American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U. S. Military History

S
EPTEMBER 11, 2001

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A
s our relationship got closer and closer, Taya and I started
spending more time with each other. Finally, we’d spend nights at
each other’s apartment, either in Long Beach or San Diego.
I woke up one morning to her yelling. “Chris! Chris! Wake up!
You’ve got to see this!”
I stumbled into the living room. Taya had turned on the television
and jacked the volume. I saw smoke pouring out of the World
Trade Center in New York.
I didn’t understand what-all was happening. Part of me was still
sleeping.
Then as we watched, an airplane flew right into the side of the
second tower.
“
....
!” I muttered.
I stared at the screen, angry and confused, not entirely sure it
was real.
Suddenly I remembered that I left my cell phone off. I grabbed
it, and saw I’d missed a bunch of messages. The sum total of them
was this:
Kyle, get your ass back to base. Now!
I grabbed Taya’s SUV—it had plenty of gas and my truck
didn’t—and hauled down to base. I don’t know exactly how fast I
was going—it might have been three digits—but it was certainly a
high rate of speed.
Down around San Juan Capistrano, I glanced in the rearview
mirror and saw a set of red lights flashing.

---

I pulled over. The cop who came up to the truck was pissed.
“Is there any reason you’re going so fast?” he demanded.
“Yes, sir,” I told him. “I apologize. I’m in the military and I just
got recalled. I understand you got to write me a ticket. I know I
was in the wrong but with all due respect can you just hurry and
give me the ticket so I can get back to base?”
“What branch are you in?”
....
,
I thought. 
I just told you I have to report.
 
Can’t 
you just give me the damn ticket?
But I kept my cool.
“I’m in the Navy,” I told him.
“What do you do in the Navy?” he asked.
By now I was pretty annoyed. “I’m a SEAL.”
He closed his ticket book.
“I’ll take you to the city line,” he told me. “Go get 
some
....
’
payback.”
He put his lights on and pulled in front of me. We went a bit
slower than I’d been going when he nabbed me, but it was still well
past the limit. He took me as far as his jurisdiction went, maybe a
little farther, then waved me on.