ARGO (2012)

Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin

based on the book "The Master of Disguise" by Antonio J. Mendez

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Ben Affleck Born: August 15, 1972 Birthplace: Berkeley, California, USA	Antonio "Tony" Mendez Born: 1940 Cover Identity: Production Manager
John Goodman Born: June 20, 1952 Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, USA	John Chambers Born: September 12, 1922 Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA Death: August 25, 2001, Woodland Hills, California, USA(diabetes complications)
Tate Donovan Born: September 25, 1963 Birthplace: Tenafly, New Jersey, USA	Bob Anders Born: 1925 Cover Identity: Director
Scoot McNairy Born: November 11, 1977 Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, USA	Joseph Stafford Cover Identity: Associate Producer
Kerry Bishé Born: May 1, 1984	Kathleen Stafford Born: 1951 Cover Identity: Art Director
Christopher Denham Born: 1980	Mark Lijek Born: 1951 Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA Cover Identity: Transportation Coordinator
Clea DuVall Born: September 25, 1977 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA	Cora Lijek Born: May 13, 1954 Birthplace: Japan Cover Identity: Screenwriter
Rory Cochrane Born: February 28, 1972 Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA	Henry "Lee" Schatz Born: March 5, 1948 Cover Identity: Cameraman

While the movie presents myriad dramatic complications and last-minute twists and turns, the plan actually went off without a hitch. Which is not to say that our situation was without real-life drama—just that most of it happened before Mendez arrived. - Mark Lijek (Slate.com, October 18, 2012)



QUESTIONING THE STORY:


When the American Embassy was overtaken did the six US diplomats really walk directly to the Canadian ambassador's residence?

No. The Argo true story reveals that the Americans first attempted to walk to the British embassy compound that was 20 minutes away. 

Actor Victor Garber (left) portrays Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor (right).

Blocked by a demonstration, they instead went to Bob Anders's apartment that was close by. At this time, there were only five of them (Lee Schatz joined the group a week later after hiding with the Swedes). The following week they changed locations five times due to safety concerns and people they could not fully trust, finally ending up at the home of the Canadian Deputy Chief of Mission, John Sheardown. It was there that they met Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, portrayed by Victor Garber in the Argo movie. In reality, Joe and Kathy Stafford went to stay at the Canadian Ambassador's residence, while the other four remained at John Sheardown's with John and his wife Zena. John and Zena are not depicted in the film. -Slate.com


Did Tony really come up with the cover story himself?

Yes, Tony thought of the Hollywood angle himself one night while he was at home in Maryland packing. He had worked with many consultants in the entertainment industry in the past, including an award-winning makeup expert by the name of John Chambers (John Goodman's character in the movie). Tony kept in close contact with Chambers, who advised him as he developed the cover story that involved the six Americans leaving Iran as part of a movie production company that had been scouting shooting locations in the country. -CIA.gov


Did the CIA really set up a fake movie production company?

Yes. Like in the film, it was called Studio Six Productions. The company's production offices were located on the Columbia lot in Hollywood. Actor Michael Douglas had just vacated the offices after wrapping production on The China Syndrome. -CIA.gov

Did Tony actually use a real Hollywood script to help create the cover story?

Yes. Tony and John Chambers (John Goodman in the movie) picked the script from a pile of manuscripts that had been previously submitted to Chambers for his consideration. Based on the award-winning 1967 Roger Zelazny sci-fi novel Lord of Light, the script was in part chosen because it was complicated and hard to follow. It also celebrated Islam to a certain degree. These two attributes, coupled with the growing popularity of science fiction films following the success of Star Wars, made it an excellent choice. -CIA.gov

Was the phrase "Argo f**k yourself" really a running joke at the time?

Yes. Tony states that John Chambers (John Goodman in the movie) once told a vulgar "knock-knock" joke that had the phrase "Argo f**ck yourself" as the punchline. Tony's CIA team often repeated the line as a way to break the tension when they were stressed and working long hours. John Chambers remembered telling the joke and recalled the meaning behind the name "Argo". -CIA.gov

Where did the title "Argo" come from?

The title "Argo" that Tony and John Chambers gave to the screenplay came from Greek mythology, specifically it is the name of Jason and the Argonauts' ship that they sailed to the sacred garden to rescue the Golden Fleece from the clutches of the many-headed dragon. "This precisely described the situation in Iran," states Tony. -CIA.gov

Did they really run a full-page ad in Variety to give the fake movie credibility?

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Argo movie poster that appeared as a full-page ad in Variety.

Yes. In order to add credibility to the fake production, Tony's team, working in secrecy alongside his Hollywood consultants, arranged for full-page ads to appear in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, two well-respected trade publications. The actual ad is pictured at right. -CIA.gov

The day before the faux production company took out the full-page ad for Argo, Variety published the following blurb about the company and its project in its Pix, People, Pickups roundup, "Studio Six Prods. has announced that sci-fi thriller, 'Argo,' will begin filming in March on various locations in Asia and Europe. Indie is keeping mum on any plot and cast details until just before pic is released." -Variety.com

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Famed comic book artist Jack Kirby's Argo concept artwork.

Were storyboard drawings really created for the fake movie?

Yes, the storyboards were created, but the real story behind Argoreveals that Tony Mendez never gave them to the officers at the airport (Argo: Inside Story). Various pieces of concept art for the film still exist today and have appeared on display in spy related exhibits around the US. The concept art was created by world famous comic book artist Jack Kirby. A piece of this Argo concept art is shown at left. -Wired.com

How did the CIA get the forged documentation for the six Americans into Iran?

The CIA team sent it via diplomatic pouch to the Canadian Embassy in Tehran, Iran. CIA specialists, who pretended to be part of the Studio Six Production team, traveled to Iran to make final arrangements and complete the travel documents. -CIA.gov

Did Tony Mendez really use the alias "Kevin Harkins" as his cover?

Yes. During the operation, Tony's full alias was "Kevin Costa Harkins". His cover occupation was "production manager" for a film crew that was in Iran scouting possible filming locations for their upcoming movie Argo. -SpyMuseum.org

Did Tony Mendez really meet the six Americans by himself?

No. The real Tony Mendez worked with another OTS (Office of Technical Services) Officer, a Latin American authentication officer who he refers to as "Julio", who had a significant amount of exfiltration experience (CIA.gov). He also had other contacts helping him during the escape at the airport in Tehran (Argo: Inside Story).

Did Tony really meet the six at Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor's house?

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John Sheardown and his wife Zena hid four of the six Americans.

No. Tony and his partner "Julio" met the six at the home of the Canadian Deputy Chief of Mission, John Sheardown. As stated earlier, Joe Stafford and his wife Kathy were the only ones staying with the Canadian Ambassador. The rest stayed with John Sheardown and his wife Zena (they are not represented in the Argomovie). Canadian Ambassador Taylor, portrayed by Victor Garber in the movie, brought the Staffords with him for the meeting. -CIA.gov


Did Joe Stafford really become anxious about the plan?

Yes. In the movie, Joe Stafford (portrayed by actor Scoot McNairy) expresses quite a bit of anxiety and reluctance with regard to Tony's proposed plan of having the group pose as members of a movie production company. The real Tony Mendez states that as they discussed the mechanics of the escape, Joe did express anxiety over the risks involved. -CIA.gov

Did they really have to venture into town to scout a possible location?

No. In the movie, Tony (Ben Affleck) and the six are left with no choice but to meet with two men associated with the Iranian film office. They drive into town and venture through a market where an older man confronts Kathy Stafford (Kerry Bishé) for taking Polaroid photos. He yells at her and states that his son had been killed by a gun supplied by America. The true story behind the Argo movie reveals that this never actually happened, nor did they ever venture into town to scout a location. -CIA.gov

Was the housekeeper in the movie based on a real person?

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Sheila Vand (left) as Sahar in the movie and the real maid named Lolita (right).

Yes. The housekeeper in the movie named Sahar (Sheila Vand) is based largely on John Sheardown's housekeeper, a Filipino woman named Lolita, who did not expose the secret about John and his wife's new houseguests, despite knowing the truth. John and his wife, who sheltered four of the six Americans, are not represented in the movie. Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat hid the Staffords. Pat told their servants that the couple were tourists visiting Iran for a short time and that they were friends of her husband. -Canadian Caper, PBS Documentary


Did they really hear a helicopter hovering above the house like in the movie?

Yes. When interviewed about the real story, John Sheardown's wife Zena recalls a helicopter hovering over their home for quite a bit of time, which caused significant concern, believing that the Iranians had found out and were looking for their home. Unlike what is shown in the movie (or in this case not shown in the movie), they later discovered that the police were looking for an Iranian gunman who assassinated a religious leader in that area. To reiterate, John and his wife are not represented in the movie, despite hiding four of the six Americans. -Canadian Caper, PBS Documentary

Did the Canadian Ambassador's wife really receive a strange phone call?

Yes. Pat Taylor, the wife of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, received a strange phone call during which the caller, who would not identify himself, asked to speak with Joe Stafford, who had been hiding with his wife Kathy at the Taylor home. Pat told the caller that she had never heard of Joe Stafford and told the person to call her husband. Ken Taylor never received a call.-Canadian Caper, PBS Documentary

Did they really hold a trial interrogation the night before they left?

Yes, but in researching the Argo true story, we discovered that unlike what is shown in the film, Tony Mendez did not act as the interrogator. Instead, a man named Roger Lucy, who was house-sitting with the four Americans staying at the Sheardown's home, volunteered to be the interrogator. He spoke Farsi fluently, the language of the area. He conducted the mock interrogations dressed in military fatigues, complete with a hat, jack boots, sunglasses and a swagger stick. -CIA.gov

How long was Tony in Iran before leaving with the six Americans?

Tony and his partner, who he calls "Julio", arrived in Mehrabad, Iran at 5 a.m. on Friday, January 25, 1980. Tony departed Iran with the six Americans three days later on Monday morning, January 28. -CIA.gov

How long were the six Americans in hiding before their escape?

The six Americans were in hiding in Iran for nearly 3 months, from November 4, 1979 until their escape on the morning of January 28, 1980. After eventually ending up in the large home of the Canadian Deputy Chief of Mission, John Sheardown (not represented in the movie), they spent their time perfecting their culinary skills and playing lots of scrabble.

By comparison, the 52 hostages that remained in the American Embassy building for the entire duration of the Iran hostage crisis were not released until January 20, 1981, almost a full year after Tony Mendez got the six Americans (dubbed the "Canadian Six") out. They spent a total of 444 days as captives. -CIA.gov

Was the mission really called off the night before like in the Argomovie?

No. The mission had never been called off at the last minute, forcing Tony Mendez to make a passionate call to his boss to tell him he was going through with it anyway. In reality, the mission had always been a go ever since American President Jimmy Carter gave his approval prior to Tony taking his flight into Tehran, Iran.

The real Tony Mendez woke up forty-five minutes late the morning he was to meet up with the six Americans at the airport. He had slept through his watch alarm and was woken up when his ride to the airport had arrived and called his hotel room. He rushed to get ready and made it downstairs 15 minutes later. -CIA.gov

Were the airline tickets really approved and confirmed at the last minute?

No. The suspenseful Argo movie scene that requires Ben Affleck's character to ask the woman at the airport ticket counter to recheck for the tickets never actually happened in real life. The reservations had always been in place and there weren't any problems at the counter or the checkpoints. -CIA.gov

Did Tony and the six Americans really get held up at the airport and then chased down the runway as the plane took off?

No. In reality, the six Americans arrived at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport with Tony's CIA partner "Julio". Tony had arrived ahead of them to make sure that he cleared customs and could check in at the airline counter without any trouble. He met them after they made it through successfully, and the group then proceeded through the immigration/emigration checkpoint together without any problems, unlike what is shown in the movie. -CIA.gov

The only setback occurred when the plane was delayed for an hour due to a minor mechanical problem. When the problem was resolved they took the airport bus out to where they boarded the plane and it lifted off for Zurich, Switzerland. They were not chased down the runway by the officers and Revolutionary Guard at the airport. However, they did in fact breathe a collective sigh of relief once they cleared Iranian airspace. To celebrate their escape, they toasted with Bloody Marys. -CIA.gov

The ease of their real life escape is partially attributed to the fact that they had booked an early morning 7:30 a.m. flight when the airport would be much less crowded, the officers would be sleepy and the Revolutionary Guard would be mostly still in bed. -CIA.gov

Did they really have to present a matching yellow copy of the embarkation/disembarkation form?

