An ultimate tribute to an ultimate warrior has made it to North Texas.
A more than six-and-a-half foot tall clay statue of former Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle arrived Thursday in the Metroplex from Florida, flanked by Patriot Guard Riders.
The statue was created by Greg Marra, a Florida-based artist who was beginning work on a sculpture honoring U.S. Marines when he learned of Kyle's murder.
After Kyle died, Marra decided to instead go to work on a statue of the slain SEAL.
"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,” said Marra. “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 ressurect, in a sense, the spirit of a warrior who sacrificed everything for us, then I do that."
Marra, who isn't taking any money for his wokr, said he can’t wait for Kyle’s kids, widow and parents to see the clay statue. He wants to make any additions or adjustments to it they see fit.
The clay will be used to make a mold and ultimately a bronze statue. No word yet on where it will go but the Kyle family will have a lot to say about the final location.
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Meanwhile, the clay statue will stay at an undisclosed location at a North Texas foundry.
