August 29, 2023 • 47 mins
Over 10 years ago, two men were killed at a gun range in Texas. One was a Veteran sniper, the other was Chad Littlefield. Jacob & Ashley sit down with Mama Judy Littlefield as she tells her side of the American Sniper tragedy.
Follow Judy Littlefield on:
Facebook: @Judy Littlefield
Judy Littlefield's Book: "The Other Man Down: A Mother's Journey after the 'American Sniper' tragedy"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome with the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Shick and I'm
joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Jacob is a third generation combat Marine who runs an
organization called One Tribe Foundation that focuses on mental and
emotional wellness. I am a gold Star granddaughter, and we
both come from families that are rich in military history
and very proud Americans.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We believe everybody's got a story worth telling. It involves
inspiration and perseverance, and we believe that we tell these
stories to give people the extra that they need to
not only live, but live well. Welcome to the Good
Stuff today. Our guess is Judy Littlefield, author of the
book The Other Man Down, A Mother's Journey after the
American Sniper Tragedy.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Many of you are familiar with the story of the
American Sniper Chris Kyle, the Navy Seal sniper who returned
home a war hero, devoted himself to helping veterans suffer
with PTS, and was killed by one of the very
men he was trying to help.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Well, Chris Kyle wasn's the only man who lost his
life that day. His best friend was by a side,
a best friend who was equally devoted to helping our
vets returning home. That man is Judy Littlefield's son, Chad Littlefield.
These horrendous and cowardly murders happened over ten years ago.
Their impact has an ongoing ripple effect throughout the.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Entire world, and today we are celebrating the life of
Chad Littlefield. So this episode is very personal to us.
Jake was honored to be involved in the filming of
Clint Eastwood's film American Snipers, starring Bradley Cooper's Chris Kyle,
and through his involvement, we had the incredible honor of
meeting Don and Judy Littlefield, Chad's parents, who we now
consider family. We are so thrilled today to be sitting
(01:52):
around the dining room table here in DeSoto, Texas of
a beautiful Texas lady inside and out that we've been
ends with for a while.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Missus Judy Littlefield, better known as Mama Littlefield to us,
I just can't call you Judy little Field. Just feels wrong.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I think, not.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Your mama, your mama. We've actually known each other for years.
We met at an event in Fort Worth, I think
eight years ago, and just so grateful for that friendship.
But I know you and Jake have actually known each
other for quite a while, longer a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I don't remember how I met Mama and Coach. So
do you recall our first interaction?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yes, I do. It was at the premiere of The
American Sniper. Don and I were sitting there. We had
been invited by Tea Kyle to be there, and we
had just gotten some devastating news about the details of
how Chad had been killed, and we were so weary,
you know, it was just all we could do to
(02:51):
get to the theater. And we were setting up in
the audience. They turned the house lights up and before
we knew it, Jacob and d come up and Jacob
leaned over it and said, I'm so sorry for your loss,
(03:12):
and I told him, I said, you know what, that
meant a lot to me, because we were so overwhelmed
of the news we had gotten, and we even considered
not going, but we did anyway. And that Jacob Schick,
this big bad marine, cared enough to come up and
love on us and comfort us. And that's what that's
(03:35):
when I first met him. He's just been my boy
ever since.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I know that I can speak for Rashley as well
when I say we've cherished every moment and that you
both are very near and dear to our heart, and
we are just honored.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
And privileged to call you family on our side too.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
I distinctly remember Bradley and Taya setting up the premiere
and us standing in the front, right in front of
the screen, and then you all were acknowledged, and I
remember badly looking at me and he said, you got
anything you want to say something? But I remember because
all I could think about was just I wanted. I
(04:14):
just wanted to hug y'all. And I just said no,
you know, because to me, nothing else seems to be said, right,
I could just need everything said. We setting up a film,
and I remember that distinkly well.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
There were a lot of veterans in the audience that night,
and they had stood up and applauded us when Taya
had said we were in the audience, and we were
still processing that. We thought, these war heroes are standing
up and acknowledging us, who are we?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
And then you came up. So we just fell apart.
You know. The news that we had gotten the day
before just kind of faded, you know, in the distance.
We had new good information to process, you know, we
were able to a table the other and until the
trial hit. You know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So it's so important those little moments, you know, they're
so important. I think there those those moments where it
carries us to the to the next yard line. I'm
grateful that I got that moment. That was a hectic
day because you know, I hadn't watched you know, I
got hit. Oh four September, oh fourth is when I
got hurt in Iraq. I had not watched a war movie,
(05:25):
war show, anything until the premiere. And I've told Ashays,
I've told lots of people this I felt. And I
didn't have to write. It's not mandated that I do
go to the premiere, but I felt as though I
owed it to the Kyle family and do y'all to
sit and go through that film and watch it beginning
(05:48):
to end, to have a genuine and authentic take in
reaction to it. And so that was the first war
movie that I sat down and watched since the day
got hurt.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
N four, Mama little Field, will you please tell us
about Chad.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
I had a son by a previous marriage, but Chad
was our only biological child, and I had had three miscarriages,
and I really got mad at God because I thought,
why even let me get pregnant if I can't carry
that baby. So Donn had given up any chance of
ever having a child. And then I got pregnant with
Chad and was able to carry him. And he was
(06:27):
our miracle baby because you know, we hadn't had one
but then, and he was due on Valentine's Day, so
he became our love baby also, you know, but he
decided to come on eleventh instead. You know. Anyway, I
guess I learned even through that you don't get bitter.
Didn't help anything, you know, And it made me appreciate
(06:48):
when we did have him. Little did I know we'd
only have him thirty five years. But we have to
rejoice in that time we had and not mourn what
might have been. You know.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I know Chad came over and spent that afternoon with
you the day before he was killed. Will you please
tell us about that? He said, he talked about all
kinds of things and life is so good it's almost scary.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, if he told me. We talked about where he
was spiritually, and they had started going to Cowboy Church,
and he said, Mom, I got to get in there
and learn these Bible stories. My little girl knows more
than I do. And I had done, and I had
been named Volunteers of the month at our church. So
that was written up and I showed that to him
and I said it's not very big and he said, Mom,
(07:31):
what makes you think that's not a big deal. So
I got that approval from him, you know, before he
left this earth. He stood up at the bar and
he said, Mom, I would take a bullet for Chris
chat don't talk like that. And he did. He did
exactly that the next day. But he said on the couch,
he said, mom, life is so good, it's scary. Little
(07:54):
did we know that it would all be over the next.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Day he talked about being a father, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
How he wanted his little girl raised. And keep in
mind that his little girl turned seven two weeks before
he was killed. He and his wife had waited five
years before they had a child. Chad told him one time,
little girl said, Dad, I want a brother or sister,
(08:21):
And Chad says, you want to college education our brother
and sister. I can't afford both that sacks and so
many times and I have learned this. My reaction when
he left that day was, oh gosh, I didn't know
he was going to stay this long. I have work
(08:42):
to do, you know, real work. Little did I know
that that conversation, every word would be something I would
treasure for the rest of my life, you know, go
over and over all of that, because it was the
last words we had with him.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
What I see for that to be the last earthly
encounter in that way, especially working in the line of
work that I'm in now, with the foundation we do
with a lot of loss, and it's I just can
only imagine how much it's played a role for you
(09:21):
and your family to be able to spread love and
to be genuine and authentic and subd.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Lovell And it was such a blessing that we had
that time. You know, military families and gold Star they
might not have seen their son or their daughter in
the last year, last nine months. I walked away that
day and I thought, I never have to say if
I had one more I love you, or one more
kiss or one more hug, because God gave me all
(09:52):
of those things in that day. And we're given nuggets,
but we have to be able to look for them
and everything that seems like a chaos situation.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Where was he spiritually when he came over.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
We raised our boys with a strong faith and in church,
and Chad had kind of wavered on and off from
the faith, but he never wavered from his beliefs. That
day he told me that he was a believer, and
you know, if anything ever happened him, he knew where
(10:29):
he would go. So that was not even a question
when he was killed.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Through this horrendous tragedy, was there some sense of comfort
in that and having that conversation and knowing that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Oh, definitely, definitely. After he got out of the house,
it was like we never never mentioned it again. But
it was rare that unless he was in trouble, and
then you know, we really prayed, you know, to get
him out of that. I remember one time he lost
his company credit card and oh he went home, tore
(11:03):
the house up looking for that credit card and everything.
He called me and please pray, I've got to have that.
