Why Did the 'Deadliest' SEAL Sniper Punch Jesse Ventura in The Face?

Imagine what would happen if a man in a bar told a group of Navy SEALs that he:

• Disagrees with the war.
• Believes they (the military) are murderers, killing innocent people... men, women and children
• Thought they probably deserve to lose a few of their own.

You are probably wondering if the guy making the offensive comments is still alive.

(Related: Sniper tells O'Reilly why he thinks enemy Iraqis are "savages")

He is alive, and he also happens to be Jesse Ventura, a SEAL alum/reservist and the former governor of Minnesota.

Making matters worse, Ventura's comments were directed at Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL known as "the military's deadliest sniper."

This little known incident was brought out during an interview on SiriusXM's Opie and Anthony radio show on Wednesday. Speaking exclusively to The Blaze, Gregg "Opie" Hughes explained that he had a tip to ask Kyle about his run-in with Jesse Ventura. So Opie casually brought it up and the story unfolded.

It was in 2006 when Ventura and the SEALs happened to be in the same bar, for very different reasons. The SEALs were holding a wake to honor a lost member of their team. Jesse was in town to speak to some new graduates of the SEAL program. During his military career from 1969-75, Ventura was a member of the Navy's elite Underwater Demolition Team or UDT (the UDT was the precursor to the SEALs) and Jesse is a SEAL reservist. You might expect that sharing the history of membership in an elite military unit would garner a lifetime of mutual respect. Not so with Ventura.

As stated above, the SEALs were in the bar to mourn the loss of team member. They had gathered with the family of Medal of Honor recipient Mike Mansoor when Ventura made it known to many that he did not agree with the war. Kyle claims that he approached the former governor, and asked him to keep it down, informing Jesse that the family of the deceased was also with them.

That's when Ventura unleashed more of his insensitive comments and Kyle reportedly countered with a one-punch knockdown.

Earlier this week, The Blaze featured a story about Chris Kyle and his autobiography that explains his amazing prowess with a rifle. We know now that Chris is also accurate with his fists and at close range.

Here's the interview from the Opie and Anthony show on Wednesday. Chris Kyle explained the encounter with Jesse "the Body" Ventura.

(Content warning, this video contains what the Navy might call "salty language:")

Following the interview, "Opie" says that Chris Kyle told him that very few people knew about the Jesse Ventura incident and that his source must be "very inside."

(H/T: Opie and Anthony - @opieradio on Twitter)