WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.400 All right, seven hundred WYLWT welcome back. It is one 2 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.640 O seven here in the Greater Cincinnati area, counting down 3 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.439 to a number of things this week, not the least 4 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:17.480 of which opening Day Thursday at Great American Ballpark. Weather 5 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:22.519 is improving and that's the way we like it. It's 6 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.399 amazing to think back, but it will be in twenty 7 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:28.519 twenty six, twenty five years since the greatest attack on 8 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:33.840 this country when a band of thugs, a very small 9 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.520 band of thugs, pulled off what we now referred to 10 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.280 as nine to eleven and close to three thousand people 11 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.039 lost their lives on that day, nine eleven, two thousand 12 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:48.960 and one. It took almost ten years to hunt down 13 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.759 and bring to justice the man who was the mastermind 14 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.079 behind the nine to eleven attacks, and that of course, 15 00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:57.759 was Osama bin Laden. 16 00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:59.200 And it took. 17 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:03.880 The most elite fighting force that's out there, the most 18 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.719 specially trained fighting force that is out there, to bring 19 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.840 Osama bin Laden to his death and to his justice. 20 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:14.519 And it is an honor to welcome into seven hundred 21 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:19.599 WYLW the man who was senior Chief Special Warfare Operator, 22 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.319 a Navy Sealed Team six leader, highly decorated, he was 23 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.439 with Sealed Team two, Sealed Team four, and eight years 24 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:29.359 with the legendary Seal Team six. It is an honor 25 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:31.599 to welcome in Rob O'Neill. Rob, how are you on 26 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:32.439 this glorious deck. 27 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:35.319 Good afternoon, Thanks for having me. I'm having a great day. 28 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:36.879 It's Monday, but it's a good one. 29 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.239 Okay, Oh no, fine, great, yea. The first question is 30 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.519 an innocuous one. Have you ever been to Cincinnati? Oh? 31 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:45.799 Of course. Yeah. It's the best chili in the world. 32 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.959 And here's a little story for it too. Two guys 33 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.519 that went on the bin Lotenraate with me were from Cincinnati. 34 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:55.359 Before the bin Lotenraight, we were in Iraq with no TV, 35 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.319 no air conditioning. We're just there. I actually learned every 36 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:02.359 word to the Cincinnati Bengals fights on the Bengal Garrause 37 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.280 we'd sit there in one hundred degree heat. Then I 38 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:07.680 wanted to teach me because that was so uplifting. So 39 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:09.919 we just sing out of nowhere. When Morale was in 40 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:11.479 the dumping it was too hot, we just started saying 41 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:13.680 the bangle. I know to this day still, but I 42 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:14.560 think it's my daughters. 43 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:16.520 There you go, there you go. 44 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.280 You were so it took almost ten years to get 45 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:24.479 Ben Laden. He got May second, two thousand and eleven 46 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:26.919 is one it happened. I've read enough to know and 47 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:30.360 understand enough to know that the training for that mission 48 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.599 began long before May of twenty eleven. 49 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:34.759 How far in. 50 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:38.439 Advance did you Seal Team six be begin training for 51 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:39.000 that mission? 52 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.039 It was about two weeks before we we was confirmed 53 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:44.680 that we were going to go after Bin Laden, But 54 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.240 we'd actually been preparing for it before because we've been 55 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.719 immediately to war after nine to eleven, and just we'll 56 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.879 we learned in combat in Afghanistan first, then Iraq, then 57 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.639 all over you know, to include Yemen and Somalia, the 58 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:57.919 Indian Ocean. We just got really good at what we 59 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.800 were doing. We got really good at fighting the enemy 60 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:02.360 and how to exploit it. And what that means is 61 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:04.759 we just got better at keeping it simple. We stopped 62 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:08.280 complicating everything. And if like someone asked me before, how 63 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.159 do you clear a compound as big as the Loddens? 64 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:12.759 And I just said, well, if the guy in front 65 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.400 of me goes left, I go right. And then we 66 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:16.759 just do that over and over and over, and we 67 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.879 I mean, we just mentioned football, what like there are 68 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.199 certain times in life where it doesn't matter how you 69 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:23.919 got here, You're just here. And that happened at the 70 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:25.919 bin Lodden Rad when a helicopter crashed. But when I 71 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:28.400 talked to football teams, I tell them, guys, it doesn't 72 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.759 matter why it's second and fifteen, it just is. Stop 73 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:33.680 arguing about it. What we have in common is time 74 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.520 is ticking. What are you going to do about it? 75 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.400 Do it now? So it's just a simplicity. Don't don't 76 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.840 talk yourself into a butt kick, and don't over complicate life. 77 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:43.639 It'll get hard enough on his own. Just master the basics. 