I've got to come up with that company credit card. So,
I mean, he was just a cousin and everything all
day long. And then that evening he called me and
he said, well, Jesus did it. And I said what
And he said, I found my credit card. I said, wonderful,
where was it? He said, well, I'd gone to the
(11:25):
bathroom and dropped my wallet in the bathroom and it
was in there. So it all worked out. But you know,
he would just get so so fried over something, you know,
But it was a truly a comfort to know that
I would see him again. That's our hope, you know
that we will be with him again, that he's not
(11:47):
gone forever.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Talk if you will, please about the relationship between christ
and Chad.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Okay, they met on the soccer field. Their little girls
played soccer together, and they had to get out and
the coaches were not adequate. You know, they had to
help the coaches.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know, I can't look, It's just the way it
is with two sons that play sports. You feel like
sometimes you have to assist.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
With vigor the finer lines.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Anyway, they met out there and I guess started talking,
and then I guess Chris started telling him stories about
the Navy Seals and stuff like that, and like I said,
Chad was patriotic. And then Chris was doing fundraisers for
veterans and he invited Chad along. One man introduced himself
(12:48):
to Chad. He said, I know you, and Chad said,
it scared me because I wasn't military and I wasn't
nave sealing. You know, I didn't know who he thought
I was. And Chad to him, says, you don't know me.
He said, I'm not military. He said, yeah, you are.
You are the one that brought Chris out of his
darkest hours. And it was just you know, Chad told me,
he said, Mom, I didn't know he was doing talk therapy,
(13:10):
you know, when they're working out, you know, but you know,
it helped. And Chad was a good listener. And if
Chris wanted to talk and talk about things that bothered him,
Chad would listen. If not, they would just work out
quietly and split their ways. You know. They became good
friends that way to Chris, and that's what he needed
(13:30):
at the time. The next morning, February, the second, he
had texted me because we had an inheritance that finally
came through, and he was always seizing me. Hey, let
me give you my bank account number. You know, you'll
you'll probably need that to put that in my bank.
You know. Chad was a funny kid. You know, we
were disciplinarians. But you know all of his friends, you know,
(13:53):
they wanted Chad to be their party in the life
of the party. But I sent him a text and
I said, look what I learned to do. And he said, oh, mom,
I had to pull over the side of the road.
I could not believe you were texting. It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So yeah, I mean that even that plays into the
story because that morning you were texting with him.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Anyway, he told me. Then after that text, he said,
we got a marine that's not doing well and Chris
and I are going to take him to the range
and just get him out for the day. So I
knew where Chad was and they went down there. This
was I don't know nine or ten o'clock in the morning,
I guess on a Saturday morning. So that was the
(14:37):
last text that I got from Chad and we went
on the day. Don and I are very active in
our church and we usually keep Saturdays open. We usually
don't go out on a Saturday night because then were
too tired to get up and go do anything Sunday.
But this time we were having a ladies conference and
(15:00):
I had to get up and go set up the
display and everything. And because I'm pretty high maintenance, I
had to make sure that my clothes were picked out
and that, you know, my hair was done, and I
was ready to go. God forbid that my makeup was
not ride or something like that. You know, late, always
(15:21):
on time, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Me neither right, always late.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
That's awesome. So we went about our business and we
got a call from Taya, Chris's wife, and she said,
we need to come. You need to come to my house.
And Don said why, and she said, there's been an
accident and you need to get your wife and come
to our house. And from our house to they live
(15:51):
in Middalothian, Texas, it's about fifteen miles and it's dark,
winding roads. I mean there's no light at all out there,
so you just kind of you have to know where
you're going, you know, you get lost. So we got
out there. There was probably a two block perimnium around
(16:12):
the house that you couldn't even get through, and cars
were just lined up everywhere, and the police stopped us
and we told them we were the little Fields and
the policeman said, we know Chris has been shot but
we don't know about Chad yet, and I thought, how
(16:32):
strange is that that you know my son's first name.
And anyway, he led us through and so Donn and
I walked hand in hand up to the house with
the lights. And this was maybe nine thirty at night.
The garage door was open and law enforcement was everywhere.
(16:53):
There was FBI and Navy seal, local police, DPS officers,
you know, just everywhere. And they directed us through the
kitchen and my former daughter in law met us there
and she said, Chris has been shot. We don't know
about Chad. So we all went and sat down. Ta
(17:14):
had come in, Chris's wife had come in, and we
were all in a very dim lit room and people
were whispering. Nobody was talking out loud at all, and
it was full of people, I mean, people lying around
the walls, and nobody sat except for the family, you know.
And TAA came in and she said, now there's people here,
(17:38):
Navy seals. If y'all need anything, they can help you.
And I said, if you would show me where a
trash can is, i'd appreciate it. On to get rid
of my gum, and this man just held out his
hand to take my gun, and I thought, I said, no,
just give me a tissue or something, and you know, no,
I'll take it. I said, okay, and then asked for
(18:00):
a glass of water, and it was right there. I mean,
they just took it off the candet and I thought,
whose water was this? Whose water am I drinking? But
I didn't care. I was thirsty, you know. And like
I said, everybody was so eager to help. Nobody knew
what to do or when to do it until, you know,
(18:24):
we could be till we knew that Chad was involved
and that he had been killed. Also, we just began
the weight to set there and waited. Chad was his
wallet and everything was in Chris's truck, and the shooter
had taken Chris's truck, so they had no way of
(18:45):
identifying Chad. And we knew he was, you know, with Chris,
but nobody else knew that. So we sat there and
then later on we found out the shooter had been
taken into custody. Before we ever found out that Chad
was the other end down. Chad had had in my house.
You didn't do tattoos. You got kicked out if you know,
(19:08):
got a tattoo well, he got a huge one and
it was Jesus Christ on this side and a big
eagle on this side. But he shortened them, you know,
short enough that he could still wear a shirt and
you wouldn't see the tattoo. I decided at that point, hey,
I got to choose my battles and that's not worth fighting,
you know. Of course he was out of the house
by then. Anyway. Anyway, that's the way they identified him
(19:32):
in death. Anyway, finally the captain and the Middle Othian
Police Department came in and the phone had been binging
all night and back then, you know, it was a
little flip phone thing. You know. My son and my
grandson were wanting to know if Chad was okay, and
I thought, how do you know about this? What is
(19:52):
going on? We were in shock. We still tell you
had set an accident. We're thinking that they wrecked the
truck because Chad was a football player in high school
and we had several dangerous things that happened. I had
to go to the hospital, so we're thinking that's the accident. Anyway,
we sat there and sat there, and finally he came
(20:13):
in and he said, we have identified Chad and he
is the other man down with Chris. Anyway, I went
to my knees and just scream, not my chatty, not
much chatty. It was true. And here we were sitting
among strangers, and my little former daughter in law said,
(20:37):
I've got to get to my daughter. She was, you know,
with a sitter. And by this time it was eleven
or twelve o'clock at night. I think we didn't know
what to do. We just stood there and we thought, here,
we're in a strange house. And my husband he just
had to, you know, get us out, and so we
decided to go with her over to her parents' house.
(21:00):
We had nobody, We didn't have any family there, we
had no support or anything. So we just followed her
and we went over there. And my former drawing in
law was in the education field, so they had counselors
there immediately, several of them too for my little granddaughter.
You know, they were all in the room with her.
(21:20):
And anyway, we got ready to go home, and I
went and hugged her and kissed her, and my little
granddaughter said, mem is this a nightmare? I said, honey,
I'm afraid it is. And we weren't going to wake
up from this one. When she's here. We got cemetery
(21:42):
and put a Christmas ornament on a reeve for something
for her. And I keep flags, American flags and Texas
flags out there all the time. And you know, one
of the funny things, we were going to pick AD's
headstone out and her mother said, oh, no, I'll have
to find a sitter. That will traumatize her. I said,
(22:03):
she needs to be in on this stuff. So anyway,
she went with us, and she gets out of the
car and walks in this monument place and the lady said,
did you all need some help or do you know
what you want? And she said, no, we know what
we want. And the lady said, did you want a
rough cut or a smooth cut? And she said no,
(22:24):
we want a smooth because if a bird poops on it,
we want to be able to get it off. I said,
so much for that trisation.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I mean, and how logical. Yeah, that's yeah, you know,
from the mouth of babes.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Well, and she wanted to do something on the headstone,
and so I said, we'll go over there and sit
down and come up with something. Well, she had a
plaque in her room that said I found my prince
and his name is Daddy, and they were able to
let her and she had beautiful handwriting at that aid
do her handwriting, and it's on the grapes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, I think what a Greek call it had to
attribute to the to getting through the greeming process, having
involved I think that was so important, you know, and
that being able to hel forward and go through the
healing journey, which is a lifelong journey.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
And we're able to pass that on to his little
girl also. Anyway, they arranged to have Chad's funeral a
week after he had been killed. So, and there's an
organization called the Patriot Guard Writers and they're usually a
bunch of veterans that escort of veterans home to their
(23:38):
final resting place. Well, they do military, and Chad was
not military, but they got special permission and there were
two hundred motorcycle guys that showed up to escort my
son to his final resting place and they surrounded the
(23:59):
the grave site with those beautiful American flags and just
so so overwhelming and heartfelt they would love us enough
to do that anyway, but they got that taken care of,
and then you know, the silence comes the people are gone,
(24:23):
the relatives are gone, the cards and letters have stopped,
the phone calls, and Don and I talked and we said, Don,
we can't afford to get better over this. We're gonna
have to get better because we can't afford to live
and revenge and anger. You know, it is what it is.
