Navy SEAL who killed Osama Bin Laden reveals one disturbing regret he has after 15 years
Thomas Bamford
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@mchooyah
Being a Navy SEAL is probably one of the most high pressure and dangerous jobs you can have.
Just the tests to join the special operations force look harrowing, with between 75 percent of candidates quitting during the physically overwhelming 'Hell Week', which tests endurance, cold tolerance and the ability to work under extreme stress.
They were the elite fighting group that swooped in and captured Osama Bin Laden from his walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 15 years ago.
And now one of the men responsible for the nine-minute mission has opened up about what took place that day, alongside one of his major regrets.
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Robert O'Neill, 50, was a key player in the SEAL Team Six during Operation Neptune Spear, the mission to capture or kill Bin Laden.
He said the unit had just weeks to prepare for the vital mission, unaware of how historic it would be until they were briefed by the head honchos.
His eyes were opened when the vice president, the secretary of defence and the secretary of the Navy turned up to the 'read in', where they were briefed on the details of the operation.
The team would rehearse their roles over and over again, knowing failure would likely mean their deaths.
Speaking to the New York Post, O'Neill shared how he instantly recognized Bin Laden on entering his compound and was impressed with how skinny he had become.
O'Neill claims to have 'shot him twice and shot him again' and watched him crumple on the foot of his bed.
He added he had to take a minute, saying: "I just shot Bin Laden - like what the f***?
"Everything I had ever known, everything I planned, just changed drastically."
O'Neill was instantly instructed to go and find the computers, when another member of the team told him: "You just killed Osama Bin Laden, your life is about to f***ing change, now get back to work."
The Navy SEAL also revealed in the interview that he had one big regret from that day, and that's about how Bin Laden died.
Bin Laden was buried at sea on May 2, 2011, primarily to prevent his gravesite from becoming a terrorist shrine or a focal point for extremist followers. US officials also stated it was difficult to find a country willing to accept his remains within the 24-hour time frame required by Islamic tradition, which the US aimed to follow.
If O'Neill had his way, he'd have taken a different approach. He said: "I would have hung him from a bridge in New York City, and let the locals deal with him."
He also talked passionately about the team's motivations, claiming the team was never motivated by fame, but was taking action in memory of 9/11 victims.
O'Neill said: "We were going for the single mom who dropped her kids off at school on a Tuesday morning, then an hour later, jumped out of the World Trade Center, pressing down her skirt as her last act of human decency."