Navy SEAL Chris Kyle may have been killed on an Erath County gun range on February 2, but he will live on indefinitely as a life-sized, 6-and-a-half-foot-tall bronze statute.
A clay version of the statue arrived in North Texas today flanked by Patriot Guard riders, who typically show up only at soldiers' funerals, and was promptly taken by Florida-based sculptor Greg Marra to an "undisclosed location at a North Texas foundry," according to NBC 5.
"I believe Chris Kyle suffered and was murdered, but I'll be darned if we're going to let it go down just like that," Marra told the station. "Now he's coming back even stronger. His message is even stronger now and the bad guys, they may have won a battle but they're not going to win the war and if there's anything I can do with my hands and some clay and that is to resurrect, in a sense, the spirit of a warrior who sacrificed everything for us, then I do that."
This is familiar territory for Marra, who refers to himself on his website as "America's Sculptor" and has dedicated his career "towards the pursuit of classical historical statuary to honor the United States of America, and promote her greatness worldwide."
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As for the Kyle statue, Marra told a Florida news station, that "it's the least I can do with my hands and some clay and some tools to honor them, and it's my way of giving back to the country. To them."