(24:44):
We've lost our son, but we're going to rise above.
And the reason I'm called Mama Littlefield is I lost
my son, but I have gained so many you know.
I had one one that say, my mom passed last
year and I really miss her not wishing me a
happy birthday, And I said, on behalf of your mom,
(25:06):
please let me wish you a happy birthday. So I'm
being Mama, Mama Judy, Mama Littleville. So and I just
appreciate that so much. I just just love these guys
and know that Chad would be so thankful that we're
being treated like we are because he was very patriotic kid.
(25:30):
You know. He was always saying, Mom, what did you
do for a veteran today? And I told him one day,
I said, son, you need to be a first responder
because if there was an accident on the side of
the road, he was the first one out, and he
was a germ preak. He didn't like his name brand
clothes messed up or his hands dirty, but he would
if there was somebody in need. You know, that all
(25:53):
went to the ways.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I can relate it. Mama, it's I don't like germs
that aren't mine on me. I don't. It's and it
just seems to get worse the older I get.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
That's interesting. Well, you know, like I said, but Chad
told me, I said, you need to become a first responder.
He said, Mom, you don't need to wear a uniform
to help your fellow man. I said, boy, you're right.
You know, we need to reach out more often and
love one another and uh, you know, with kindness. And
(26:28):
then after that we had to wait for two years.
It went to trial. The case went to trial two
years later. But we were the only ones that didn't
know what had happened. I mean, we knew Chad and
Chris had been shot, but we didn't have any details.
We didn't know why, the motive of nothing. And I
don't know why they kept that from it, maybe because
(26:50):
they felt we needed to be protected. But then after
that we went to trial and that was a whole
whole different thing. The trial lasted too and a half weeks,
and we stayed down there and every TV or social
media they contacted us and they were I think I
(27:11):
know they were coming by the house because on the
weekend we came home and there were cards and things
in my mailbox with no stamp on them, So I
know that they were coming by here. But and we
couldn't do any interviews because we didn't want to jeopardize trial.
And in Texas, because there were two murders at the
(27:32):
same time, they went to trial for both, for Chris's
murder and Chad's. On all the national TV and everything,
it was considered the American sniper trial, and it was.
It was the trial of Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle.
They proved in a court of law that he did
not suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, that he had
(27:54):
chosen to get high and drink, and he told his
sister he left the scene and told us, sister said,
I just sold my soul for this truck. That's our story.
But like I said, we learned a lot. We learned
to not be bitter, we learned to love more, We're
(28:16):
more compassionate, I had some people tell me one time, said, well,
we've lost our jobs, and we don't mean to compare
that to your loss. I said, no, you don't understand
when you're in pain. I don't care where it's coming from.
Everybody is in pain together, and we need to reach
out and help them.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And I'm a firm believer in that. We are firm
believers in that there's no there's no levels, right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Right, there's no levels. If you're hurting, you're hurting in pain.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Right, And it is so important for us to really
lean in. I just love that because it's I think
it's important for people to hear that your pain is relevant,
regardless of what it is, because societally, we get so
so separated and segregated because of you know, well this
my situation is not as bad as that situation, et cetera,
(29:07):
et cetera. And it's like if we could just lean
in and realize that the one thing that makes us
the same is we all understand pain and suffering. And
that's regardless of your belief system, you know, regardless of
your political ideology, regardless of et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Everyone understands that and it's the one thing that we
can just agree on well.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And what you said was my granddaughters. That's a tribute
to how we handled grief. I had not thought about
that before. But I can't imagine if she had been
around us and we refuse to live, if we refuse
to get out of bed or just go on with life.
I can't imagine how it would have affected her at
(29:50):
her young age. And I'm so glad that we chose
to get up and go on through it all.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
You know. We've noticed too that when we are going
through hard times, they're always listening, our kids, like they're
even when you think they're not. It's always listening. Will
be mid sentence and you'll hear the little one, what
does that mean? And it's like, oh god, he's been
listening time. Yeah. But especially when we're going through challenging times,
(30:20):
they are hyper focused what are they going to do?
And it's our time to really show what living well
looks like in the face of adversity, you know, and
it's we're not always good at it, especially me, you know.
I think it's so important that that to know we
can find therapy and everything we do, it doesn't have
(30:41):
to be sitting across from a professional. Licensed professional doesn't
have to be. And I think that that's that's really important,
the example that you all have shown her, and I
guarantee you it's attributed to her being able to hold forward.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
There's been a lot of lessons learned. And Chad was
very I mean, he was calling every day. He's a
mama's boy. He would call every day or come by
or you know. And because he did that, my other
son let him. You know, it might be four weeks
before we would see the other one, you know, because
he just you know, they'd get busy. But then after
(31:17):
Chad was taken, well, I'm telling you, Jerry's on the
phone every day, taking us wherever we need to go
and helping us. So we're blessed that we have him
to take care. And he's not military either, but he
works to raise funds for veterans and try to help.
That's what's so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Y'all truly raised to patriotic, god loving young men, and
we truly appreciate you sharing your story.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
It's beautiful that you're able to.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Honor and remember him and share his story so we
can all remember him, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
You and Don and Jerry and chat or proof positive
to me that every human being has an inner warrior.
I believe it's ingrained in our DNA, and you're proof
positive of that. The way you've you've all been able
to embrace grace through it all is inspiring and of itself.
And I believe there's a big difference between suffering and
(32:19):
suffering well, you know, and I don't believe that we
ever get over significant traumatic experiences in life. I just
I believe that we learned to deal with them in
a healthier manner. You know, you guys have definitely been
an inspiration to not only me but us and how
to handle what life throws at you.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
And I've been I've been through a lot of life
in my short amount of time I've been here. But
it's you know, it's it's a it's an honor to
be around people like you both, because it's uh, it's inspirational,
it's motivational, humbling.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Chad asked me one one year what I wanted from
others day, and I told him I wanted to authentic
get bush And so he went and got one for me,
and he dug the hole and planted it and everything.
He was over here one day and I said, Chad,
look at that crazy bush. I said, when your life's
going good, that bush just blooms. And he said, but Mom,
(33:17):
if you had not watered it and kept the weeds
out of it like you did, my life, neither one
of us would have ever produced. So Chad and I
bonded over that crazy yellow rose bush, you know. And
then after he was killed, Mother's Day was coming up
and the rose bush just was not doing anything, and
(33:40):
I cried, and I cried as a don It's died
with him. The rose bushes died with him. And a
couple of days before Mother's Day, I walked outside and
just happened to look down and there was a little
yellow bud on that rose bush. And I thought, thank you, Chad,
thank you ched so much for letting me know you're okay.
(34:04):
And the yellow rose. When he'd get mad at me
or something, he'd show up up on my door with
the yellow rose say I'm sorry, mom. So that was
our deal. And then when I saw that little rose bush,
you know, it's just like he was saying, I'm sorry
for the pain, but I'm good. You know that that
yellow rose has been a meaning for me ever since.
