one experience is definitive.
That’s important to keep in mind when considering the hype around American Sniper.
Thanks for reading,
Garett Reppenhagen
Iraq War Veteran
I spent nights in Iraq lying prone and looking through a 12-power sniper scope. You only see a limited view between the reticles. That’s why it’s necessary to keep both eyes open. This way you have some ability to track targets and establish 360 degrees of awareness. I rotated with my spotter and an additional security team member to maintain vigilance and see the whole battlefield. I scrutinized every target in my scope to determine if they were a threat.
In a way, it’s an analogy for keeping the whole Iraq mission in perspective and fully understanding the experiences of the U.S. war fighters during Operation Iraqi Freedom. No single service member has the monopoly on the war narrative. It will change depending on where you serve, when you were there, what your role was, and a few thousand other random elements.
For the past 10 days, “American Sniper” has rallied crowds and broken box office records, but if you want to understand the war, the film is like peering into a sniper scope — it offers a very limited view.
The movie tells the story of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, said to have 160 confirmed kills, which would make him the most lethal American military member in history. He first shared his story in a memoir, which became the basis for Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation. Kyle views the occupation of Iraq as necessary to stop terrorists from coming to the mainland and attacking the U.S.; he sees the Iraqis as “savages” and attacks any critical thought about the overall mission and the military’s ability to accomplish it.
This portrayal is not unrealistic. My unit had plenty of soldiers who thought like that. When you are sacrificing so much, it’s tempting to believe so strongly in the “noble cause,” a belief that gets hardened by the fatigue of multiple tours and whatever is going on at home. But viewing the war only through his eyes gives us too narrow a frame.
During my combat tour I never saw the Iraqis as “savages.” They were a friendly culture who believed in hospitality, and were sometimes positive to a fault. The people are proud of their history, education system and national identity. I have listened to children share old-soul wisdom, and I have watched adults laugh and play with the naiveté of schoolboys. I met some incredible Iraqis during and after my deployment, and it is shameful to know that the movie has furthered ignorance that might put them in danger.