78 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.199 So you're basically a young man when all this is 79 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:47.639 going on, you're in your early twenties. 80 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.120 Correct, well that when I was in my early thirties, 81 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:53.319 cause I was. It took I mean, you know, if 82 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:55.520 people talk about getting into bin Laden's room and shooting 83 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.240 him and all that stuff, it's not like I was 84 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:59.199 flown there out of high school. Like it took me 85 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.159 personally fifteen and a half years to get to that 86 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:07.360 spot of training and sweat and blood and selection courses 87 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:08.800 all the stuff and getting with the final and I'll 88 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:10.599 be an honored to be pick on the pick to 89 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.719 be on the finest team I think ever assembled. But 90 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:14.360 we were ready for it at that point, when I 91 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:15.840 mean when they told us the first time they told 92 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:18.040 us what it was, they said, the reason you guys 93 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:20.199 are here is as close as we've ever been to 94 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:22.560 Osama bin Laden. And there was no cheering. You know, 95 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:24.920 we're professionals. We all just said, cool, we're going now, we're. 96 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:29.279 Ready, Yeah, and okay, so help me through it. Because 97 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:31.600 there were two black Hawk helicopters, one of which, as 98 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:34.079 you mentioned, clipped I think one of the compound walls 99 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:36.040 and kind of went down sideways. 100 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:37.879 Were you on that chopper or the other one? 101 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:40.560 No, I was on the other one, and I didn't 102 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:42.879 even know it crashed until I got into bin Laden's house. 103 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.040 And what had actually happened was it was a little 104 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.879 bit warmer than we anticipated, a few degrees celsius. And 105 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:51.199 the walls were different to the mud walls we were 106 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.319 training on chain link fences, so there was a weird 107 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.959 updraft and you'd have to ask a pilot because I'm 108 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.360 not smart enough to be a pilot. But the pilot 109 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.439 decided he couldn't hug and if he said a more 110 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:03.720 inexperienced pilot would have tried to power it up. That 111 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.079 would have rolled and killed everybody. But the pilot, in 112 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:08.240 the blink of it, I decided if he turned it 113 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:10.399 and put the tail on the wall, he could pin 114 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.399 the nose of the helicopter in the dirt and it 115 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:15.160 might save everyone's life, which it did. But that pilot 116 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.600 is a hero. Oh and he just decided it to 117 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.759 put it down on the ground and then that it 118 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.319 is what it isn't. The guys immediately got out and 119 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.399 started fighting, and like I said, I didn't even know 120 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.120 it crashed itself because they put us off on the 121 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.720 wrong spot because our pilot realized if they can't however, 122 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.360 we can't. However, I was supposed to go to the 123 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.920 rooftop of Binlam's house with my team, but he just 124 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:35.720 put us off outside the twenty foot walls and we 125 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:37.319 had to figure out a way to get in. But 126 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.839 again we were just very experienced at what we can do, 127 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.000 and we we did figure it out eventually. But even 128 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.959 the sniper that we dropped off on my helicopter, his 129 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.920 job was to run around the entire compound with the 130 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.480 dog outside the walls, and he got to the point 131 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.800 where the tail the helicopter with the pilot pin and 132 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:56.920 he could see it on the X here. He came 133 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.800 over the radio and said, guys inside beyond alert. There 134 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.680 death definitely ready for us. They have a training mockup 135 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:05.680 of our super secret helicopter in their front yard. And 136 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.560 there was a pause and the ground force commander came 137 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.560 over the radio and goes, no, jackass, that's ours. We 138 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.360 crashed and the sniper did a good thing. And he 139 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:19.480 literally came over the radio and said, yeah, that makes 140 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:21.040 a lot more sense than what I was just saying, 141 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:21.680 Harry hung. 142 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:23.800 You know, I don't what I don't under My next 143 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.199 trip on a black Hawk will be my first. Don't 144 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.279 those things make noise? How big was this compound? If 145 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.000 this isn't Pakistan, right, so how big is this compound? 146 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.319 And why wouldn't you inside them? 147 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:37.319 Well, they probably hurt them. They were a little quieter. 