(34:26):
So that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Always give a Texas girl yellow roses.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
He clearly made such a huge impact on those that
whose lives he touched. Even in his friendship with Chris,
Jake said, you know, you can find therapy in anything
that you do. And you said earlier when they would
go exercise, they would exercise their bodies for their mental health.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
That's huge. Well, and not only that, of course you
probably know this, but we were offered so many pills
and alcohol. Here, just drink this and you'll feel better. Well,
I have a very addictive personality, and.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You and me both, Mama, I knew.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
If I had a glass of wine today, I'd need
a bottle tomorrow. And it would have been accepted, you
know what I was going through. It would have been
accepted to judge, you know, just stay on the pills
and stay out. But we've always felt like you have
to walk through the pain. You can't walk around it,
you can't dodge it. It's there. Walk through it. So
(35:28):
and and that's the thing. I could have drank. I
could have taken the pills, but then when I got sober,
I would still be in pain.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
You'd be a square one.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, anything, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's one thing that I you know, I try and
tell people is that because you know, November it will
be five years that I've been cleaning.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
So wow, wow, congratulations.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Well thank you. I believe that when we feel it,
we sit and we feel it, we feel the pain,
and we exercise the pain.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I believe that that's doing a lot of shaping of
our character and our understanding immortality and our appreciation of
the things that we otherwise just don't appreciate because we're
just going through life trying to get everything done, to
go do this or that for this person or that person.
And it's I think that it speaks volumes of you
(36:18):
guys as not only human beings, but leaders in community
and being rooted in your spirituality, being able to just
fill it and not numb because a lot of people
do which and just like you said, just like you,
like I suck at anything in moderation, it's all the
way or no way.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Oh that's me, that's me.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
And you know with me, it was like, well, if
one pill works about you, five is going to be awesome. Yeah,
which led you know, so on and so forth. And
which was the same thing. It's just because nobody judged.
There was no judgment like, well, you know, can you
imagine yeah's gone right? And so there was no judgment.
There was no questions, No, Jake, maybe you should tone
(36:59):
it down some mate, none of that, because how dare
they impede on my process? Right? And I remember when
I stopped drinking, and it was because I wouldn't say
I was sober for about a year because I think
there's a big difference between not drinking and living a
sober life. And I had so many people walk up
to me and go, you know, Jake, I was going
(37:20):
to say something to you about it. I said, yeah,
but you didn't and that's okay. And I said, and
that's on me, not you. That's okay, you know. But
it's it's something that, yeah, we all grieve differently, we
all go through things differently, and I think it's really
important for people to hear what you and coach and
(37:42):
your family have gone through to understand it doesn't always
have to look like you see on TV it all.
It doesn't always have to look like a Hollywood film.
It's not always going to.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Be pretty like I'm okay right.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
It's okay to not be okay, and it's okay to
fill it because we were all human.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
And that's not over. You know, a lot of times
I think I got this thing lived, you know, and
something a smell or you know, a thought or something,
and I lose it, you know. And we will never
get over Chad's lost, never, but we are learning to
live without him, and it's healing, uh to talk about it.
(38:27):
And a mother's greatest fear is that her son would
be forgotten, you know. Jerry used to tell us and Mom,
there's two deaths. The first one is physical. The second
one is when people forget you ever existed. And that's
what I don't want to happen too much, head I want,
I want him remembered for us and his little girl
as well.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
He talked about community, and one of the things that
christ and Chad really bonded on was was community. But
since this whole thing's happened in your life, your community
has grown as well. Now, talk to me about that day,
the days after the law enforcement, the military veterans that
(39:08):
you came in contact with, those connections that you've made.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
Well, and of course that picked up, you know, like
a couple of months or so after the death, you know,
when people felt safe, you know, approaching us. I remember
one day Don and I thank god one of us
was usually up and could help the other one, and
one day we were both down and I kid you not,
(39:32):
I was suicidal. I didn't want to live. I wanted
my Chad. I wanted to be with him, and I
just cried out and I said, God, what do you
want me to do? And there came a knock on
the door and it was the chaplain of the Desoda
Police Department, and he said, I just thought i'd come
by and check on you guys and see if maybe
I could pray with you. But do I have a
(39:52):
job for you? So anyway, But like I said, God
sends people when you really need them, and we need
Deemed that day everything kind of developed on a step
after step, meeting people and doing fundraisers and things like that.
We don't know too many firefighters that I have been
(40:16):
presented with their challenge, coins many police officers, and of
course are vets. Like you said, that community has just
grown and grown.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
So three questions we ask all of our guests. Rapid fire,
It's not really rapid fire, but we called it that.
So what do you do to relax and recharge?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Doctor Charles Stanley is a pastor out of Atlanta, Georgia,
and he has a podcast thing that comes on the
computer every day at two o'clock and that's my time
to sit there and you know, listen, do whatever I
want to and that's my time. I tell Don, I said,
(41:01):
this is free time. If you want to do puzzles
or whatever. You know, Don has to have his nap
every day because you know, when you're a mother, the
only time you get anything done is when your kids
are asleep. Well, when Don goes to sleep, and that's
why I get myself.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
That's your recharge, relaxed time, you know, and that you
know what naps are important. There's studies at show they
shouldn't stop in kindergarten that we should continue those throughout life.
Just for everyone listening, those are naps are very important
for brain health. So another question we'd like to ask,
is there a particular person or entity that has had
(41:42):
a significant impact on you or your story?
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Well, I guess I would have to say my dad.
My dad was a mortician, so I had a really
chunky child. We lived at the funeral forever. But he
was had a servant's heart. He was always serving people.
And back in those days, the funeral homes did all
the ambulance service. So he was forever going out. And
(42:11):
I'm from Harlingen, Texas and years ago they had an
Air Force base down there. Well, there were quite a
few crashes, you know that he had to go out
and deal with and take care of families and comfort families.
He always had a servant's heart. He even in his
last days, had gone to school and learned how to
take the eyes out and pack them get them on
(42:34):
a plane for a transplant. So I would have to say,
Dad is the one that gave us the service. He
had to be the one that put a servant's heart
in me. And I guess that's where Chad got it.
You know.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
It's it's awesome because you know, greatness can be generational
to not just trauma, and I love hearing that. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Last question, and it's broad, but it can be specific
to what feeds your soul.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
I think healing when we reach out, especially vets, because
that's where we have our most contact. Somebody that's been helped,
somebody that that just needs a hug, that needs some love,
and we can do it. I mean, I've met people
(43:30):
at the cemetery that want to come out and you know,
we just sit around Chad's gravesite, and you know, they
just wanted to be near Chad, you know. And I
think that is the most productive thing. You know, we
feel like we've accomplished something. And the other thing is
next year, Coach and I'll be married fifty years and
(43:52):
want an accomplishment that fifty years. I told him that
could be a long year.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Congratulations, that's amazing. Well, we celebrate Chad's life today and
every day, and thank you for having the strength and
the courage to come and share your story and his story.
We're thrilled to be able to tell it, to be
able to share it so that we can continue to
speak Chad Littlefield's name.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Thank you, Mama, little Phil the coach for your strength
and your inspiration, your leadership, your grace, your wisdom. So
truly grateful, truly humbled by you both, and your vulnerability
and your willingness to find victory in that and healing
(44:44):
is all inspiring.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Wow. Thank you, Thank you for those words.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
How could you not be truly inspired after hearing that story.
I mean it truly is a mother's journey that she's
been on.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Yeah, it's something that most people, if not all people
who are parents. It's the worst thing you could ever
go through, and yet she lives her life with love
and grace and alongside coach who does the same thing
kind of command you be better.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Absolutely married fifty years next year and you know, let's
be better, not better.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
Yeah, there should be in a word for that.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Absolutely, it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful love story
to include their love of their child, and even through
this tragedy, Man, it's just made them stronger.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
Us knowing them personally, they've mentioned how yeah, there's times
that got really hard and really tough between the two
of us, and it's just like, we know we can't
be weak at the same time, right, we have to
be able to lean on each other and have the
vulnerability and the humility to let the other one be
strong when one of us is a weekend, And that's
(45:58):
what they did, and they made it through.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Through one of the most horrific.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Tragedy, probably the hardest thing any parent could ever deal with.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
It's got to be right right, y'all. Be sure to
check out her book, The Other Man Down, a Mother's
Journey after the American Sniper Tragedy.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
It's the perspective that you'll need, especially if you're a
mom or a dad and you really want your kid
to know and to feel how much you love them.
Read this book because I promise you when you put
it down, I promise you you'll hug them a little
tighter that night.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, and your soul will feel full.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
We are so glad that you joined us here today
for this episode of The Good Stuff. If you have
anyone in your life that you think could use little inspiration,
be sure to pass this episode along to them.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
It's important to let them hear it and to understand
that they're they're worthy of living well because the whole
point of this life is to lean in, love hard,
and live well. And you can't fully do the last
one without fully doing the first two.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And be sure to cannnect with Jake and I would
love to hear from you. If you have a story
that you think we should tell on The Good Stuff,
be sure to send that over to us. Connect with
us on social media, and we look forward.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
To hearing from you. The Good Stuff is executive produced
by Ashley Shick, Jacob Schick, Leah Pictures and q Code Media.