Yes. They did have to present the forged yellow copy of the embarkation/disembarkation form to match the copy that was supposed to have been filled out when they arrived in the country. There was a moment when someone at a counter did walk away with papers that belonged to a member of the group like in the movie, but the employee only stepped away to get a cup of tea and returned shortly. There was no need to further present a letter from the Ministry of Culture like in the movie. -Argo: Inside Story

It is unclear whether the moment described above is the same instance that the real Lee Schatz describes in the PBS Documentary, where his passport was momentarily taken into a side room. The man who returned with it asked him if it was indeed him in the photo, since his expression was different and his mustache was longer in the passport photo. Lee said it was and the man believed him and let him through. -Canadian Caper, PBS Documentary

Were they really detained and questioned at the airport like in the movie?

No. As stated above, our research into the true story revealed that Tony Mendez and the six Americans were not detained at the airport. They were not sequestered like in the movie. There was therefore no nearly missed nail-biting phone call to Studio Six Productions to verify their backgrounds. Tony also never gave Iranian officers storyboard sketches to keep as souvenirs. -CIA.gov

I heard that the nose of the plane had the name "Argau" on it, is this true?

Yes. Although it is not shown in the film (likely to avoid confusion and to sustain believability), the actual Swissair plane that the Americans flew out on had the name "Argau" lettered on its nose. The Swissair plane had been given the name Argau after a region in Switzerland. Noticing the name on the nose as the group walked up the ramp to board the plane, Bob Anders punched Tony Mendez in the arm and said, "You arranged for everything, didn't you?" -CIA.gov

What happened to Studio Six Productions, the movie company created for the cover?

Studio Six Productions closed its doors several weeks after Tony Mendez and his team helped the six Americans escape from Iran, however, not without grabbing Hollywood's attention. The CIA's fake movie production company created such a convincing cover that it had received 26 scripts, including one from Steven Spielberg. -CIA.gov

When was the story finally revealed to the public?

The story of the CIA's involvement in helping the six Americans to escape Iran on January 28, 1980 was declassified and revealed to the public as part of the Agency's 50th Anniversary celebrations in 1997. -CIA.gov

What became of Tony Mendez?

Tony Mendez and his partner in the Iran operation each received the CIA's Intelligence Star award. Tony continued to work for the CIA, eventually retiring in 1990 after 25 years of service. He has since written four books, including the memoir Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA, which chronicles his experiences. He spends much of his time painting in his art studios on his forty acre farm in rural Washington County, Maryland. Along with his wife, a 27-year veteran of the CIA herself, he has also served on the Board of Directors of the International Spy Museum. -TheMasterofDisguise.com

Where was the movie shot?

In addition to various locations in California (Warner Bros. Studios, etc.) and a CIA Headquarters scene shot in Virginia, shooting for the movie took place in Istanbul, Turkey which stood in for Iran. The airport scene at what was supposed to be Tehran's Mehrabad Airport was shot at the LA/Ontario International Airport, which is actually located in the city of Ontario, a city in San Bernardino County, California (not in Ontario, Canada). -IMDB.com

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)

Starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Catherine Keener

based on the book "A Captain's Duty" by Richard Phillips

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Tom Hanks Born: July 9, 1956 Birthplace: Concord, California, USA	Captain Richard Phillips Born: May 16, 1955 Birthplace: New Hampshire, USA
Barkhad Abdi Born: 1985 Birthplace: Galkayo, Mudug, Somalia	Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse Born: c. 1990 Birthplace: Galkayo, Somalia
Catherine Keener Born: March 23, 1959 Birthplace: Miami, Florida, USA	Andrea Phillips Born: April 16, 1957 Birthplace:Massachusetts, USA
Michael Chernus	Shane Murphy Ship Rank: Captain (second in command)
David Warshofsky Born: February 23, 1961 Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA	Mike Perry Ship Rank: Chief Engineer
Chris Mulkey Born: May 3, 1948 Birthplace: Viroqua, Wisconsin, USA	John Cronan Ship Rank: 3rd Engineer
Corey Johnson Born: May 17, 1961 Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA	Ken Quinn Ship Rank: 2nd Mate

The media got everything wrong. I don't know how I could control this, when I'm in a lifeboat and the media is saying I gave myself up for it. ... You know I didn't give myself up. I was already a hostage by them. -Captain Richard Phillips, Anderson Cooper 360° (AC360°), October 8, 2013



QUESTIONING THE STORY:


Where was the ship going when it was attacked?

Through our exploration into the Captain Phillips true story, we learned that the Maersk Alabama container ship had been on a voyage from Salalah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya when it was attacked by Somali pirates on April 8, 2009. See a map of the ship's course further down this page.

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The real Maersk Alabama container ship leaving its original destination of Mombasa, Kenya on April 21, 2009, eleven days after it had been attacked by Somalian pirates.

Was Captain Phillips conducting a security drill at the time of the pirate attack?

Not exactly. It was not a security drill. It was a fire drill. Knowing that the pirates were approaching by boat, Captain Phillips ordered that the yearly fire drill be completed anyway. "They [the boats] were seven miles away," says Phillips. "There was nothing we could do. We didn't know the exact situation." Certain members of the crew disagree, stating that they believe that the pirates were closer than seven miles and that the crew should have been going to their pirate stations. -New York Post


Did Captain Phillips really fake a call to the Navy to deter the pirate ships?

Yes. After observing the pirate boats headed his way, the real Captain Phillips used his radio to fake a call to the U.S. Navy. He disguised his voice to play the role of the Navy responder, hoping that the incoming pirates would overhear the communication and believe that assistance was on the way. It worked and the pirate mothership and two of its accompanying speedboats turned back (in the movie there is one less speedboat), leaving only one pirate speedboat in pursuit of the Alabama. -TIME.com

How many Somali pirates were involved in the hijacking?

When pitting the Captain Phillips true story vs. the movie, it was confirmed that four Somali pirates were involved in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, the same number shown in the movie.

Did they really use fire hoses in an effort to repel the pirates?

