Obama Orders Flags Lowered For Whitney Houston - Lie

Did President Barack Obama order flags lowered for Whitney Houston's death. No, it is a lie.

Claim: President Obama did not mention the death of Chris Kyle but ordered flags flown at half-staff for Whitney Houston

Truth: Although the White House issued a statement through press secretary Jay Carney after Whitney Houston's death noting that President Obama's "thoughts and prayers are with Whitney Houston's family, especially her daughter," as far as we know President Obama has made no public expression of condolence or mourning to mark the passing of Chris Kyle. It is not true that President Obama ordered flags throughout the country flown at half-staff to honor Whitney Houston; as noted above, that action was undertaken only at a state level by the governor of New Jersey republican Chris Chistie. 

 Read the full story on Snopes.


And R.I.P. Chris Kyle - You were one bad ass mofo. QQ - It's a shame people are politicizing your death with lies. You deserve better.

Christopher Scott "Chris" Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL and the most lethal sniper in American military history, with 160 confirmed kills (out of 255 claimed kills),[4][5] although these statistics have not been released by the Pentagon.[7]

At the age of 8, Kyle's father taught him to shoot. As a youth, he trained as a bronco rider for the rodeo, which he gave up after a serious injury to his arm. He had intended to volunteer and enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and was recruited by the U.S. Army, but eventually enlisted with the U.S. Navy. Kyle served four tours in the second Iraq war, and was awarded the Bronze and Silver Star medals multiple times. Iraqi insurgents dubbed him the "Devil of Ramadi" and offered an increasing bounty for his head. He was shot twice, and was involved in six IED attacks.

Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009 in order to spend time with his family. He remained in the spotlight during retirement, and wrote a New York Times bestselling autobiography, American Sniper. Kyle was shot and killed on February 2, 2013, near Chalk Mountain, Texas.

 

Born in Odessa, Texas, the son of a Sunday school teacher and a deacon,[4] Kyle's father bought his son his first gun at 8 years old, a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield rifle, and later a shotgun, with which they hunted pheasant, quail, and deer.[4] After school, Kyle became a professional bronco rodeo rider, but his profession ended abruptly when he severely injured his arm. After his arm healed, he went to a military recruiting office, interested in joining the United States Marine Corps (USMC). A Navy recruiter told him about the Navy SEALs. Kyle signed up, but was rejected because of the pins in his arm. A little while later, he received a call and he had the chance to go to BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL school), finally joining the United States Navy in 1999.

Military Service - Iraq War

Assigned to SEAL Team 3, Sniper Element Charlie platoon within the Naval Special Warfare Command, and with over four tours of duty, Kyle served in every major battle of Operation Iraqi Freedom.[4] His first long-range kill shot was taken during the initial invasion, when he shot a woman approaching a group of Marines with a hand grenade in her hand. As ordered, he opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack.[9]

For his deadly track record as a marksman during his deployment to Ramadi, the insurgents named him Shaitan Ar-Ramadi (English: The Devil of Ramadi), and put a $20,000 bounty on his head that was later increased to $80,000.[4][5][9]

In 2008, outside Sadr City, he made his longest successful shot, after he spotted an insurgent with a rocket launcher near a U.S. Army convoy at a range of 2,100 yards (1.9 km). He fired a shot from his .338 Lapua Magnum chambered McMillan TAC-338 sniper rifle,[10] killing the insurgent as told in his book American Sniper. During four tours of duty in Iraq, Kyle was shot twice and caught up in six separate IED explosions.[5][9] His other weapons included the Mk 12 sniper rifle, M4 carbine and a .300 Winchester Magnum sniper rifle. -Wikipedia