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

Chris Kyle’s funeral and the procession to Austin unfolded over two days in February 2013. On Monday, February 11, thousands filled Cowboys Stadium in Arlington for a public memorial service. The next morning, a procession of roughly 200 vehicles left Midlothian and traveled about 200 miles south along U.S. 287 and Interstate 35E to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, where Kyle was buried in a private graveside ceremony.¹

Why the Funeral Was Held

Kyle, 38, and his friend Chad Littlefield, 35, were shot and killed on the afternoon of February 2, 2013, at a gun range on the grounds of Rough Creek Lodge, roughly 77 miles southwest of Fort Worth.² The two men had taken Eddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old Marine veteran, to the range as a form of therapeutic outing after Routh’s mother reportedly asked Kyle for help with her son.³ A hunting guide found the bodies at 5:00 p.m. and called 911.⁴

The Memorial Service at Cowboys Stadium

The public memorial was held on Monday, February 11, 2013, at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in Arlington. Doors opened at 11:30 a.m., and the two-hour ceremony began at 1:00 p.m. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones donated the stadium and attended with his family.⁵⁶

Crowd estimates varied widely. Reporters put the figure at 5,000 to 7,000, while the head of security for the Dallas Cowboys gave a count of approximately 11,000.⁶ Those in the stands included active-duty and former service members, first responders, members of the public, and more than 200 Patriot Guard Riders invited by the Kyle family.⁷ The family asked that no photographs or video be taken during the service.⁵

The program listed eleven speakers, though many did not introduce themselves. No politicians addressed the audience. Navy SEAL officials spoke about Kyle’s service, and Debbie Lee, the mother of fallen Navy SEAL Marc Allen Lee, also spoke.⁸ The president of Craft International, the training company Kyle founded, also took the microphone.⁶ Country artists Randy Travis and Joe Nichols performed. Travis sang “Whisper My Name” and “Amazing Grace.”

Taya Kyle’s Eulogy

The most prominent moment of the service was the eulogy from Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle. Standing before his flag-draped coffin, she told the crowd, “Chris, there isn’t enough time to tell you everything you mean to me and everything you taught me.”⁹ She described herself as “broken” and 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.”¹⁰ She paid tribute to Chad Littlefield, calling him the “effortless, no expectations” friend her husband had needed after leaving the military.¹¹ The “Whisper My Name” performance was her personal selection, a song meaningful to the couple. Bagpipers played a recessional as the coffin was carried out of the stadium.⁷

The 200-Mile Route to Austin

The procession set out the following morning, Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Roughly 200 vehicles — motorcycles, motor coaches, police cruisers, and the hearse — departed from the Midlothian ISD multipurpose stadium around 9:00 a.m. and headed south along U.S. 287 to Interstate 35E, bound for the Texas State Cemetery in Austin about 200 miles away.¹

Thousands of people lined the roadways and overpasses along the route, many standing through rain and thunderstorms.¹² In Waxahachie, firefighters parked two engines on an overpass and unfurled a large American flag between their extended ladders.¹³ Spectators held flags and placed their hands over their hearts. At one point Taya Kyle rolled down the window of her vehicle to salute the crowds, a gesture one witness described as “really heart-wrenching.”¹⁴

The weather took a toll. Near Salado, two Patriot Guard Riders crashed on the rain-slicked highway and needed medical attention. Navy SEALs traveling in the convoy administered first aid before the riders were hospitalized.¹

Burial at the Texas State Cemetery

Kyle was buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin that same day, ten days after his death.¹⁵ The graveside ceremony was private, attended by family members and fellow Navy SEALs. A giant Texas flag flew at half-staff over the grounds, and drums and bagpipes accompanied the proceedings. Outside the gates, hundreds gathered on roads stretching nearly a mile from the cemetery, with roughly 100 Patriot Guard Riders lining the streets of East Austin.¹⁶

Governor Rick Perry assisted the family in arranging the cemetery plot.⁶ 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,” adding, “Our state and our nation suffered a profound loss with his passing.”⁹

For more than two years, Kyle’s grave had no headstone. A six-foot monument of Swedish black pearl granite was placed in a private ceremony on May 6, 2016, attended by about 35 family members and friends. The handcrafted stone features depictions of the hands of Taya Kyle and the couple’s two children and includes Taya’s name, as she holds the right to be buried beside her husband.¹⁷

Chad Littlefield’s Separate Funeral

Littlefield, a Midlothian resident and Kyle’s neighbor and workout partner, was not buried with Kyle in Austin. His own funeral was held on Friday, February 8, 2013, at First Baptist Church in Midlothian, three days before Kyle’s public memorial.¹⁸ He was survived by his wife, Leanne, and their daughter, Morgan. The Patriot Guard Riders, who typically attend only veterans’ funerals, made a rare exception at his wife’s request and escorted the family to a private burial at Mount Zion Cemetery with roughly 200 riders.¹⁹

1
NBC Chicago. Thousands Expected for Kyle Procession Tuesday
2
Courthouse News Service. Dramatic Evidence in American Sniper Trial
3
BBC News. Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty of Chris Kyle Murder
4
The Modesto Bee. Slain Ex-Navy SEAL Credited With Most Kills in U.S. Military History
5
Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys Stadium Memorial Service Monday for Navy SEAL
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GovInfo. Congressional Record, February 13, 2013
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NBC DFW. Police Release Info on Procession for SEAL Sniper
8
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