Yes. Like in the movie, the crew of the Maersk Alabama activated the ship's fire hoses. Captain Phillips fired flares at the pirates and the ship was steered so that it would sway back and forth. However, the pirates eventually still managed to throw up a ladder and board the ship, taking the bridge.

Did Captain Phillips lock the bridge before the pirates came aboard?

No. The movie opens with Captain Phillips meticulously attending to safety protocols, telling his crew, "Let's tighten up security! I want everything closed, locked, even in port." However, according to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the real Captain Phillips didn't lock the bridge even when the attacking pirates were known to be on board. "Even at that point he didn't lock 'em," says Perry. Most of the crew members fled below deck and locked themselves in the engine room, remaining there for over twelve hours in 130 degree heat, while Phillips and three other crew members were held at gunpoint. -CNN

Did Captain Phillips really try to tell the pirates that the ship was broken?

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A younger Richard Phillips in a 1979 Massachusetts Maritime Academy photo.

In the Captain Phillips movie, Tom Hanks's character tries to tell the pirates that they had pushed the ship too hard and that it was "broken". The Captain Phillips true story reveals that the real-life captain did in fact try to pretend that the ship was broken in order to delay the progress of the Somali pirates. In addition, he also tried to pretend that he didn't understand them.


Did they really offer the pirates $30,000 from the ship's safe?

Yes. Like in the movie, the real Captain Richard Phillips and several crew members did try to offer the Somalian pirates $30,000 from the ship's safe, but they wanted much more. The pirates still took the money and had it with them when they fled the ship in the lifeboat. However, after the Navy shot the three Somalian pirates and boarded the lifeboat to rescue Captain Phillips, they found no trace of the $30,000. The money has never been recovered. -NavySEALs.com

Did the crew lay down broken glass as a trap for one of the pirates?

No. In the movie, the crew lays down broken glass inside the entrance to the engine room so that one of the pirates will step on it, injuring his bare feet. The injury forces the pirate to turn back, allowing the crew to overtake the other pirate with a knife and keep him as a hostage. In reality, the trap of broken glass never happened. Phillips also never led the pirates below deck to his crew's hiding place. Instead, he sent one of the crew members down to search the ship with one unarmed Somali pirate. Chief Engineer Mike Perry ambushed the pirate with a pocket knife and took him hostage.

Did the crew really take one of the pirates hostage?

Yes. When Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse was searching below deck, Chief Engineer Mike Perry fought with him in the dark of the engine room. Armed with a pocket knife, Perry subdued Muse, badly cutting the pirate's hand before taking him hostage.

Did Captain Phillips volunteer to sacrifice himself to save the lives of his crew?

No. "I didn't give myself up," says Captain Phillips. "I was already hostage." Unlike Tom Hanks's character in the movie, who yells to his fellow crew members, "I gotta get them off this ship!" as he willingly climbs into the Maersk Alabama's lifeboat, the real Captain Phillips never offered to give himself up for his crew. He was already a hostage. Like in the movie, Phillips says he went down to the lifeboat to help the pirates get it started. It was then that they reneged on their deal to release Phillips for Muse, keeping the Captain on board the lifeboat after the crew had released Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse. To that end, some of the crew members see Phillips as more the victim of a botched exchange, rather than the sacrificial hero that the media made him out to be.

"We vowed we were going to take it to our grave," says the Maersk Alabama's Chief Engineer Mike Perry. "We weren't going to say anything, and then we hear this PR stuff coming out about him giving himself up, and he's still hostage. The whole crew's like, 'What!?' Everybody's in shock." -CNN

Did Captain Phillips really say, "If you want to shoot somebody, shoot me!"?

No. The real Captain Richard Phillips never offered to give up his own life for his crew.

Do the crew members of the Maersk Alabama believe that Captain Phillips is a hero?

No, the majority of them do not believe that Captain Richard Phillips is a hero. In fact, due to the decisions made by Captain Phillips, 11 of the crew members have sued Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp. for nearly $50 million, citing "willful, wanton and conscious disregard for their safety." They believe that it is the Captain's recklessness that steered theMaersk Alabama into pirate infested waters. "All ships had been warned," says Chief Engineer Mike Perry, referring to a series of seven emails that had been sent to the Alabama by a private maritime security agency. The emails specifically warned of Somali pirate attacks in the area, stating, "...vessels should consider maintaining a distance of more than 600 nautical miles from Somalia coastline..." According to the Alabama's logs, the ship was only about 300 miles offshore. -CNN

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The map above reveals the actual route (red) that Captain Phillips took from Salalah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya vs. the suggested route (green). The yellow circle is the approximate location of the attack.

"Captain Phillips did not follow orders, the ship was attacked and he was responsible," says Jimmy Sabga, one of the crew members involved in the lawsuit against Maersk. -Business Insider

In a 2012 deposition that he gave for the lawsuit, Captain Phillips admitted he had read the email warnings. He also admitted that he had kept the warnings to himself. At the time that the hijacking was unfolding off of the Somali coast, his wife Andrea had even told an AP interviewer that she had received an email from her husband in which he said that pirate activity had been picking up in the area. When asked why he didn't move further offshore, Phillips testified, "I don't believe 600 miles would make you safe. I didn't believe 1,200 miles would make you safe. ... As I told the crew, it would be a matter of when, not if. So, we were always in this area, so it didn't, to me, lessen any potential." -CNN

It should be noted that Captain Phillips himself has said that he doesn't consider himself a hero, despite the media portraying him that way, his book being promoted that way, and the movie falsely depicting him offering himself up for his crew.


Did Phillips really try to escape by swimming from the lifeboat?

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A US Navy Scan Eagle UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) captures a photo of the Maersk Alabama's lifeboat on April 9, 2009 while Phillips was held hostage inside.

Yes. According to the Captain Phillips true story, he pushed one of the Somali pirates into the water while the pirate was relieving himself off the side of the lifeboat. He then jumped off the lifeboat and began to swim away. However, the moon was so bright in the night sky that the other pirates easily spotted Phillips in the water and fired warning shots over his head, quickly recapturing him. They then beat him and tied him up. Phillips says that they even performed mock executions to toy with his mind.


How many of the Somali pirates were killed?

