Former military sniper shares story

MISSOURI CITY, TX (KTRK) -- The movie "American Sniper" and the story of former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle has captured the nation's attention.

Eyewitness News was able to sit down with a former sniper to get an inside look at the world where people are trained to shoot and kill.

At his home in Missouri City, Brad Thomas loves his family life, while holding on to his old life.

"The first one, it's not even difficult, it's just different because you've never done it before. After that, shooting is just shooting," Thomas said.

Thomas is a former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper. He enlisted after Sept. 11, and was deployed for 10 months during the Iraq war.

"I slept with a pistol right here next to me and an AR next to me," Thomas said.

He spent three months of his deployment in Fallujah, in the midst of daily fire fights.

"90 days, 3 months of being on edge," Thomas recalled.

As a sniper, his targets were often selected and his success rate high.

"I don't think it's bragging. I can't play basketball. I'm 5'7" on a good day, but I can pull the trigger," he said. "None of y'all will realize how evil these people are.

Thomas has seen the movie "American Sniper" based on the life of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. He will also follow the trial of Kyle's accused murderer, former Marine Eddie Ray Routh. It has been said that Kyle was trying to help Routh cope with Posttraumatic stress disorder.

"If you don't come home changed, you don't have a heart or soul," Thomas said.

Thomas says he has faced his own demons since returning home.

"The nightmares, not being able to sleep, coping, and medicating yourself in ways you shouldn't," he said.

Through his struggles, his wife Diana gave him an ultimatum - get help or get out. Medication and therapy have done wonders for their family.

"It depends on what's going on in life, and it goes in waves," Diana Thomas said. "There are periods of time when you might see it here and there, and then there are times when you see it every day."

"Truth be told, as nervous as I am doing this interview, I'm glad you're here because it's therapeutic," Brad Thomas said.

He says he does not regret any of his kills, which he will not put a number on.

"Enough to know I made a difference," he recalled.

What he did, he says was just his job for his family and his country.

"I wouldn't take back a single thing I did over there to take away a nightmare or PTSD stuff. I'll deal with it because what we did over there was important," he said.