Ready for combat: Rob O'Neill on duty.
He spent 16 years in the Navy after gorwing up in Butte, Montana, and
rose to become one of the most-decorated SEALs ever, with 400 combat
operations under his belt
Decorated: SEAL hero Robert O'Neill
was decorated 52 times, leaving as senior chief petty officer. His
decorations include two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a
Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit
citations, and two Navy/Marine Corps Commendations with Valor.
Team member: A picture of O'Neill as a
serviceman shows him in uniform in Liberia, where the Navy was involved
in operations to stabilize the war-torn country
A SEAL source told MailOnline: 'The real shooter would never discuss it publicly.
'Members of SEAL Team Six haven’t discussed it publicly so there’s a reasonable chance he’s not being truthful.
'There
is no way O’Neill could really prove it was he who took the fatal shot
on Osama bin Laden unless his comrades all attested to it.
'But again, the code of secrecy with these special operators would preclude that.'
A second source told MailOnline that other SEALs were expected to speak out anonymously against O'Neill.
When
a previous SEAL went public, the then head of U.S. Special Operations
took the personal steps of asking members of SEAL Team Six whether that
account was accurate.
CNN's Pentagon reporter said that military officials concluded the account was inaccurate.
Although it is not known if a similar operation is planned by the military, a SEAL Team Six 'operator' spoke to CNN in March 2013 to contradict the version of events O'Neill had then given anonymously to Esquire magazine.
One other SEAL has previously gone public - Matt Bissonnette. His version of events is different.
He told NBC News: 'Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons.
'Whatever he says, he says. I don’t want to touch that.'
The
decision of O'Neill to go public and speak at length will prompt fresh
examination of that version of events, in which the SEAL said that 'The
Shooter', now known to be O'Neill, had fired the first,non-fatal shot at
bin Laden and that other SEALs finished him off.
The
reason for O'Neill going public - which was to happen next week until
MailOnline revealed his identiy - has yet to become clear.
One
account emerged today claiming that he had decided to go public after
meeting relatives of the victims of the September 11 2001 terror attack.
The
Washington Post said that it had planned to reveal his identity along
with Fox News later this month. Fox News had not disclosed the
newspaper's involvement when it announced the two-part interview last
week.
The
newspaper reported that he had become convinced his identity was about
to emerge anyway and at the meeting - before the opening of the
memorial to the victims in New York - decided spontaneously that he
should go public.
'The families told me it helped bring them some closure,' he told the paper.
Hometown boy: Rob O'Neill is a native
of Butte, Montana, and joined up after he was jilted by a sweetheart. He
remains proud of his roots in the West
Hollywood version: Zero Dark Thirty
portrayed the struggle to find bin Laden and the extraordinary final
raid on his hideout in Abbottabad
Real life: Footage of the actual rescue of Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, which was led by O'Neill
But his decision has been greeted with fury by the SEAL establishment.
He
is one of the most distinguished members ever of the elite force - but
now faces being frozen out of its circles for revealing its most
closely-held secrets.
O'Neill
was personally congratulated for killing bin Laden - in his account at
close range with three shots to his forehead - during the SEAL raid on
Abbottobad, in Pakistan, on 2 May 2011.
Questions have previously been raised over the exact narrative of how bin Laden came to die.
But the row is now set to become ugly and high-profile.
The only other account by a named SEAL was given by Matthew Bissonnette, who wrote an inside account of the mission.
Bissonnette
released his controversial book No Easy Day in 2012 - under the
pen-name Mark Owen - and immediately faced the ire of the Pentagon and
fellow SEALs.
In
his book Bissonnette said that bin Laden was on the floor having
already been shot when he and other SEALs entered his room, having been
fired upon by another SEAL when he craned his head into the hall as the
team approached.
Bissonnette's
book claims that when he entered the room bin Laden's body was already
lying at the foot of the bed, twitching and convulsing and that the
SEALs, including Bissonnette shot him in the chest until he was
motionless.
Because
this version of events differs from the account that the White House
and other U.S. officials have given, Adm. William McRaven, the head of
U.S. Special Operations Command personally went back to the head of Team
Six to examine the contradicting claims.
Following
this, senior Pentagon officials told CNN that the conclusions they
reached were that Bissonnette was wrong in his version of events.
They
re-confirmed that the al-Qaeda leader was standing in his room when the
SEALs entered and they shot him then, as he was able to access weapons
that were already in the room.
Despite
the fact that bin Laden was unarmed, the SEALS had come under heavy
fire as they made their way through the house to reach him and bin Laden
showed no signs of surrendering.
O'Neill first made his version of events in anonymous form, in an interview with Esquire magazine.
In
that interview, published in March 2013, he said that he burst into bin
Laden's bedroom, saw a gun within bin Laden's reach, and shot him in
the forehead.
He
was one of three SEALs - the other two being Bissonette and 'the point
man', whose identity remains secret - to make it to the top floor.
A third version of events was then presented to CNN by an unamed 'SEAL Team Six operative'.