Like in the movie, snipers from the Navy's famed SEAL Team Six used night-vision goggles to set their sights on the lifeboat and shoot three of the Somali pirates in the head almost simultaneously. The fourth, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, had come aboard the destroyer USSBainbridge to seek medical attention for his badly cut hand and to negotiate the release of Captain Phillips. After his fellow pirates were killed, Muse remained on the Bainbridge and was taken into custody.

Did the real Richard Phillips write a note to his family while he was on the lifeboat?

No, this likely didn't happen. Phillips doesn't mention anything about writing a note to his family like Tom Hank's character does in the movie. However, he does mention praying for his family while he was on the lifeboat.

Did the pirates injure Captain Phillips?

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Captain Richard Phillips waves to the crowd, revealing the scars on his wrist from where he had been tied up by pirates.

Upon his return to the U.S., the only visible injury were the abrasions on his wrists from being tied up (pictured on the right). However, while he was on the lifeboat he had gotten so sick that a Navy doctor had to come aboard to examine him and bring him food. During his time on the lifeboat, Phillips says the pirates beat him and tormented him, firing shots near his head to scare him and pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at his back. It was this last action that prompted Navy SEAL snipers to take out the three pirates that remained on the lifeboat with Phillips, believing that his life was in immediate danger. After returning home, the real Richard Phillips says that he has had nightmares from the psychological stress of the whole ordeal. -CNN


How long was Captain Richard Phillips held hostage on the lifeboat?

Although the movie makes it feel like Tom Hanks's character is only held hostage on theMaersk Alabama's lifeboat for about a day and a half, exploring the Captain Phillips true story reveals that the real Richard Phillips was held on the lifeboat for almost five days. He was rescued on Sunday, April 12, 2009 after having been on the lifeboat since Wednesday.

What happened to the captured Somali pirate?

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse was tried as an adult in the U.S. and sentenced to thirty-three years in federal prison. His exact age became a controversial issue during the trial, with his family saying that he was under eighteen and should be tried as a juvenile. However, after giving different ages for himself, he eventually admitted that he was eighteen. According to his attorneys, while in custody, Muse has tried to commit suicide on a number of occasions. The director of a documentary about Muse, titled Smiling Pirate, says that Sony Pictures made several attempts to meet Muse but he declined, believing that they were just going to portray him as the bad guy.

Did Tom Hanks meet with the real Richard Phillips to prepare for the role?

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Richard Phillips (left) poses with his onscreen counterpart, Tom Hanks (right), on the cover of the September 22, 2013 issue of Parade Magazine.

Yes. Tom Hanks visited Richard Phillips a total of three times in the two years prior to the movie's release. He met with the cargo ship captain at his 19th-century farmhouse in Vermont. "He came here to study me," says Phillips. "We just talked about this and that. I got us a couple of sandwiches from the Underhill Country Store." In addition to Hanks, Phillips had also met with screenwriter Billy Ray on several occasions. -USA Today


Did the Maersk Alabama's crew cooperate with the making of the movie?

Not all of the crew agreed with the movie's version of the story. The ones that were okay with it were paid as little as $5,000 by Sony for the rights to their story, with the agreement that they would never speak publicly to anyone else about what really happened on the ship. -New York Post

Was the real Maersk Alabama container ship used for the Captain Phillips movie?

No. The real Maersk Alabama ship was not used for the making of the movie. Instead, the filmmakers used the Alexander Maersk, a container ship that is identical to the Maersk Alabama. Filming took place off the coast of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.

AMERICAN SNIPER (2015)

Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner

based on the memoir 'American Sniper' by U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Bradley Cooper Born: January 5, 1975 Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA	Chris Kyle Born: April 8, 1974 Birthplace: Odessa, Texas, USA Death: February 2, 2013, Erath County, Texas, USA (gunshot)
Sienna Miller Born: December 28, 1981 Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA	Taya Kyle Born: September 4, 1974 Birthplace:Gladstone, Oregon, USA
Luke Grimes Born: January 21, 1984 Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio, USA	Marc Lee Born: March 20, 1978 Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, USA Death: August 2, 2006, Ramadi, Iraq(KIA, hit by enemy fire)
Jake McDorman Born: July 8, 1986 Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, USA	Ryan "Biggles" Job Born: March 11, 1981 Birthplace:Issaquah, Washington, USA Death: September 24, 2009, Phoenix, Arizona, USA(complications from facial reconstructive surgery)
Kevin "Dauber" Lacz Born: December 26, 1981 Birthplace: Middlefield, Connecticut, USA	Kevin "Dauber" Lacz Born: December 26, 1981 Birthplace:Middlefield, Connecticut, USA
Keir O'Donnell Born: November 8, 1978 Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	Jeff Kyle Born: January 25, 1978 Birthplace: Taylor County, Texas, USA
Ben Reed Born: May 1, 1965 Birthplace: Bixby, Oklahoma, USA	Wayne Kyle Born: September 19, 1949 Birthplace: Texas, USA

People ask me all the time, "How many people have you killed?" My standard response is, "Does the answer make me less, or more, of a man?" -Chris Kyle, American Sniper



QUESTIONING THE STORY:


How many people did sniper Chris Kyle kill?

In researching the American Sniper true story, we learned that by the Pentagon's count, U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle had at least 160 confirmed kills during four tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 (TIME.com). This is the same number that is stated in the American Snipermovie. By his own count and the accounts of his Navy SEAL teammates, the number was likely closer to 255 (Daily Mail Online). Kyle's number well-surpassed the previous American record of 109, which was set by Army Staff Sgt. Adelbert F. Waldron III, who served in Vietnam (Military Channel).

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Snipers are not officially awarded confirmed kills. According to Chris Kyle (left), a witness needs to be present and the kill is later recorded in an after action assessment report filled out by the sniper.

What exactly is a "confirmed kill"?

Movies and video games have helped to create a mystique and fascination around the notion of "confirmed kills." Some people will tell you that only a sniper's spotter can confirm a kill. Others will tell you that it has to be verified up close. The real Chris Kyle explained confirmed kills during a TIME Magazine video interview, "While you're on your sniper rifle, you take a shot and the guy goes down, and you have to have witnesses verify that he is dead." The witness does not have to be the spotter, nor does the kill have to be verified up close, though both do often occur.

