From a rooftop with 'American Sniper' to heaven

 Navy Seal Ryan Job was on the rooftop of a building in Ramadi, Iraq, with Navy Seal (and "American Sniper" author) Chris Kyle when an enemy bullet struck Job's machine gun, sending metal fragment tearing into his face.

That was in 2006.

A few years later he was one of the individuals to whom Kyle dedicated his memoir, which has been adapted into one of the most successful war movies of all time.

Job (pronounced Jobe) was a friend of Kyle's. He fought beside him. He is a much decorated American hero.

But while Chris Kyle's story is one of overcoming demons, the story of Ryan Job is one of embracing angels.

Hollywood doesn't make many movies about that.

Every now and then, however, there is a book. And there is one now about Job.

"I wanted people to know what an amazing guy Ryan was," said author and Phoenix resident Robert Vera, a friend of Job. "He had overcome everything and still had so much to give. But his life, though short, is worth celebrating.

In the movie, Job survives being shot but dies later in a hospital after proposing to his girlfriend. It was different in life. Job survived his wounds. He was blinded by the gunshots and spent most of a year in the hospital. Then he moved to Scottsdale and lived here in the Valley until his death in 2009 following facial reconstruction surgery.

He was married. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration with a 4.0 GPA. He got an internship with General Dynamics, where he was offered a job. He climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington. He hunted. He worked tirelessly to improve the lives of other veterans.

He was determined, Vera said, "to be the best blind guy there ever was."

Job liked to laugh and to made others laugh. A friend tells the story of visiting Job in the hospital after his blindness was confirmed and asking Job what he was going to do.

"He told me all he needed was an eye patch and a parrot to sit on his shoulder," the friend said.

Job died in 2009 following surgery at Maricopa Medical Center. The county agreed to pay Job's family $4 million to settle a lawsuit, although details of what went wrong were not disclosed.

Vera met Job through a mutual friend. The former Navy Seal found out that Vera had an endurance training company.

"We got together, and Ryan told the story of how he was wounded, and about the people who saved him. He said that he wanted to climb Mt. Rainier and asked if I would train with him," Vera said. "I couldn't pass up the offer. At 4:30 the next morning we started. And he climbed Rainier. And then helped others climb it. We became good friends."

Vera delivered Job's eulogy. His book about Job is called "A Warrior's Faith." It is published by the Christian imprint of Harper Collins.

"There were guys like Chris Kyle and others who risked their lives for Ryan on that rooftop," Vera said. "Just as Ryan had risked his life for them. But there was a transformation that happened to Ryan after he was wounded. He was so grateful to the people who saved him. It was biblical to him -- like his name, Job. He made up his mind that he was going to be the best blind guy in the world. He found his faith. He had trouble, like so many others who return from the war, but he overcame it. His adjustment was amazing. He was optimistic. He worked so hard. He never took anything for granted."

Job's wife Kelly was three months pregnant when he died. She would give birth to a daughter.

"Ryan's story proves that the real war is here, when guys come home," Vera said. "He had great support around him here. That helped a lot. To him, his blindness was more of an inconvenience than anything else. My editors would ask me if there was a time when he was agitated or frustrated, but in the time that I knew him I never once heard him bemoan the fact that he was blind, or cry foul, or play the victim. He had his wife, his family, his friends. He lived his faith. He refused to wear the label of handicapped. He wouldn't accept it."

Vera paused, adding, "It's simple: Chris Kyle considered Ryan a hero."