The
SEAL claimed that the 'point man' rushed up the stairs, and seeing bin
Laden poke his head out of his bedroom door, shot him once in the head,
gravely wounding him.
He then rushed past bin Laden's body to grab the two women in the room in case they were wearing suicide belts.
Two more SEALs shot bin Laden in the chest, killing him.
The
CNN source said that it would have been impossible for The Shooter -
O'Neill - to have seen a gun because the only two recovered from the
bedroom were sitting on a shelf above the frame of the door, so
invisible to someone rushing in the door.
CNN reported than a 'senior US official' said the account 'has it right in my view'.
However CNN did not say whether its senior SEAL team operative was actually on the raid itself.
O'Neill's
decision to speak out was prompted by losing some of his military
benefits by quitting the SEALs after 16 years rather than staying for a
full 20 years of service.
But he has been heavily criticized for speaking out.
In
a letter to past and present SEALs, Force Master Chief Michael.
Magaraci and commander Rear Adm. Brian Losey, made it clear that the vow
of silence remains one of the most important tenets of SEAL life.
'A
critical tenant (sic) of our Ethos is 'I do not advertise the nature of
my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.' Magaraci and Losey
wrote.
'We
do not abide willful or selfish disregard for our core values in return
for public notoriety and financial gain, which only diminishes
otherwise honorable service, courage and sacrifice.'
Fury: The letter sent by the two most
senior SEAL commanders hitting out at O'Neill for going public. His
father described it as a 'bullhorn' being used to 'silence' a man who
had put his life at risk for his country on mission after mission
The
two leaders made it clear that O'Neill's decision to go public
translates into shame among former SEALs, and that he could even face
legal action.
'Classified information is protected by law,' they wrote.
'All
members exposed to classified information have a duty obligation to
protect this information, regardless of what may be reflected in the
media, accurately or otherwise.
'We
will actively seek judicial consequence for members who willfully
violate the law, and place our Teammates, our Families, and potential
future operations at risk.'
O'Neill grew up in Butte, Montana, a former copper mining boomtown that has now fallen on hard times.
O'Neill
has said the basic reason he became a SEAL was a teenage romance gone
wrong. At 19 he went to a Navy recruiter's office in an attempt to get
over his lost love.
But
his father gave a different story in his exclusive interview with
MailOnline. 'We were going hunting and a friend asked us to take a guy
who was a Navy SEAL with us,' said Tom O'Neill, 65. 'We were expecting
someone who was 6 ft. 8 in. who could lift a house with his bare hands,
but he was this normal guy. And Rob said if this guy could be a SEAL,
then so could he.'
In
total he was deployed on more than a dozen tours of duty in active
combat, in four different warzones, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the course of those tours he undertook more than 400 separate combat missions.
Teenager: O'Neill in his high school
yearbook. He joined the navy a year after graduating Butte Central
Catholic High School in Montana
Sports star:
O'Neill played basketball for the Maroons while at Butte Central
Catholic High School, Montana. He remains proud of his home town, his
father Tom told MailOnline
He
was decorated 52 times, leaving as senior chief petty officer. His
decorations include two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a
Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit
citations, and two Navy/Marine Corps Commendations with Valor.
Silver
Stars, the military's third highest honor, are awarded for
extraordinary gallantry in action against an enemy of the United
States.
Bronze Stars with Valor are awarded for merit, signifying a heroic act and direct participation in combat operations.
It is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the ninth highest military award overall.
Joint
Service Commendation Medals are given for senior service on a joint
military staff and is the most senior of the commendation medals.
Details of three of his missions have been turned into Hollywood action hits.
Speaking success: O'Neill is now a
high-profile member of the motivational speaking circuit, openly
revealing that he was a SEAL - but until now not declaring that he was
involved in the daring raid which killed bin Laden
Lair: Bin Laden in his hide-out before
SEAL Team Six were sent in to kill him. The al Qaeda leader was
discovered by years of careful CIA work and two helicopters were
scrambled to deploy the servicemen
Close to death: One of the helicopters
crashed on landing as the 23 SEALS began the raid, and an air strike
was called in to destroy it
Aftermath: Crowds gathered outside the
Abottabad compound after the daring mission to kill bin Laden, which
took place under the cloak of darkness. O'Neill saw it all through night
vision goggles
Life lessons: O'Neill now specializes
in passing on what he has learned from his missions to audiences which
have included the American Supply Association, a conference on
composites, and a wealth management conference at which he said: 'Fear
is healthy- panic will kill you.'
Fans: The SEAL is a popular speaker
when he carries out engagements. He offers advice based on his time
seing action in four different theaters of war and carrying out more
than 30 confirmed 'kills'
He
was the lead jumper on the Maersk Alabama, the ship taken over by
Somali pirates, whose rescue turned into the Oscar-winning movie Captain
Phillips.
He
helped save SEAL Marcus Luttrell, the one man who lived to tell of a
failed mission to capture a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. That made it
to the big screen as 'Lone Survivor.'