Kyle's American Sniper co-author, Jim DeFelice, says that Kyle routinely reported his kills to his direct commanders "because they had to know what was going on," and Kyle also "personally kept track" (NBC News). "Every time we'd come back we'd have to fill out an assessment of what happened throughout the day," Kyle told TIME Magazine, "the time, the place, the caliber used, the distance he was, what exactly he was doin', where he was standin', what he was wearin'. It's all in the detail."

Wayne V. Hall, a spokesman for the U.S. Army, said that the Army "does not keep any official, or unofficial for that matter, record of confirmed kills." Ken McGraw, a spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, says that they treat such totals as "unofficial." He adds, "If anything, we shy away from reporting numbers like that. It's so difficult to prove. And what does it mean?" -NBC News

In essence, there is no such thing as a soldier being "awarded" a confirmed kill, at least in any official capacity. It is mainly their word along with the word of the witness(es), and what they have reported to their commanders.


Was Chris Kyle really a rodeo rider before joining the Navy SEALs?

Yes. According to Chris Kyle's memoir American Sniper, he started riding bulls and horses in high school in Texas and entered some small local rodeos, eventually traveling from city to city. He even earned the attention of "buckle bunnies," rodeo's version of groupies. He continued riding after he started college at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, but he had to quit at the end of his freshman year after a bronco flipped over on him in a chute, dragging him and kicking him unconscious. He found himself on a life-flight helicopter and ended up with pins in his wrists, broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a bruised kidney and lung.

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A rodeo accident forced Chris Kyle (left) to give up a potential career in the sport. Bradley Cooper (right) dons a cowboy hat as Kyle in the American Sniper movie.

How old was Chris Kyle when he enlisted?

In the movie, Kyle (Bradley Cooper) says he's 30 when he enlists, but the American Sniper true story reveals that the real Chris Kyle reported to the Navy for basic training in February 1999 when he was 24-years-old. -American Sniper book

Did the 1998 bombings of American embassies motivate Chris Kyle to enlist?

No. The movie shows Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) applying to join the Navy SEALs after seeing TV coverage of the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Though he did officially enlist in the months following these attacks, they had nothing to do with his decision. Prior to enlisting, he had been working as a ranch hand. "Studying and classes were not my thing," wrote Kyle in his autobiography. "With my rodeo career ended, I decided that I would quit college, stop ranching, and go back to my original plan: join the military and become a soldier." Kyle originally applied for the Navy SEALs in 1996 but was turned down due to the pins in his arm from the rodeo accident. Then, in the winter of 1997-1998, a Navy recruiter called and said that they wanted him in the SEALs program, pins and all.

Which SEAL team was Chris Kyle a member of?

Chris Kyle was a member of SEAL Team 3. The general public is currently most familiar with SEAL Team 6, who killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. "Originally, you had SEAL Team 1 and SEAL Team 2, and then they formed up this special unit that was called SEAL Team 6," explained Chris Kyle during a 2012 interview with Conan O'Brien. "Since then, so many guys have been coming in, we've been building up the forces, that they started filling in the rest of the numbers. And to go from one of the other SEAL teams to 6, you basically have to go through another boot camp, try out, and go there."

Did Chris Kyle really meet his wife Taya at a bar?

Yes. The couple met in April 2001 at a San Diego bar named Maloney's. Taya describes Chris as a sensitive man who "was always very aware of my feelings. ...he seemed to pick up on how I was feeling, sometimes before I did." -American Sniper book

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The real Taya Kyle and Chris Kyle on their wedding day (left). Actors Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper recreate the wedding for the American Sniper movie (right).

Did Chris Kyle really shoot a boy who was concealing a grenade?

No. In the movie, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) shoots a boy and his mother who are approaching a U.S. Marine convoy concealing an RKG-3 Russian Anti-Tank Grenade. In the book, a woman does come out of a small house with her child, but she approaches the convoy by herself as she conceals something beneath her clothes. She sets a Chinese grenade, not a Russian RKG. Kyle hesitates shooting the woman but does take the shot. The grenade drops and he fires again as it's exploding. It was "the only time I killed anyone other than a male combatant," writes Kyle. In the book, he indicates that this is his first kill in Iraq.

In his autobiography, Chris Kyle does scope a child at one point. The moment is also depicted in the movie. The combatants had sent the child down the street to retrieve an RPG (in the movie, a nearby boy simply wanders over and picks up the RPG). "I had a clear view in my scope," writes Kyle, "but I didn't fire. I wasn't going to kill a kid, innocent or not. I'd have to wait until the savage who put him up to it showed himself on the street."

Is the movie's al Qaeda operative nicknamed "The Butcher" based on a real person?

Not directly, but he was likely at least in part inspired by Iraqi Shia warlord and executioner of the Sunnis, Abu Deraa. A death squad leader in and around Baghdad, Deraa was known to use a power drill to torture and kill his victims. In the movie, Chris Kyle and his teammates were assigned to take down a terrorist known as "The Butcher," portrayed by actor Mido Hamada. The movie shows The Butcher character imploring Abu Deraa's torturous use of power drills. -International Business Times

Did Chris Kyle really have two children?

Yes. Through our investigation into the American Sniper true story, we confirmed that, like in the movie, Chris and his wife Taya had two children, a boy and a girl, Colton and McKenna, who are a year-and-a-half apart in age (Colton is older).

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Like in the movie, Chris and Taya Kyle (top) had two children, Colton (left) and McKenna (with balloons). Madeleine McGraw (bottom, right) portrays McKenna in the movie, with Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle (bottom, left).

Did Chris Kyle really have a younger brother who was also in the military?

Yes. Chris's younger brother Jeff was a Marine. He is four years younger than Chris and enlisted a little before 9/11. Like in the movie, he too served in Iraq. In the book, Chris describes going to a house where there were supposedly U.S. prisoners. They couldn't find any but noticed the dirt of the basement floor had been disturbed. After they started digging, they began to uncover the bodies of slain U.S. servicemen. Each time Chris saw a Marine uniform, he feared it would be his brother Jeff. Unlike the movie, the book does not mention Chris's brother cursing the war on a tarmac in Iraq.

Did Taya Kyle ever consider leaving her husband Chris?

