The?Daily Mail reported on Wednesday?that the Navy SEAL Team Six member who shot and killed Osama bin Laden at close range with three shots to his forehead is 38-year-old Montana native Robert O’Neill, who now works as a motivational speaker, though he didn’t discuss the raid?when he spoke at a presentation he gave last year.
O?Neill, a 16-year veteran of the service, says that he has disclosed his identity because he lost his military benefits?after making the’decision to leave the Navy four years short of a 20-year career. He now has no access to proper healthcare or other veteran benefits.
Military officials aren’t delighted with what O’Neill is doing. Rear Adm. Brian Losey and Force Master Chief Michael Magaraci issued this statement via email to current Navy SEAL team members:
?A critical tenet of our ethos is ?I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions,??: the letter stated. ?Our ethos is a life-long commitment and obligation, both in and out of the service. Violators of our ethos are neither teammates in good standing, nor teammates who represent Naval Special Warfare.?
O’Neill’s father, Tom O’Neill, said this:
?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.?
Gawker reported that Rob O?Neill was the subject of last February’s?Esquire story?in which he was called??The Shooter.? From Gawker:
That piece sparked a dispute over his account of the events, with other members choosing to go into ?serious lockdown? and not discuss the May 2011 raid that led to the al Qaeda leader’s death.
Booking agency?Legal Authorities International posted a video (embedded below)?describing an encounter?O’Neill had with a man in a convenience store line after he learned that?he would be involved?in the mission to rescue Captain Richard Phillips from Somalian pirates.
?He’s in front of me and I’m actually in a hurry,? O?Neill says, explaining that the man was buying a newspaper discussing the mission.
?Very patriotically but very slowly, he slams it down, he goes, ?Man, I sure wish somebody would do something about this,?? O?Neill tells the audience. ?I said, ?Hey buddy, pay for your sh*t and we will.??
He has been portrayed on screen in Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, and Lone Survivor.
O’Neill is scheduled to appear in a Fox News interview Watch the video below. ?You can read more here and here and here.
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h/t Raw Story