148 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.680 They these were The President of the United States didn't 149 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.959 know about these helicopters until a few months prior to this. 150 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:45.920 These were super secret. These were self. Man, this is 151 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.360 stuff they tell me I shouldn't talk about, But again 152 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.120 I don't know much about it. The technology I know 153 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.199 they were a little quieter and the radar couldn't see them, 154 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:54.480 and uh, you know, training with them, it's like, well, 155 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.240 I'm glad the Aliens who and vented these are on 156 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.240 our side because this is ridiculous. But they were just really, really, 157 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:04.800 really good helicopters. But again, because the Pakistani intelligence was 158 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:07.800 hiding bid Laden there, he must have assumed it was 159 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.639 just Pakistani forces coming to get him or bring him 160 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.000 out and put him somewhere else, because I mean, they 161 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.480 put up a little bit of a fight and I'd 162 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.680 be amazed there were no bombs in every room to 163 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:18.680 blow us all up, and there wasn't a bigger Like 164 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:20.720 people ask me, why wasn't there more al Kaina fighters there? 165 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:21.879 I'm like, well, I don't know. I Mean, all I 166 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:23.639 can tell you is we didn't call ahead and say 167 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.560 we were coming out, but they weren't ready. I mean, 168 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.240 not that would have matter, because we crushed these guys, 169 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.680 but but they you know, they had a little bit 170 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:32.759 of defense. But we, you know, we were very prepared, 171 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:35.560 very professional. We all, I mean every guy on that 172 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.879 mission had at least four hundred real war missions under 173 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:41.120 their belt, so it was a I mean, we sent 174 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:43.160 in the right guys. Don't get me wrong. I didn't 175 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.079 want twenty more fighters there, but we handled the ones 176 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.000 we ran into, and it was we turned something potentially 177 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.079 catastrophic into something great just because of our preparation to 178 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.360 get they're not our perfect plan, which the perfect plan 179 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:55.839 didn't last for three seconds, which is normal in life, 180 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:56.240 you know. 181 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:58.920 Yeah, Well, I mean, and you mentioned the combat missions. 182 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:03.240 You were a veteran of of hundreds of combat missions. Yeah, decorated, 183 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:06.240 as I mentioned, leading into the two Silver stars, four 184 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:10.360 Bronze Stars, various Navy and Marine Corps accommodation medals, and 185 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:13.839 so I mean you were highly decorated. But as you know, 186 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.800 well know, you go into any mission, there is the 187 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:19.360 likelihood that you're not coming back from that mission. So 188 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:21.560 it really didn't matter, I guess to you whether it 189 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:24.879 was going after Osama bin Laden or a regular Tuesday 190 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.360 when you're out on patrol, there's a good chance that 191 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:28.279 you weren't coming back. 192 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.160 How did you handle that uncertainty? 193 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.159 Well, I mean, the thing is, too is a bullet 194 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.720 only needs to be right once, and if you get hit, 195 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:37.720 it could end everything that's important, to everything that you 196 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.360 think matters. You can end if you gets shot, it 197 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.080 could just be over. And this one in particular, you know, 198 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.279 we had a ninety minute flight in on helicopters that 199 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.639 we didn't know if they worked, and we could get 200 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.600 shot down, and this house should blow up and there's 201 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.679 going to be a gunfight. We're not going to have 202 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:53.559 enough fuel. This could go a number of different ways. 203 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:55.960 It's a one way mission. We accepted that, but we 204 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:58.120 talked about it. So you know, if I had a 205 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.360 guy even say don't before he went, he said, don't 206 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.200 take this the wrong way, because I'm going one hundred 207 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:04.519 percent going. I just need to say it out loud. 208 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:06.600 If we know we're going to die tonight, why are 209 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:09.399 we going? Which is fair? And we had that conversation 210 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.840 and we decided we're not going for the fame. We're 211 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:14.600 obviously not getting the reward, but we're going after Bin 212 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:17.360 Laden tonight for the first Americans that were forced to 213 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.240 fight out KaiA toe to Toda to the death, and 214 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.519 those are the passengers on United flight ninety three. You know, 215 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:25.440 we're going after Bin Laden tonight for the single mom 216 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:27.440 who dropped your kids off at elementary school on a 217 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.000 beautiful Tuesday morning and then an hour later she jumped 218 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.879 to her death out of a skyscraper because that's a 219 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.120 better alternative right now than whatever's going on inside, and 220 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.000 then we'll never know. You know, she was never supposed 221 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.320 to do that. Those passengers weren't supposed to fight. We 222 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.320 are supposed to fight, and that is why we're going. 223 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.960 Okay, so you get inside the compound and you make 224 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.600 your way to the compound, tell me about getting inside 225 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.679 the actual building where ben Laden is. I mean, I'm 226 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:54.679 sure the door wasn't open, and they had a butler 227 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:56.000 that said, yes, he's upstairs. 