Yes. While Chris was partaking in four combat tours, his wife Taya was struggling to raise their two children on her own. At the same time, she lived with constant worry that Chris would not come back alive. When he did come home on leave to visit, he was often anxious and withdrawn. Soon, the war had taken a toll on their relationship, and at one point, Taya contemplated leaving him. "Every single person suffers; every marriage has some major battles," Taya told the LA Times. "Life pulls you in different directions. But if you try and you're lucky, you can find your way back to each other." During her emotional 2013 speech at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, Taya Kyle talked about her husband's difficult decision to leave the Navy SEALs to save their marriage.

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Pictured on their wedding day (left), the real Taya Kyle threatened to leave her absent husband Chris if he continued to re-enlist. Actors Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper portray the wedding in the American Sniper movie (right).

Did Ryan "Biggles" Job only survive for a short while after being blinded by a bullet?

No. In the movie, Ryan "Biggles" Job (Jake McDorman) is blinded by Syrian sniper Mustafa. He survives for a short period of time and proposes to his girlfriend while in the hospital. Kyle visits him shortly before leaving for his fourth tour and learns of Ryan's death just after he arrives back in Iraq.

In real life, Ryan was blinded in battle in 2006 when an enemy sniper's bullet struck his rifle, sending pieces of the shattered weapon through his face. He survived much longer than he does in the movie. He was discharged from the military, got married, attended college, got a job, climbed Mount Rainier and Mount Hood, etc. He died in 2009 from complications after going back for more facial reconstructive surgery while his wife was pregnant with their first child. -SeattleTimes.com

Is the enemy sniper Mustafa based on a real person?

Yes, but he holds far less significance in the book, at least in relation to Chris Kyle. In the movie, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) engages in a film-long pursuit of an enemy Syrian sniper named Mustafa (Sammy Sheik), whom the American soldiers refer to as "Kaiser F—in' Söze." In Kyle's autobiography, the enemy Iraqi sniper Mustafa is only mentioned in passing in a single paragraph. He is described as "an Olympics marksman who was using his skills against Americans and Iraqi police and soldiers."

Did Chris really kill the enemy sniper Mustafa?

No. In reality, Chris Kyle never actually encountered the enemy Iraqi sniper Mustafa, who he believes was killed by other U.S. snipers. Chris does make a 2,100-yard shot in the book, but it was to take out a random combatant on a rooftop who was about to fire an RPG at an Army convoy. "It was my longest confirmed kill in Iraq," writes Chris, "even longer than that shot in Fallujah."

Did the insurgents really put a bounty on Chris Kyle's head?

Yes, the insurgents put a $20,000 bounty on the heads of all snipers, not just Chris Kyle. The bounties did fluctuate and Kyle has stated that they went up to around $80,000. The movie raises the bounty on Kyle's head to a fictional $180,000. During an interview with Conan O'Brien, the real Chris Kyle makes the same joke about the bounty that Bradley Cooper's character makes in the movie, "Well, don't tell my wife. She might take that number right now."

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A $20,000 bounty was put on the heads of all snipers, not just Chris Kyle (left) as the movie implies. According to Kyle, the bounties did fluctuate. Right: A rare shot of Kyle (Bradley Cooper) hatless in the movie. Chris Kyle photoTIME

Did Chris Kyle really use a satellite phone in the midst of battle to call his wife to tell her he is done with war?

No. In the movie, Bradley Cooper's character uses a satellite phone to call his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) and tell her that he is done with war and is coming home. Exploring theAmerican Sniper true story brings to light the fact that in real life, he never made such a call, nor just prior did he kill Mustafa with a near impossible sniper shot from over a mile away (he never encountered the enemy sniper Mustafa).

In real life, Chris Kyle did use the sat phone to call home during lulls in battles or while he was perched in a position on watch. On at least two occasions (once with his wife and once with his father), fighting broke out while he was on the phone. On one occasion while talking to his wife Taya, insurgents attacked the building his team was in. He abruptly put down the sat phone without ending the call. His wife heard most of the firefight, curse words and all. The battery on the phone ran out, and he didn't end up calling her back for two or three days, not realizing he hadn't ended the communication. She was an emotional wreck.

A similar moment is depicted in the movie when the convoy is attacked and Chris (Bradley Cooper) drops the phone while his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) is on the other end. She listens frantically as the ensuing battle unfolds. Unlike the movie, she wasn't revealing the sex of the baby during the real-life call.

Why did Chris Kyle leave the Navy SEALs?

Chris Kyle left the Navy SEALs in 2009 in order to save his marriage and to spend more time with his two children, who he had spent very little time with during his years at war. Unlike the movie, he didn't leave the SEALs because the war had become too much for him to bear. As he states in his autobiography, the divorce rate among Navy SEALs is over 90 percent. "When I first got out, I had a lot of resentment," Kyle said. "I felt like she knew who I was when she met me. She knew I was a warrior. That was all I'd ever wanted to do." Taya Kyle talked about her husband's difficult decision during her NRA speech. For a time, Chris started drinking a lot and he let himself go physically. He then made a decision to get his mind right, as he called it. His wife Taya says that he was always on the floor playing with his kids and had wasted no time in making up for the years he had lost with them. He had also come to find his purpose outside of the Navy SEALs, to not just be a good father and husband, but to help other veterans cope with PTSD and to assist them in finding their own purpose in life after combat. -D Magazine

"I loved what I did. I still do," Chris wrote in his autobiography. "If circumstances were different--if my family didn't need me--I'd be back in a heartbeat. I'm not lying or exaggerating to say it was fun. I had the time of my life being a SEAL."

What are the details surrounding Chris Kyle's death?

In a moment not shown in the film, Chris Kyle, 38, and friend Chad Littlefield, 36, were shot to death at a Texas gun range. Chris had been involved in helping soldiers deal with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after they returned from active duty. On February 2nd, 2013, they took fellow Iraq War veteran Eddie Ray Routh, 25, with them to a rifle range in Glen Rose, Texas as part of a therapeutic outing. Routh (pictured below) had been dealing with PTSD and was having difficulty adjusting to postwar life. After shooting both Kyle and Littlefield, he fled in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck. -LA Times

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Eddie Ray Routh, a Marine suffering from PTSD, shot and killed both Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a gun range on February 2, 2013.

What does Chris Kyle's widow think of the movie?

