Chris Kyle, 37, blew away the previous US record of 109 kills, set by an Army rifleman during the Vietnam War.
In a new book, Mr Kyle recalls how his first kill from long range was a woman approaching a group of US Marines with a grenade in her hand. When ordered, he opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack his comrades.
Over four tours in Iraq, he built a ferocious reputation. To the insurgents who hid from his deadly scope, he was known as 'Al-Shaitan Ramad', or the Devil of Ramadi. They reportedly offered a $20,000 (£12,800) reward to anyone who could kill or capture him. Fellow Navy Seals referred to him simply as "The Legend".
Mr Kyle's most famous shot came outside the Shia district of Sadr City in Baghdad in 2008. From over a mile away he spotted an insurgent pointing a rocket launcher at an approaching Army convoy. He fired at a distance of 2,100 yards. "God blew that bullet and hit him," Mr Kyle told the New York Post.
As Marines and insurgents grappled in ferocious street fighting during the Second Battle of Fallujah, Mr Kyle reportedly killed 40 people - many while lying on an overturned crib in an abandoned apartment.
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