Hosted by Ashley Shick and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick
Cassilini and Ryan Countshouse Post production supervisor Will Tindy. Music
(47:32):
editing by Will Haywood Smith, Edited by Mike Robinson.
Welcome with the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Shick and I'm
joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Jacob is a third generation combat Marine who runs an
organization called One Tribe Foundation that focuses on mental and
emotional wellness. I am a gold Star granddaughter, and we
both come from families that are rich in military history
and very proud Americans.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We believe everybody's got a story worth telling. It involves
inspiration and perseverance, and we believe that we tell these
stories to give people the extra that they need to
not only live, but live well. Welcome to the Good
Stuff today. Our guess is Judy Littlefield, author of the
book The Other Man Down, A Mother's Journey after the
American Sniper Tragedy.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Many of you are familiar with the story of the
American Sniper Chris Kyle, the Navy Seal sniper who returned
home a war hero, devoted himself to helping veterans suffer
with PTS, and was killed by one of the very
men he was trying to help.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Well, Chris Kyle wasn's the only man who lost his
life that day. His best friend was by a side,
a best friend who was equally devoted to helping our
vets returning home. That man is Judy Littlefield's son, Chad Littlefield.
These horrendous and cowardly murders happened over ten years ago.
Their impact has an ongoing ripple effect throughout the.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Entire world, and today we are celebrating the life of
Chad Littlefield. So this episode is very personal to us.
Jake was honored to be involved in the filming of
Clint Eastwood's film American Snipers, starring Bradley Cooper's Chris Kyle,
and through his involvement, we had the incredible honor of
meeting Don and Judy Littlefield, Chad's parents, who we now
consider family. We are so thrilled today to be sitting
(01:52):
around the dining room table here in DeSoto, Texas of
a beautiful Texas lady inside and out that we've been
ends with for a while.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Missus Judy Littlefield, better known as Mama Littlefield to us,
I just can't call you Judy little Field. Just feels wrong.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I think, not.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Your mama, your mama. We've actually known each other for years.
We met at an event in Fort Worth, I think
eight years ago, and just so grateful for that friendship.
But I know you and Jake have actually known each
other for quite a while, longer a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I don't remember how I met Mama and Coach. So
do you recall our first interaction?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yes, I do. It was at the premiere of The
American Sniper. Don and I were sitting there. We had
been invited by Tea Kyle to be there, and we
had just gotten some devastating news about the details of
how Chad had been killed, and we were so weary,
you know, it was just all we could do to
(02:51):
get to the theater. And we were setting up in
the audience. They turned the house lights up and before
we knew it, Jacob and d come up and Jacob
leaned over it and said, I'm so sorry for your loss,
(03:12):
and I told him, I said, you know what, that
meant a lot to me, because we were so overwhelmed
of the news we had gotten, and we even considered
not going, but we did anyway. And that Jacob Schick,
this big bad marine, cared enough to come up and
love on us and comfort us. And that's what that's
(03:35):
when I first met him. He's just been my boy
ever since.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I know that I can speak for Rashley as well
when I say we've cherished every moment and that you
both are very near and dear to our heart, and
we are just honored.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
And privileged to call you family on our side too.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
I distinctly remember Bradley and Taya setting up the premiere
and us standing in the front, right in front of
the screen, and then you all were acknowledged, and I
remember badly looking at me and he said, you got
anything you want to say something? But I remember because
all I could think about was just I wanted. I
(04:14):
just wanted to hug y'all. And I just said no,
you know, because to me, nothing else seems to be said, right,
I could just need everything said. We setting up a film,
and I remember that distinkly well.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
There were a lot of veterans in the audience that night,
and they had stood up and applauded us when Taya
had said we were in the audience, and we were
still processing that. We thought, these war heroes are standing
up and acknowledging us, who are we?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
And then you came up. So we just fell apart.
You know. The news that we had gotten the day
before just kind of faded, you know, in the distance.
We had new good information to process, you know, we
were able to a table the other and until the
trial hit. You know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So it's so important those little moments, you know, they're
so important. I think there those those moments where it
carries us to the to the next yard line. I'm
grateful that I got that moment. That was a hectic
day because you know, I hadn't watched you know, I
got hit. Oh four September, oh fourth is when I
got hurt in Iraq. I had not watched a war movie,
(05:25):
war show, anything until the premiere. And I've told Ashays,
I've told lots of people this I felt. And I
didn't have to write. It's not mandated that I do
go to the premiere, but I felt as though I
owed it to the Kyle family and do y'all to
sit and go through that film and watch it beginning
(05:48):
to end, to have a genuine and authentic take in
reaction to it. And so that was the first war
movie that I sat down and watched since the day
got hurt.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
N four, Mama little Field, will you please tell us
about Chad.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
I had a son by a previous marriage, but Chad
was our only biological child, and I had had three miscarriages,
and I really got mad at God because I thought,
why even let me get pregnant if I can't carry
that baby. So Donn had given up any chance of
ever having a child. And then I got pregnant with
Chad and was able to carry him. And he was
(06:27):
our miracle baby because you know, we hadn't had one
but then, and he was due on Valentine's Day, so
he became our love baby also, you know, but he
decided to come on eleventh instead. You know. Anyway, I
guess I learned even through that you don't get bitter.
Didn't help anything, you know, And it made me appreciate
(06:48):
when we did have him. Little did I know we'd
only have him thirty five years. But we have to
rejoice in that time we had and not mourn what
might have been. You know.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I know Chad came over and spent that afternoon with
you the day before he was killed. Will you please
tell us about that? He said, he talked about all
kinds of things and life is so good it's almost scary.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, if he told me. We talked about where he
was spiritually, and they had started going to Cowboy Church,
and he said, Mom, I got to get in there
and learn these Bible stories. My little girl knows more
than I do. And I had done, and I had
been named Volunteers of the month at our church. So
that was written up and I showed that to him
and I said it's not very big and he said, Mom,
(07:31):
what makes you think that's not a big deal. So
I got that approval from him, you know, before he
left this earth. He stood up at the bar and
he said, Mom, I would take a bullet for Chris
chat don't talk like that. And he did. He did
exactly that the next day. But he said on the couch,
he said, mom, life is so good, it's scary. Little
(07:54):
did we know that it would all be over the next.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Day he talked about being a father, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
How he wanted his little girl raised. And keep in
mind that his little girl turned seven two weeks before
he was killed. He and his wife had waited five
years before they had a child. Chad told him one time,
little girl said, Dad, I want a brother or sister,
(08:21):
And Chad says, you want to college education our brother
and sister. I can't afford both that sacks and so
many times and I have learned this. My reaction when
he left that day was, oh gosh, I didn't know
he was going to stay this long. I have work
(08:42):
to do, you know, real work. Little did I know
that that conversation, every word would be something I would
treasure for the rest of my life, you know, go
over and over all of that, because it was the
last words we had with him.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
What I see for that to be the last earthly
encounter in that way, especially working in the line of
work that I'm in now, with the foundation we do
with a lot of loss, and it's I just can
only imagine how much it's played a role for you
(09:21):
and your family to be able to spread love and
to be genuine and authentic and subd.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Lovell And it was such a blessing that we had
that time. You know, military families and gold Star they
might not have seen their son or their daughter in
the last year, last nine months. I walked away that
day and I thought, I never have to say if
I had one more I love you, or one more
kiss or one more hug, because God gave me all
(09:52):
of those things in that day. And we're given nuggets,
but we have to be able to look for them
and everything that seems like a chaos situation.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Where was he spiritually when he came over.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
We raised our boys with a strong faith and in church,
and Chad had kind of wavered on and off from
the faith, but he never wavered from his beliefs. That
day he told me that he was a believer, and
you know, if anything ever happened him, he knew where
(10:29):
he would go. So that was not even a question
when he was killed.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Through this horrendous tragedy, was there some sense of comfort
in that and having that conversation and knowing that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Oh, definitely, definitely. After he got out of the house,
it was like we never never mentioned it again. But
it was rare that unless he was in trouble, and
then you know, we really prayed, you know, to get
him out of that. I remember one time he lost
his company credit card and oh he went home, tore
(11:03):
the house up looking for that credit card and everything.
He called me and please pray, I've got to have that.