"It was like watching Chris in many, many ways," says Taya Kyle of the film. "I walked away in awe. The spirit and the heart, Bradley captured all of that. ... Chris's life was inspiring, and I think that the movie is one more way for him to serve" (American Sniper Featurette). "...whether you see Sienna or you see me up on the screen, it doesn't really matter. If people get the hardships, that's enough. If there's one other person who is married to a first-responder and sees the film and feels a little less alone, I'll be happy" (LA Times).

Prior to filming, Taya lent actor Bradley Cooper stacks of photos and emails that she had exchanged with her late husband during his four combat tours. -LA Times

Was Chris Kyle ever injured in combat?

Yes. He survived three gunshot wounds, two helicopter crashes, six IED attacks and numerous surgeries. -D Magazine

Does Chris Kyle hold the world record for the most sniper kills?

No. Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä shot 542 Soviet soldiers during the Russian invasion of Finland in World War II. -Daily Mail Online

Did Chris Kyle really become known as "the Legend"?

Yes. He says that the guys nicknamed him "the Legend" when he was in Fallujah, around the time of the beach ball incident. Armed insurgents who couldn't swim were trying to cross a river, each of them holding a large beach ball. It was Kyle's job to make sure they didn't make it across. Instead of shooting the insurgents, he shot the beach balls and they drowned (the Marines put some of them out of their misery).

This was also around the time he made an extremely long shot (though not his longest) at approximately 1,600 yards (just under a mile), which he believes might have also contributed to his new nickname. Prior to "the Legend," Kyle had been called "Tex" by his fellow Navy SEALs. According to his memoir, the insurgents had their own nickname for him, al-Shaitan Ramadi—"the Devil of Ramadi." -American Sniper book

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The real Chris Kyle pictured as an adult and as a child growing up in Texas.

What military commendations did Chris Kyle receive?

In his four combat tours in Iraq, Chris Kyle was awarded two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars with Valor, among other commendation and achievement medals. -D Magazine

CHRIS KYLE CONTROVERSY - KATRINA, JESSE VENTURA, CARJACKING

The controversy surrounding Chris Kyle mainly stems from three separate claims that he made, none of which are in the movie. Each has been described below:

Chris said that he shot looters during Hurricane Katrina from the roof of the Superdome:

This story became widely known after it appeared in the June 2013 issue of The New Yorker as part of a profile of Chris Kyle. Apparently, Kyle told the story to some Navy SEAL buddies as they were hanging out drinking in his San Diego hotel room one night in early 2012. A few of them in turn relayed the story to the writer of The New Yorker article. Kyle had told them that in 2005, he and another sniper went to New Orleans during Katrina and picked off thirty looters from the top of the Superdome. When the article's writer, Nicholas Schmidle, contacted the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, to confirm the story, he was told, "To the best of anyone's knowledge at SOCOM, there were no West Coast SEALs deployed to Katrina." Schmidle then contacted one of Kyle's officers. The SEAL replied, "I never heard that story," adding that it "defies the imagination." -The New Yorker

Chris Kyle said that he punched Jesse Ventura for insulting the SEALs:While on The Opie & Anthony Show to promote his 2012 memoir American Sniper, Kyle said that in 2006, he and Jesse Ventura, who he refers to only as "Scruff Face" in his book, got into a bar fight at McP's Irish Pub & Grill in Coronado, California. The incident apparently occurred after Ventura began talking loudly about his opposition to the war in Iraq. Relatives of fallen SEAL Michael Monsoor, who deliberately fell on his own grenade, were in town for his wake and had gathered at the bar. Kyle said that when he asked Ventura to keep his opinions to himself, Ventura told him that the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" guys. Kyle claimed to have then punched Ventura and the former WWF wrestler went down. Kyle then repeated the story during an interview on The O'Reilly Factor.

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Jesse Ventura (pictured here in the movie Predator) sued Chris Kyle for defamation and won. Publisher HarperCollins then removed any reference to Ventura from the American Sniper book.

Jesse Ventura, himself a Vietnam-era veteran of the Underwater Demolition Teams (a precursor to the SEALs), filed defamation charges and the case went to court. Ventura, who denied that the altercation ever took place, did not drop the case following Kyle's 2013 death, causing outrage among Kyle's supporters. In July 2014, the jury ruled in favor of Ventura, who won $1.845 million in damages against Taya Kyle (as executor of the estate of Chris Kyle). -National Review Online

"You pursue a lawsuit for the truth. ... Taya Kyle had all of her attorney fees paid by [the book publisher's] insurance. I did not," Ventura said on CBS This Morning. "I incurred two-and-a-half years of lawyer fees that I have to pay to clear my name, and she had insurance paying everything for her. It was me against an insurance company."

Taya Kyle told Fox News of the $1.845 million verdict, "I think insurance is responsible for $500,000 because of the way the law is written." The book's publisher, HarperCollins, has since removed the passage alluding to Ventura from the book.

Chris Kyle claimed that he shot and killed two men who tried to carjack him at a gas station:In an April 2013 story in D Magazine, Kyle claimed that two men approached him at a gas station on a cold January morning in 2010. The men demanded his keys and wallet. With his hands in the air, he said he quickly studied the men to see which one looked most confident with a gun. Kyle told them he needed to reach into his customized black Ford F350 to get the keys. According to Kyle, he instead grabbed a pistol that was under his winter coat and fired two shots under his left arm, striking man number one twice in the chest. He turned and put two bullet holes in the second man's chest also, killing them both.

Kyle told D Magazine that he waited for the police to arrive. According to Kyle, the officers ran his driver's license and instead of the normal information coming up (name, address, birth date), a phone number for the Department of Defense came up. The police made the call, reviewed the surveillance footage, and Kyle was let go.

The problem with his story is that no surveillance footage was ever made public and the officers who were supposedly there never came forward to back up the story. "I talked to every single law enforcement out there, all the Texas rangers," said journalist Michael J. Mooney, who wrote a book on Chris Kyle, "and there's no evidence whatsoever." Journalists at the The Fort Worth Star-Telegram said that they "checked with the medical examiner's office, which reported no such deaths in Cleburne in January 2009" (The Washington Post). Kyle's account, which could not be confirmed, was then given more credence when fellow Navy SEAL and friend Marcus Luttrell mentioned it in his 2012 book Service: A Navy SEAL at War. Luttrell's own story became the subject of the 2014 movie Lone Survivor, which we also researched.