American Sniper: 9 Things The Film Lied About

1. He Doesn't Have 160 Confirmed Kills

In reality, there isn't any such thing as a "confirmed kill". Official US policy is not to keep records of this sort of thing and, even though all snipers have to file reports about every instance of them discharging their weapon, no statistics are kept of how many combatants they kill. Instead, sniper folklore varies between numbers being verified by spotters and kills needing to be verified up close, and Kyle himself has spoken of his number coming from him personally keeping track of the amount of soldiers he killed. Although since his death a number of fellow marines have stated that, given the length of his tours and hours in the field, they'd estimate his true figure to be upwards of 250. Whatever the total figure though, he comfortably holds the record, albeit it an unofficial one, for most sniper kills in the American military. The previous holder of this dubious honour was Carlos Hathcock, who recorded 93 during the Vietnam war. What did you make of American Sniper? Do the factual discrepancies change your opinion on it? Discuss the movie in comments below.