The military should not give awards to people who are only doing their job. You get a medal of Honor for going above and beyond your position in a way that subjects you to extreme probability of death while saving the lives of many others.
a Sniper shooting someone else from so far away that no one can even tell the direction the fire came from would not qualify. If Chris had personally rescued people from a Burning Tank, while receiving life threatening injuries in order to complete that act of valor would also not qualify for the MoH in my opinion, maybe a bronze star. If he did it while a battalion of other tanks was shooting at him and still prevailed, maybe a silver star. If he did all of that AND then shot back destroying countless enemies which enabled the battle to be won, then he might qualify.
Chris Kyle did none of those things, for the most part he sat in relative safety far removed from the chances of personal injury while he killed people who had no idea it was coming. Doing your job well is rewarded with promotion, not medals. You have to go above and beyond your job description to get any kind of medal.
You have no idea how dangerous sniping is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/international/middleeast/03iraq.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 2, 2005 - Six Marine snipers moving on foot near a western Iraqi city were killed in an afternoon ambush, American commanders said Tuesday.
They don't talk about this very much, obviously, but it is a very dangerous job. And another sniper knows how to nail you. But, most get ambushed.
http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/SIA_RooftopExecution.asp
For the first time since the June 2004 killings, details have come to light on how the four-man sniper team attached to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, was attacked in broad daylight by killers who got close enough to shoot them at point-blank range.
A copy of an investigation conducted by Naval Criminal Investigative Service, obtained by Marine Corps Times, also revealed that the Corps believes it knows who the Iraqi killers were, but let at least one of them slip away.
The four dead are: Cpl. Tommy Lynn Parker Jr., 21, of Cleburne, Ark.; Lance Cpl. Deshon Otey, 24, of Hardin, Ky.; Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, 22, of Whitfield, Ga.; and Lance Cpl. Pedro Contreras, 27, of Harris, Texas.