And then there was 'Zero Dark Thirty,' the Oscar-nominated story of bin Laden's killing.
He will speak fully of his role in that action later in November in the first part of a two-part Fox News interview.
O'Neill's
father says he cannot understand the fuss. 'He is not allowed to talk,
yet they are using this big bullhorn to shut him up,' he said.
'I support him in everything he is doing,' said the twice-divorced older man.
'What are you supposed to do when you come out of the military after such service — become a greeter at Walmart?'
A critical tenant (sic) of our Ethos is 'I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions'
SEAL commanders in angry letter to members of the service after O'Neill's decision to go public was annoounced
He
added: 'People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get
us because Rob is going public. I say I'll paint a big target on my
front door and say come and get us.
'My ex-wife gave birth to a man. We shouldn't be cowering in fear.'
For O'Neill, the threat is a devastating fall from a position as a national — if unknown — hero.
Although he had previously been interviewed about the shooting of bin Laden, he remained entirely discreet about his role.
However
being an unsung hero was not enough. He showed that in a biography
prepared for a course in hostage rescue he was instructing in his home
state of Montana.
'With
most of his career shrouded in a classified cloak. O'Neill was the man
on the ground we have never heard of but know exists,' it read.
'He
was one of the quiet professionals performing the most difficult tasks
in the most difficult circumstances, serving his remarkable career in
the shadows and keeping America safe in the process.'
He
agreed to be interviewed on a Fox News special next week called 'The
Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden. In it he will talk of his training, and
detail the mission to take out the al Qaeda leader.
It
follows last year's Esquire magazine interview —by Sharon Stone's
ex-husband Phil Bronstein — in which his identity was kept secret. He
was referred to only as 'The Shooter.'
He
used the interview to raise concerns about how veterans - including
himself - were treated. The interview, which was published in March
2013, began with a meeting in April 2012 as he prepared to leave the
Navy.
He was especially worried about losing healthcare and pension benefits because he was leaving the service early.
Bissonnette, right, says even his former commander has washed his hands of him in the wake of his book controversey
But
deciding to speak publicly may surprise some. In the Esquire interview
his wife spoke about her concerns over a retaliatory attack.
'Personally
I feel more threatened by a potential retaliatory terror attack on our
community than I did eight years ago,' his wife said in 2013.
At the time the couple were estranged. Their marital status is now unclear.
'We're actually looking into changing my name,' his wife.
'Changing
the kids' names, taking my husband's name off the house, paying off our
cars. Essentially deleting him from our lives, but for safety reasons.
We still love each other.'
O'Neill
also described how he had instructed his wife in how to protect their
children, and jep a 'blot bag' ready in case they had to flee at any
time.
Despite
his 16 years of service, O'Neill told the magazine that the SEALs had
offered to get him a job delivering beer in Michigan, which he compared
to witness protection for Mafia turncoats.
Instead he has become a motivational speaker with an official biography which details a very generic version of his exploits.
'He
is not allowed to talk, yet they are using this big bullhorn to shut
him up. People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get
us because Rob is going public. I say I'll paint a big target on my
front door and say come and get us
O'Neill's father Tom on the SEAL being attacked by former commanders
He has fulfilled a series of engagements across the United States since leaving the military.
Organizations he has addressed have praised him for the quality of his speech.
One
noted that he was speaking to them on 2 May 2013 - the second
anniversary of the death of bin Laden, and not knowing his involvement
in the most famous of all SEAL operations said: 'God Bless America.'
The
other man to speak, Bissonette, is under investigation over money he
has earned from the speeches he has made since publishing his tell-all
book under the pseudonym Mark Owen, The New York Times revealed.
It
comes after Bissonnette submitted a draft of his second book - No Hero:
The Evolution Of A Navy SEAL - for approval from the Department of
Defense, including slides and notes from his speeches.
He
has already apologized for failing to seek approval for his revelations
in No Easy Day, and allegedly agreed to forfeit a portion of his
royalties in a dispute settlement.
However, another probe has been launched to investigate details disclosed at speeches across the U.S.
Last
year, he spoke at a golf club in Atlanta where visitors were instructed
to deposit their phones at the door and were barred from taking notes.
His
lawyer Robert D Luskin insists the speeches were not controversial and
says he expects the investigation to be resolved 'favorably'.
Bissonnette
was disciplined in November 2012 for sharing classified information
with the makers of the popular video game Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
According
to senior Navy officials, Bissonnette recruited his fellow SEALs to
spend two days as paid consultants for Electronic Arts.
It
was the investigation the military launched into Bissonnette's book
that led the authorities to discover that he had allegedly 'recruited'
the 11 Navy SEALS into the video game deal.
His
second piece of work is a reaction to the Oscar-nominated film Zero
Dark Thirty, which consulted former CIA director Leon E Panetta.
The narrative conflicted with many elements of Bissonnette's telling, and in his opinion it is the SEALs' story to tell.
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