I've got to come up with that company credit card. So,
I mean, he was just a cousin and everything all
day long. And then that evening he called me and
he said, well, Jesus did it. And I said what
And he said, I found my credit card. I said, wonderful,
where was it? He said, well, I'd gone to the
(11:25):
bathroom and dropped my wallet in the bathroom and it
was in there. So it all worked out. But you know,
he would just get so so fried over something, you know,
But it was a truly a comfort to know that
I would see him again. That's our hope, you know
that we will be with him again, that he's not
(11:47):
gone forever.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Talk if you will, please about the relationship between christ
and Chad.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Okay, they met on the soccer field. Their little girls
played soccer together, and they had to get out and
the coaches were not adequate. You know, they had to
help the coaches.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know, I can't look, It's just the way it
is with two sons that play sports. You feel like
sometimes you have to assist.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
With vigor the finer lines.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Anyway, they met out there and I guess started talking,
and then I guess Chris started telling him stories about
the Navy Seals and stuff like that, and like I said,
Chad was patriotic. And then Chris was doing fundraisers for
veterans and he invited Chad along. One man introduced himself
(12:48):
to Chad. He said, I know you, and Chad said,
it scared me because I wasn't military and I wasn't
nave sealing. You know, I didn't know who he thought
I was. And Chad to him, says, you don't know me.
He said, I'm not military. He said, yeah, you are.
You are the one that brought Chris out of his
darkest hours. And it was just you know, Chad told me,
he said, Mom, I didn't know he was doing talk therapy,
(13:10):
you know, when they're working out, you know, but you know,
it helped. And Chad was a good listener. And if
Chris wanted to talk and talk about things that bothered him,
Chad would listen. If not, they would just work out
quietly and split their ways. You know. They became good
friends that way to Chris, and that's what he needed
(13:30):
at the time. The next morning, February, the second, he
had texted me because we had an inheritance that finally
came through, and he was always seizing me. Hey, let
me give you my bank account number. You know, you'll
you'll probably need that to put that in my bank.
You know. Chad was a funny kid. You know, we
were disciplinarians. But you know all of his friends, you know,
(13:53):
they wanted Chad to be their party in the life
of the party. But I sent him a text and
I said, look what I learned to do. And he said, oh, mom,
I had to pull over the side of the road.
I could not believe you were texting. It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So yeah, I mean that even that plays into the
story because that morning you were texting with him.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Anyway, he told me. Then after that text, he said,
we got a marine that's not doing well and Chris
and I are going to take him to the range
and just get him out for the day. So I
knew where Chad was and they went down there. This
was I don't know nine or ten o'clock in the morning,
I guess on a Saturday morning. So that was the
(14:37):
last text that I got from Chad and we went
on the day. Don and I are very active in
our church and we usually keep Saturdays open. We usually
don't go out on a Saturday night because then were
too tired to get up and go do anything Sunday.
But this time we were having a ladies conference and
(15:00):
I had to get up and go set up the
display and everything. And because I'm pretty high maintenance, I
had to make sure that my clothes were picked out
and that, you know, my hair was done, and I
was ready to go. God forbid that my makeup was
not ride or something like that. You know, late, always
(15:21):
on time, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Me neither right, always late.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
That's awesome. So we went about our business and we
got a call from Taya, Chris's wife, and she said,
we need to come. You need to come to my house.
And Don said why, and she said, there's been an
accident and you need to get your wife and come
to our house. And from our house to they live
(15:51):
in Middalothian, Texas, it's about fifteen miles and it's dark,
winding roads. I mean there's no light at all out there,
so you just kind of you have to know where
you're going, you know, you get lost. So we got
out there. There was probably a two block perimnium around
(16:12):
the house that you couldn't even get through, and cars
were just lined up everywhere, and the police stopped us
and we told them we were the little Fields and
the policeman said, we know Chris has been shot but
we don't know about Chad yet, and I thought, how
(16:32):
strange is that that you know my son's first name.
And anyway, he led us through and so Donn and
I walked hand in hand up to the house with
the lights. And this was maybe nine thirty at night.
The garage door was open and law enforcement was everywhere.
(16:53):
There was FBI and Navy seal, local police, DPS officers,
you know, just everywhere. And they directed us through the
kitchen and my former daughter in law met us there
and she said, Chris has been shot. We don't know
about Chad. So we all went and sat down. Ta
(17:14):
had come in, Chris's wife had come in, and we
were all in a very dim lit room and people
were whispering. Nobody was talking out loud at all, and
it was full of people, I mean, people lying around
the walls, and nobody sat except for the family, you know.
And TAA came in and she said, now there's people here,
(17:38):
Navy seals. If y'all need anything, they can help you.
And I said, if you would show me where a
trash can is, i'd appreciate it. On to get rid
of my gum, and this man just held out his
hand to take my gun, and I thought, I said, no,
just give me a tissue or something, and you know, no,
I'll take it. I said, okay, and then asked for
(18:00):
a glass of water, and it was right there. I mean,
they just took it off the candet and I thought,
whose water was this? Whose water am I drinking? But
I didn't care. I was thirsty, you know. And like
I said, everybody was so eager to help. Nobody knew
what to do or when to do it until, you know,
(18:24):
we could be till we knew that Chad was involved
and that he had been killed. Also, we just began
the weight to set there and waited. Chad was his
wallet and everything was in Chris's truck, and the shooter
had taken Chris's truck, so they had no way of
(18:45):
identifying Chad. And we knew he was, you know, with Chris,
but nobody else knew that. So we sat there and
then later on we found out the shooter had been
taken into custody. Before we ever found out that Chad
was the other end down. Chad had had in my house.
You didn't do tattoos. You got kicked out if you know,
(19:08):
got a tattoo well, he got a huge one and
it was Jesus Christ on this side and a big
eagle on this side. But he shortened them, you know,
short enough that he could still wear a shirt and
you wouldn't see the tattoo. I decided at that point, hey,
I got to choose my battles and that's not worth fighting,
you know. Of course he was out of the house
by then. Anyway. Anyway, that's the way they identified him
(19:32):
in death. Anyway, finally the captain and the Middle Othian
Police Department came in and the phone had been binging
all night and back then, you know, it was a
little flip phone thing. You know. My son and my
grandson were wanting to know if Chad was okay, and
I thought, how do you know about this? What is
(19:52):
going on? We were in shock. We still tell you
had set an accident. We're thinking that they wrecked the
truck because Chad was a football player in high school
and we had several dangerous things that happened. I had
to go to the hospital, so we're thinking that's the accident. Anyway,
we sat there and sat there, and finally he came
(20:13):
in and he said, we have identified Chad and he
is the other man down with Chris. Anyway, I went
to my knees and just scream, not my chatty, not
much chatty. It was true. And here we were sitting
among strangers, and my little former daughter in law said,
(20:37):
I've got to get to my daughter. She was, you know,
with a sitter. And by this time it was eleven
or twelve o'clock at night. I think we didn't know
what to do. We just stood there and we thought, here,
we're in a strange house. And my husband he just
had to, you know, get us out, and so we
decided to go with her over to her parents' house.
(21:00):
We had nobody, We didn't have any family there, we
had no support or anything. So we just followed her
and we went over there. And my former drawing in
law was in the education field, so they had counselors
there immediately, several of them too for my little granddaughter.
You know, they were all in the room with her.
(21:20):
And anyway, we got ready to go home, and I
went and hugged her and kissed her, and my little
granddaughter said, mem is this a nightmare? I said, honey,
I'm afraid it is. And we weren't going to wake
up from this one. When she's here. We got cemetery
(21:42):
and put a Christmas ornament on a reeve for something
for her. And I keep flags, American flags and Texas
flags out there all the time. And you know, one
of the funny things, we were going to pick AD's
headstone out and her mother said, oh, no, I'll have
to find a sitter. That will traumatize her. I said,
(22:03):
she needs to be in on this stuff. So anyway,
she went with us, and she gets out of the
car and walks in this monument place and the lady said,
did you all need some help or do you know
what you want? And she said, no, we know what
we want. And the lady said, did you want a
rough cut or a smooth cut? And she said no,
(22:24):
we want a smooth because if a bird poops on it,
we want to be able to get it off. I said,
so much for that trisation.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I mean, and how logical. Yeah, that's yeah, you know,
from the mouth of babes.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Well, and she wanted to do something on the headstone,
and so I said, we'll go over there and sit
down and come up with something. Well, she had a
plaque in her room that said I found my prince
and his name is Daddy, and they were able to
let her and she had beautiful handwriting at that aid
do her handwriting, and it's on the grapes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, I think what a Greek call it had to
attribute to the to getting through the greeming process, having
involved I think that was so important, you know, and
that being able to hel forward and go through the
healing journey, which is a lifelong journey.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
And we're able to pass that on to his little
girl also. Anyway, they arranged to have Chad's funeral a
week after he had been killed. So, and there's an
organization called the Patriot Guard Writers and they're usually a
bunch of veterans that escort of veterans home to their
(23:38):
final resting place. Well, they do military, and Chad was
not military, but they got special permission and there were
two hundred motorcycle guys that showed up to escort my
son to his final resting place and they surrounded the
(23:59):
the grave site with those beautiful American flags and just
so so overwhelming and heartfelt they would love us enough
to do that anyway, but they got that taken care of,
and then you know, the silence comes the people are gone,
(24:23):
the relatives are gone, the cards and letters have stopped,
the phone calls, and Don and I talked and we said, Don,
we can't afford to get better over this. We're gonna
have to get better because we can't afford to live
and revenge and anger. You know, it is what it is.
