Despite
fears he may be attacked,the Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden dead in
the special force's most famous operation can be named today.
The Navy hero 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.
MailOnline
has established that he is Rob O'Neill, a highly-decorated veteran who
quit after 16 years service.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.However his
decision to speak is at the center of huge controversy.
In an exclusive interview Rob's father, Tom O'Neill, tells
MailOnline....
He is not
allowed to talk, yet they are using this big bullhorn to shut him up,'I
support him in everything he is doing,'What are you supposed to do when
you come out of the military after such service — become a greeter at
Walmart?' '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.'
Rob
O'Neill, 38, is a former member of SEAL Team Six who has been portrayed
on screen in Zero Dark Thirty, Captain Phillips and Lone Survivor.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.
O'Neill's father says he cannot understand the fuss.
'
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.
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.
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Bin Laden in his hideout |
where he was killed