It began as a sculpture to honor all SEALs. In the end, it will resemble just one — the reported deadliest sniper in American military history.
Greg Marra started crafting a 400-pound clay visage of a Navy SEAL intending to offer the finished product to either the Navy SEAL Foundation or the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla. But in early February, he got a call from friend and promoter E.F. “Gene” Sweeney.
“The model needs to be Chris Kyle,” Sweeney told Marra.
Kyle, a former chief special warfare operator, died on a Texas gun range Feb. 2; police said the SEAL and a friend were shot and killed by a former Marine whom Kyle reportedly had been helping deal with post-traumatic stress.
Kyle’s 160 confirmed kills — unconfirmed kills could push that figure past 250 — are the most in U.S. military history. He earned two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars with “V” devices, among other decorations, according to Navy personnel records.
Marra worked about a month to tailor his statue to the man behind those numbers.
“Greg put his hands in the clay Feb. 4, and they’ve been there ever since,” said Sweeney, executive director of business affairs at American Patriots in Art and a former Air Force member, in a March 7 interview.
Instead of offering the reworked sculpture to special-operator organizations, Marra decided to donate it to Tara Kyle, the sniper’s widow.
