'Our Hero, Our Dad'

Taya Kyle lost her husband, 'American Sniper Chris Kyle, in a senseless shooting in 2013. Now, more than a decade later the couple's teenage children McKenna and Colton talk candidly about growing up in the wake of tragedy and honoring their father's legacy

- K.C. BAKER

In 2014 the Clint Eastwood-directed film American Sniper broke box office records, garnered six Academy Award nominations and left moviegoers with a renewed sense of patriotism. The movie tells the story of decorated Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, regarded as one of the most lethal snipers in U.S. history, and his struggle to survive in the throes of brutal warfare in Iraq. Bradley Cooper’s performance as Kyle also explores his struggle with PTSD while returning home to his wife and two young children in north Texas. And the film captures his tragic end: On Feb. 2, 2013, Kyle, 38, and his friend Chad Littlefield, 35, were killed at a Texas gun range by a former Marine they were trying to help. Chris was shot six times with a .45 caliber pistol he let the former Marine use. The shooter, who claimed he had mental health issues, was sentenced in 2015 to life in prison without parole.

While millions saw American Sniper, two key people did not—until recently. Protective of the couple’s children, Chris’s widow, Taya, now 49, shielded Colton and McKenna—who were 8 and 6 when their father was killed—from both the public eye and the harsh realities of the film. They saw it two years ago when Cooper, who has become a family friend, invited them to view it for the first time at his New York home. Feeling like they were reliving Chris’s death, when the movie ended, “we cried for a while,” says Colton, now 19. People often tell Colton and McKenna how much they regard their father, a military hero known as “the Legend” for his 160 confirmed kills made while protecting his fellow soldiers. “A lot of people see him as this public figure,” says Colton. “I just knew him as my dad.”