Chris Kyle’s Funeral and 200-Mile Procession to Austin

Chris Kyle’s funeral procession traveled roughly 200 miles from the Dallas–Fort Worth area to Austin on February 12, 2013, the day after a public memorial service for the former Navy SEAL at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Thousands of people lined U.S. 287 and Interstate 35E in the rain to watch the convoy of about 200 vehicles pass on its way to a private burial at the Texas State Cemetery.¹

The Memorial Service at Cowboys Stadium

The public memorial was held on Monday, February 11, 2013, at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium). Doors opened at 11:30 a.m. and the two-hour service began at 1:00 p.m. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones donated the venue and attended with his family.²³

Attendance estimates varied. Press reports put the crowd between 5,000 and 7,000; the head of security for the Dallas Cowboys put the figure at roughly 11,000. Active-duty and former service members, first responders, members of the public, and more than 200 Patriot Guard Riders invited by the family filled the seats. At the family’s request, no photographs or video were permitted during the ceremony.³⁴²

The program listed eleven speakers, and no politicians addressed the audience. Navy SEAL officials spoke about Kyle’s service. Debbie Lee, mother of fallen SEAL Marc Allen Lee, spoke. The president of Craft International, the training company Kyle founded, also addressed the crowd. Country singers Randy Travis and Joe Nichols performed, and Travis sang “Whisper My Name” and “Amazing Grace.”⁵³

Taya Kyle’s Eulogy

Standing before her husband’s flag-draped coffin, Taya Kyle told the crowd, “Chris, there isn’t enough time to tell you everything you mean to me and everything you taught me.”⁶ She described herself as “broken” but told their two children the family would “put one foot in front of the other,” promising they would remember their father’s “silly side, Texas twang and prayers they prayed together.”⁷ She paid tribute to Chad Littlefield, killed alongside her husband, calling him the “effortless, no expectations” friend Chris had needed after leaving the military.⁸ “Whisper My Name,” played during the service, was her personal choice. Bagpipers played a recessional as the coffin was carried out.⁴

The 200-Mile Route to Austin

The procession left the following morning, Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Roughly 200 vehicles, including motorcycles, motor coaches, police cruisers, and the hearse, departed the Midlothian ISD multipurpose stadium at about 9:00 a.m. The route ran south on U.S. 287 to Interstate 35E and continued toward the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, a trip of about 200 miles.¹

Thousands of spectators stood along the roadways and on overpasses, many in rain and thunderstorms.⁹ In Waxahachie, firefighters parked two engines on an overpass and hung a large American flag between their extended ladders.¹⁰ Onlookers held flags and placed hands over their hearts. At one point, Taya Kyle rolled down the window of her vehicle to salute the crowds, a moment a witness described as “really heart-wrenching.”¹¹

The trip was not without incident. Near Salado, two Patriot Guard Riders crashed on the rain-slicked highway. Navy SEALs traveling in the convoy administered first aid before the riders were taken to a hospital.¹

Burial at the Texas State Cemetery

Kyle was buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin on February 12, 2013, ten days after his death.¹² The graveside ceremony was private, limited to family and fellow Navy SEALs. A large Texas flag flew at half-staff over the grounds, and drums and bagpipes accompanied the service. Outside the gates, hundreds gathered along roads stretching nearly a mile, and about 100 Patriot Guard Riders lined the streets of East Austin.¹³

Governor Rick Perry helped the family arrange the cemetery plot.³ In a public statement, Perry called Kyle “the public face of an anonymous breed of American warrior who are handed the hardest missions and assume the largest risks,” saying, “Our state and our nation suffered a profound loss with his passing.”⁶

The grave sat unmarked for more than two years. A six-foot monument of Swedish black pearl granite was set in a private ceremony on May 6, 2016, with about 35 family members and friends present. The handcrafted stone depicts the hands of Taya Kyle and the couple’s two children and carries Taya’s name; she holds the right to be buried beside her husband.¹⁴

Chad Littlefield’s Separate Funeral

The stadium memorial and the procession to Austin were for Kyle. Chad Littlefield, 35, who was killed with Kyle at the shooting range, was buried earlier the same week. His funeral was held on February 8, 2013, at First Baptist Church in Midlothian, Texas, where he lived. The Patriot Guard Riders, who normally attend only veterans’ funerals, made a rare exception at his wife Leanne’s request and escorted the family to a private burial at Mount Zion Cemetery with about 200 riders.¹⁵¹⁶ Littlefield was survived by Leanne and their daughter, Morgan.

How Kyle Died and What Happened to the Shooter

Kyle, 38, and Littlefield were shot at a gun range on the grounds of Rough Creek Lodge, an 11,000-acre resort about 77 miles southwest of Fort Worth, on the afternoon of February 2, 2013. They had brought Eddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old Marine veteran with mental health problems, to the range at his mother’s request. The three arrived at 3:15 p.m., and a hunting guide found the bodies at 5:00 p.m. and called 911.¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹

Routh was charged with capital murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense argued he was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed Kyle and Littlefield were “hybrid pig assassins” and was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time. On February 24, 2015, a jury of ten women and two men found him guilty. Because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, he received an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.²⁰

1
NBC Chicago. Thousands Expected for Kyle Procession Tuesday
2
Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys Stadium Memorial Service Monday for Navy SEAL
3
GovInfo. Congressional Record, February 13, 2013
4
NBC DFW. Police Release Info on Procession for SEAL Sniper
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Los Angeles Times. Chris Kyle Sniper Memorial
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CBS News Texas. Ex-Sniper’s Widow Speaks at His Memorial
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San Antonio Express-News. Slain Sniper Eulogized as Playful, Caring
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CBS News. Chris Kyle Memorial: Thousands Attend Memorial for Ex-Navy SEAL at Cowboys Stadium
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MetroWest Daily News. Final Salute: Thousands Honor Chris Kyle
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CBS News Texas. Thousands Line Roads for Ex-Sniper Chris Kyle’s Procession
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NBC DFW. Thousands Expected for Kyle Procession Tuesday
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KUT. Two Years After His Death, Why Doesn’t Chris Kyle Have a Gravestone
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6ABC. Chris Kyle Funeral Procession
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FOX 7 Austin. Headstone of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle Placed at Texas State Cemetery
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Dallas Morning News. Funeral for Gun Range Shooting Victim Chad Littlefield Set for Friday at Midlothian Church
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NBC DFW. Family, Friends Say Goodbye to Gun Range Victim
17
Courthouse News Service. Dramatic Evidence in American Sniper Trial
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BBC News. Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty of Chris Kyle Murder
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The Modesto Bee. Slain Ex-Navy SEAL Credited With Most Kills in U.S. Military History
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The Guardian. American Sniper Trial: Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty