Navy Clarifies American Sniper's Inflated Medal Count
On Friday, the Navy re-issued infamous Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s DD-214 discharge paperwork, revising his medal count after a four-year review of military records. According to the Navy Times, the service found no records for two Bronze Stars and one Silver Star Kyle claimed.
The review was prompted by Kyle’s assertion, in his best-selling memoir, that he’d received two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars, “all for valor.” The Intercept reported on the discrepancy earlier this year.
Navy officials said they found no evidence of tampering with Kyle’s original DD-214, the Times reports, and that thousands of such discharge papers are reissued each year:
The original DD-214 actually lists six Bronze Stars with ‘V,’ but they are noted in separate boxes on the form, which is one of many bizarre entries on the document. The new DD-214 uncovers other, more puzzling discrepancies. It removes a Navy Commendation Medal with ‘V’ and five Armed Services Expeditionary medals, but adds three Iraq Campaign Medals, four Sea Service Deployment ribbons and, fittingly, a Rifle Medal (Expert).
It’s not clear why Kyle, who was already so heavily decorated, would exaggerate his record. Then again, he also claimed he punched out former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura and lost a $1.8 million defamation lawsuit as a result.