(24:44):
We've lost our son, but we're going to rise above.
And the reason I'm called Mama Littlefield is I lost
my son, but I have gained so many you know.
I had one one that say, my mom passed last
year and I really miss her not wishing me a
happy birthday, And I said, on behalf of your mom,
(25:06):
please let me wish you a happy birthday. So I'm
being Mama, Mama Judy, Mama Littleville. So and I just
appreciate that so much. I just just love these guys
and know that Chad would be so thankful that we're
being treated like we are because he was very patriotic kid.
(25:30):
You know. He was always saying, Mom, what did you
do for a veteran today? And I told him one day,
I said, son, you need to be a first responder
because if there was an accident on the side of
the road, he was the first one out, and he
was a germ preak. He didn't like his name brand
clothes messed up or his hands dirty, but he would
if there was somebody in need. You know, that all
(25:53):
went to the ways.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I can relate it. Mama, it's I don't like germs
that aren't mine on me. I don't. It's and it
just seems to get worse the older I get.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
That's interesting. Well, you know, like I said, but Chad
told me, I said, you need to become a first responder.
He said, Mom, you don't need to wear a uniform
to help your fellow man. I said, boy, you're right.
You know, we need to reach out more often and
love one another and uh, you know, with kindness. And
(26:28):
then after that we had to wait for two years.
It went to trial. The case went to trial two
years later. But we were the only ones that didn't
know what had happened. I mean, we knew Chad and
Chris had been shot, but we didn't have any details.
We didn't know why, the motive of nothing. And I
don't know why they kept that from it, maybe because
(26:50):
they felt we needed to be protected. But then after
that we went to trial and that was a whole
whole different thing. The trial lasted too and a half weeks,
and we stayed down there and every TV or social
media they contacted us and they were I think I
(27:11):
know they were coming by the house because on the
weekend we came home and there were cards and things
in my mailbox with no stamp on them, So I
know that they were coming by here. But and we
couldn't do any interviews because we didn't want to jeopardize trial.
And in Texas, because there were two murders at the
(27:32):
same time, they went to trial for both, for Chris's
murder and Chad's. On all the national TV and everything,
it was considered the American sniper trial, and it was.
It was the trial of Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle.
They proved in a court of law that he did
not suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, that he had
(27:54):
chosen to get high and drink, and he told his
sister he left the scene and told us, sister said,
I just sold my soul for this truck. That's our story.
But like I said, we learned a lot. We learned
to not be bitter, we learned to love more, We're
(28:16):
more compassionate, I had some people tell me one time, said, well,
we've lost our jobs, and we don't mean to compare
that to your loss. I said, no, you don't understand
when you're in pain. I don't care where it's coming from.
Everybody is in pain together, and we need to reach
out and help them.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And I'm a firm believer in that. We are firm
believers in that there's no there's no levels, right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Right, there's no levels. If you're hurting, you're hurting in pain.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Right, And it is so important for us to really
lean in. I just love that because it's I think
it's important for people to hear that your pain is relevant,
regardless of what it is, because societally, we get so
so separated and segregated because of you know, well this
my situation is not as bad as that situation, et cetera,
(29:07):
et cetera. And it's like if we could just lean
in and realize that the one thing that makes us
the same is we all understand pain and suffering. And
that's regardless of your belief system, you know, regardless of
your political ideology, regardless of et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Everyone understands that and it's the one thing that we
can just agree on well.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And what you said was my granddaughters. That's a tribute
to how we handled grief. I had not thought about
that before. But I can't imagine if she had been
around us and we refuse to live, if we refuse
to get out of bed or just go on with life.
I can't imagine how it would have affected her at
(29:50):
her young age. And I'm so glad that we chose
to get up and go on through it all.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
You know. We've noticed too that when we are going
through hard times, they're always listening, our kids, like they're
even when you think they're not. It's always listening. Will
be mid sentence and you'll hear the little one, what
does that mean? And it's like, oh god, he's been
listening time. Yeah. But especially when we're going through challenging times,
(30:20):
they are hyper focused what are they going to do?
And it's our time to really show what living well
looks like in the face of adversity, you know, and
it's we're not always good at it, especially me, you know.
I think it's so important that that to know we
can find therapy and everything we do, it doesn't have
(30:41):
to be sitting across from a professional. Licensed professional doesn't
have to be. And I think that that's that's really important,
the example that you all have shown her, and I
guarantee you it's attributed to her being able to hold forward.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
There's been a lot of lessons learned. And Chad was
very I mean, he was calling every day. He's a
mama's boy. He would call every day or come by
or you know. And because he did that, my other
son let him. You know, it might be four weeks
before we would see the other one, you know, because
he just you know, they'd get busy. But then after
(31:17):
Chad was taken, well, I'm telling you, Jerry's on the
phone every day, taking us wherever we need to go
and helping us. So we're blessed that we have him
to take care. And he's not military either, but he
works to raise funds for veterans and try to help.
That's what's so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Y'all truly raised to patriotic, god loving young men, and
we truly appreciate you sharing your story.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
It's beautiful that you're able to.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Honor and remember him and share his story so we
can all remember him, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
You and Don and Jerry and chat or proof positive
to me that every human being has an inner warrior.
I believe it's ingrained in our DNA, and you're proof
positive of that. The way you've you've all been able
to embrace grace through it all is inspiring and of itself.
And I believe there's a big difference between suffering and
(32:19):
suffering well, you know, and I don't believe that we
ever get over significant traumatic experiences in life. I just
I believe that we learned to deal with them in
a healthier manner. You know, you guys have definitely been
an inspiration to not only me but us and how
to handle what life throws at you.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
And I've been I've been through a lot of life
in my short amount of time I've been here. But
it's you know, it's it's a it's an honor to
be around people like you both, because it's uh, it's inspirational,
it's motivational, humbling.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Chad asked me one one year what I wanted from
others day, and I told him I wanted to authentic
get bush And so he went and got one for me,
and he dug the hole and planted it and everything.
He was over here one day and I said, Chad,
look at that crazy bush. I said, when your life's
going good, that bush just blooms. And he said, but Mom,
(33:17):
if you had not watered it and kept the weeds
out of it like you did, my life, neither one
of us would have ever produced. So Chad and I
bonded over that crazy yellow rose bush, you know. And
then after he was killed, Mother's Day was coming up
and the rose bush just was not doing anything, and
(33:40):
I cried, and I cried as a don It's died
with him. The rose bushes died with him. And a
couple of days before Mother's Day, I walked outside and
just happened to look down and there was a little
yellow bud on that rose bush. And I thought, thank you, Chad,
thank you ched so much for letting me know you're okay.
(34:04):
And the yellow rose. When he'd get mad at me
or something, he'd show up up on my door with
the yellow rose say I'm sorry, mom. So that was
our deal. And then when I saw that little rose bush,
you know, it's just like he was saying, I'm sorry
for the pain, but I'm good. You know that that
yellow rose has been a meaning for me ever since.
(34:26):
So that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Always give a Texas girl yellow roses.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
He clearly made such a huge impact on those that
whose lives he touched. Even in his friendship with Chris,
Jake said, you know, you can find therapy in anything
that you do. And you said earlier when they would
go exercise, they would exercise their bodies for their mental health.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
That's huge. Well, and not only that, of course you
probably know this, but we were offered so many pills
and alcohol. Here, just drink this and you'll feel better. Well,
I have a very addictive personality, and.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You and me both, Mama, I knew.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
If I had a glass of wine today, I'd need
a bottle tomorrow. And it would have been accepted, you
know what I was going through. It would have been
accepted to judge, you know, just stay on the pills
and stay out. But we've always felt like you have
to walk through the pain. You can't walk around it,
you can't dodge it. It's there. Walk through it. So
(35:28):
and and that's the thing. I could have drank. I
could have taken the pills, but then when I got sober,
I would still be in pain.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
You'd be a square one.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, anything, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's one thing that I you know, I try and
tell people is that because you know, November it will
be five years that I've been cleaning.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
So wow, wow, congratulations.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Well thank you. I believe that when we feel it,
we sit and we feel it, we feel the pain,
and we exercise the pain.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I believe that that's doing a lot of shaping of
our character and our understanding immortality and our appreciation of
the things that we otherwise just don't appreciate because we're
just going through life trying to get everything done, to
go do this or that for this person or that person.
