American Wife (19 page)

Preparing for battle in the desert, 2003.

Chris with a chestful of his medals in 2008, celebrating his SEAL Team's twenty-fifth anniversary.

Chris with his second family: his SEAL teammates—their faces are blacked out for security reasons.

A father and son snooze-fest before Chris had to leave for his first deployment as a sniper.

Like father, like son . . . zzzzzz . . .

A family Christmas in Alpine.

The family inheritance—Chris introduced Bubba to horses during an early visit to Texas.

The kids check out Daddy's flying steed on a base family day.

Body paint and tattoos also ran in the family.

Number one. The publication of Chris's memoir in January 2012 would change our lives forever.

Whether in Texas, California (like here), or just about anywhere in America, book signings brought out crowds of people to meet Chris.

Throwing out the first pitch at a Rangers game gave Chris one of his all-time highs.

Another came when he met one of his lifelong idols, Randy White. The former Dallas Cowboy brought a book to be signed, and penned his name on Chris's souvenir jersey.

Here we are in Europe to promote the Polish edition of
American Sniper
, enjoying the traditional
tatanka
, aka “frisky bison,” which can be made only with Å»ubrówka vodka.