SEAL Who Killed Bin Laden Tells His Story
“In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap!”
The former SEAL Team 6 member who killed Osama bin Laden offered new details about the raid that has been dramatized in books, video games, and movies in an interview with Esquire.
The interview also revealed some of the struggles the Navy SEAL has faced since leaving the military. Here are some of the highlights:
He told Esquire that since he left the Navy after serving for 16 years, he had lost his health insurance. However, in a post by Stars and Stripes on Monday, the publication said the SEAL would, in fact, be eligible for health insurance through the Department of Veterans Affairs. When soldiers leave the Armed Forces, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides five years of insurance, the Stars and Stripes post said.
The Esquire piece also quoted the Navy SEAL as saying that the team initially had been given instructions to surrender if they found themselves surrounded by the Pakistani military during the raid on Abbottabad complex where bin Laden had been living.
While the team was training for the mission, they were introduced to the new, and highly classified, stealth Black Hawk helicopter that would fly the SEALs under radar over the Pakistani border. After seeing the new equipment, he jokes that it changed his view on their chances for survival.
The SEAL also discussed the issue of enhanced interrogation techniques. He saidthe toughest techniques he used were repetitive questioning and loud music to induce fear.
The SEAL gave a detailed account of the raid: from the downed helicopter to moving up the stairs to the third floor, where bin Laden was found. As the SEALs climbed to the third floor, the men in front of the shooter dispersed into different rooms. Then, he entered the bedroom to find bin Laden and his youngest wife, Amal. The third floor action, he says, only took 15 seconds.
After the SEALs bagged up bin Laden’s body, they went to different rooms to gather computer materials and other intelligence information. Then, he said, they found something fascinating.
SEALs rarely thank SEALs, he said. But after his comrades spread the word that he killed bin Laden, praise came his way.
After the SEALs made it back to Afghanistan to inspect the body and debrief, the famed CIA agent who spent her career tracking down bin Laden was there.
He later added:
The SEAL’s wife also reflected on their marriage, saying the relationship sometimes took a backseat to his work as a SEAL and that was “a casualty of his career.”