And it's I think that it speaks volumes of you
(36:18):
guys as not only human beings, but leaders in community
and being rooted in your spirituality, being able to just
fill it and not numb because a lot of people
do which and just like you said, just like you,
like I suck at anything in moderation, it's all the
way or no way.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Oh that's me, that's me.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
And you know with me, it was like, well, if
one pill works about you, five is going to be awesome. Yeah,
which led you know, so on and so forth. And
which was the same thing. It's just because nobody judged.
There was no judgment like, well, you know, can you
imagine yeah's gone right? And so there was no judgment.
There was no questions, No, Jake, maybe you should tone
(36:59):
it down some mate, none of that, because how dare
they impede on my process? Right? And I remember when
I stopped drinking, and it was because I wouldn't say
I was sober for about a year because I think
there's a big difference between not drinking and living a
sober life. And I had so many people walk up
to me and go, you know, Jake, I was going
(37:20):
to say something to you about it. I said, yeah,
but you didn't and that's okay. And I said, and
that's on me, not you. That's okay, you know. But
it's it's something that, yeah, we all grieve differently, we
all go through things differently, and I think it's really
important for people to hear what you and coach and
(37:42):
your family have gone through to understand it doesn't always
have to look like you see on TV it all.
It doesn't always have to look like a Hollywood film.
It's not always going to.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Be pretty like I'm okay right.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
It's okay to not be okay, and it's okay to
fill it because we were all human.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
And that's not over. You know, a lot of times
I think I got this thing lived, you know, and
something a smell or you know, a thought or something,
and I lose it, you know. And we will never
get over Chad's lost, never, but we are learning to
live without him, and it's healing, uh to talk about it.
(38:27):
And a mother's greatest fear is that her son would
be forgotten, you know. Jerry used to tell us and Mom,
there's two deaths. The first one is physical. The second
one is when people forget you ever existed. And that's
what I don't want to happen too much, head I want,
I want him remembered for us and his little girl
as well.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
He talked about community, and one of the things that
christ and Chad really bonded on was was community. But
since this whole thing's happened in your life, your community
has grown as well. Now, talk to me about that day,
the days after the law enforcement, the military veterans that
(39:08):
you came in contact with, those connections that you've made.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
Well, and of course that picked up, you know, like
a couple of months or so after the death, you know,
when people felt safe, you know, approaching us. I remember
one day Don and I thank god one of us
was usually up and could help the other one, and
one day we were both down and I kid you not,
(39:32):
I was suicidal. I didn't want to live. I wanted
my Chad. I wanted to be with him, and I
just cried out and I said, God, what do you
want me to do? And there came a knock on
the door and it was the chaplain of the Desoda
Police Department, and he said, I just thought i'd come
by and check on you guys and see if maybe
I could pray with you. But do I have a
(39:52):
job for you? So anyway, But like I said, God
sends people when you really need them, and we need
Deemed that day everything kind of developed on a step
after step, meeting people and doing fundraisers and things like that.
We don't know too many firefighters that I have been
(40:16):
presented with their challenge, coins many police officers, and of
course are vets. Like you said, that community has just
grown and grown.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
So three questions we ask all of our guests. Rapid fire,
It's not really rapid fire, but we called it that.
So what do you do to relax and recharge?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Doctor Charles Stanley is a pastor out of Atlanta, Georgia,
and he has a podcast thing that comes on the
computer every day at two o'clock and that's my time
to sit there and you know, listen, do whatever I
want to and that's my time. I tell Don, I said,
(41:01):
this is free time. If you want to do puzzles
or whatever. You know, Don has to have his nap
every day because you know, when you're a mother, the
only time you get anything done is when your kids
are asleep. Well, when Don goes to sleep, and that's
why I get myself.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
That's your recharge, relaxed time, you know, and that you
know what naps are important. There's studies at show they
shouldn't stop in kindergarten that we should continue those throughout life.
Just for everyone listening, those are naps are very important
for brain health. So another question we'd like to ask,
is there a particular person or entity that has had
(41:42):
a significant impact on you or your story?
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Well, I guess I would have to say my dad.
My dad was a mortician, so I had a really
chunky child. We lived at the funeral forever. But he
was had a servant's heart. He was always serving people.
And back in those days, the funeral homes did all
the ambulance service. So he was forever going out. And
(42:11):
I'm from Harlingen, Texas and years ago they had an
Air Force base down there. Well, there were quite a
few crashes, you know that he had to go out
and deal with and take care of families and comfort families.
He always had a servant's heart. He even in his
last days, had gone to school and learned how to
take the eyes out and pack them get them on
(42:34):
a plane for a transplant. So I would have to say,
Dad is the one that gave us the service. He
had to be the one that put a servant's heart
in me. And I guess that's where Chad got it.
You know.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
It's it's awesome because you know, greatness can be generational
to not just trauma, and I love hearing that. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Last question, and it's broad, but it can be specific
to what feeds your soul.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
I think healing when we reach out, especially vets, because
that's where we have our most contact. Somebody that's been helped,
somebody that that just needs a hug, that needs some love,
and we can do it. I mean, I've met people
(43:30):
at the cemetery that want to come out and you know,
we just sit around Chad's gravesite, and you know, they
just wanted to be near Chad, you know. And I
think that is the most productive thing. You know, we
feel like we've accomplished something. And the other thing is
next year, Coach and I'll be married fifty years and
(43:52):
want an accomplishment that fifty years. I told him that
could be a long year.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Congratulations, that's amazing. Well, we celebrate Chad's life today and
every day, and thank you for having the strength and
the courage to come and share your story and his story.
We're thrilled to be able to tell it, to be
able to share it so that we can continue to
speak Chad Littlefield's name.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Thank you, Mama, little Phil the coach for your strength
and your inspiration, your leadership, your grace, your wisdom. So
truly grateful, truly humbled by you both, and your vulnerability
and your willingness to find victory in that and healing
(44:44):
is all inspiring.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Wow. Thank you, Thank you for those words.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
How could you not be truly inspired after hearing that story.
I mean it truly is a mother's journey that she's
been on.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Yeah, it's something that most people, if not all people
who are parents. It's the worst thing you could ever
go through, and yet she lives her life with love
and grace and alongside coach who does the same thing
kind of command you be better.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Absolutely married fifty years next year and you know, let's
be better, not better.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
Yeah, there should be in a word for that.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Absolutely, it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful love story
to include their love of their child, and even through
this tragedy, Man, it's just made them stronger.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
Us knowing them personally, they've mentioned how yeah, there's times
that got really hard and really tough between the two
of us, and it's just like, we know we can't
be weak at the same time, right, we have to
be able to lean on each other and have the
vulnerability and the humility to let the other one be
strong when one of us is a weekend, And that's
(45:58):
what they did, and they made it through.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Through one of the most horrific.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Tragedy, probably the hardest thing any parent could ever deal with.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
It's got to be right right, y'all. Be sure to
check out her book, The Other Man Down, a Mother's
Journey after the American Sniper Tragedy.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
It's the perspective that you'll need, especially if you're a
mom or a dad and you really want your kid
to know and to feel how much you love them.
Read this book because I promise you when you put
it down, I promise you you'll hug them a little
tighter that night.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, and your soul will feel full.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
We are so glad that you joined us here today
for this episode of The Good Stuff. If you have
anyone in your life that you think could use little inspiration,
be sure to pass this episode along to them.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
It's important to let them hear it and to understand
that they're they're worthy of living well because the whole
point of this life is to lean in, love hard,
and live well. And you can't fully do the last
one without fully doing the first two.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And be sure to cannnect with Jake and I would
love to hear from you. If you have a story
that you think we should tell on The Good Stuff,
be sure to send that over to us. Connect with
us on social media, and we look forward.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
To hearing from you. The Good Stuff is executive produced
by Ashley Shick, Jacob Schick, Leah Pictures and q Code Media.
Hosted by Ashley Shick and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick
Cassilini and Ryan Countshouse Post production supervisor Will Tindy. Music
(47:32):
editing by Will Haywood Smith, Edited by Mike Robinson.
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