228 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.960 How do you get us to that part? 229 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.080 I saw a funny a funny meme that had a 230 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.639 thing from Midlin's ring camera that said, oh, someone's here, 231 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:09.360 brb some kids. They know. My first team from the 232 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.600 crash helicopter had already gotten in. There had already been 233 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.200 a gunfight. One of my guys had shot two Terrors 234 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:17.200 through the Exterrior windows before he was in, and they 235 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.240 must have kicked the door, hit it with a sledgeham 236 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.960 or something, but it was already open and they were 237 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.120 already clearing it by the time I got in. So 238 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.039 I was on the first floor watching my guys, and 239 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.720 I kind of just went into a side room. That's 240 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:29.879 where one of the other dudes told me their helicopter crashed, 241 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:32.519 and I was just impressed that, because I'm looking for 242 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.080 bombs now this place should blow up. He's gonna martyr everyone. 243 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:37.639 But I was looking at my guys who were working 244 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:39.440 ahead of me, because I'm in the position I have 245 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.399 the best seat on the most important, modern and most 246 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.759 important mission modern history. So I'm watching my guys and 247 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.000 I was just proud of them because they know damn 248 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:48.600 well they can blow up at any moment, but that's 249 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.919 not stopping them. They're not afraid, and they're not speeding up. 250 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:53.120 They're they're using our tactics. And the way the best 251 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.120 way to describe our tactics are slow as smooth and 252 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.279 smooth as fast. So if you want to be fast, 253 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.919 slow down, you know. And I'm watching him do it. 254 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.519 And the woman who found bin Laden, the CIA agent 255 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:06.919 who was depicted in zero Doart thirty, said that I 256 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:08.799 don't know what it looks like inside, but there will 257 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.919 be stairwells, and the first one you will run into 258 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:14.039 Khalid bin Laden, and that's his twenty year old son. 259 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.759 He will be armed, and she said so here's how 260 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.360 cool she was. He said, if you can ace him, 261 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:21.440 you get a shot at the big guy. That was cool, 262 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:23.360 and we ran into him. The guys in front of 263 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:25.240 me took carry him, so we went up to the 264 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.840 second floor. He's dead on the stairs, and then I 265 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.120 was about eight guys back in line. Everyone except the 266 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:34.320 first guy started going left and right to clear the unknowns, 267 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.039 the different rooms, stuff like that. So it's down to 268 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.080 two of us going from the second floor to the 269 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.519 third floor, and that's where we know bin Laden is. 270 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:43.759 So there's one guy in front of me and he's 271 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.840 pointing his gun up the stairs and these stairs lead 272 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.960 to a curtain like a door, but it was just 273 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.080 a curtain, and he could see people moving back and forth. 274 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:55.000 So it's down to me. My job is to control 275 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.039 his shoulder so that when we have and look for 276 00:11:57.080 --> 00:11:58.840 other guys that we're going to bring. His job is 277 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:00.960 to look forward so he doesn't need to look at me. 278 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.399 But once I squeeze, it's time to go. And he 279 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.039 just started saying, hey, we gotta go, we gotta get up, 280 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:08.759 we gotta go. Come on now, because he's thinking those 281 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:11.360 are suicide bombers. But we can beat him. If we 282 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:14.759 go right now, we can't hesitate. And I remember looking 283 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:17.799 at him and literally he was brave. I wasn't. I'm thinking, okay, 284 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.080 but line's up there and I'm gonna blow up, but 285 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.440 I'm just tired of thinking about it. It wasn't bravery 286 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:24.399 at all. It's like, let's just go. So I squeezed 287 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.559 him and he went up, and he went to that 288 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:28.960 curtain and he moved it and he sort of tackled 289 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.960 these two people that he assumed were suicide bombers, like 290 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:34.240 he didn't know he thought they were. So he jumped 291 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:36.159 on a grenade that didn't go off, which how he 292 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.519 doesn't have a medal of honor is beyond me. But 293 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.799 because he went left, I went right because of our tactics. 294 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:44.720 And right in front of me, three feet away, standing 295 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:46.759 on two feet was the Sawma Bin Lunn and his 296 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.480 wife Lamal was in front of her him and he 297 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:51.879 had his arms on her shoulders, and I remember thinking, 298 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.960 I was I didn't think he would be as skinny 299 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:55.600 as he was. He was taller than I saw it, 300 00:12:56.120 --> 00:12:58.679 and his beard was sort of gray. But that's his nose, 301 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:02.159 that's him. He's not surrendering. I've seen that picture a 302 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.919 thousand times. He's a suicide bomber. I got to take 303 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:05.720 him out, and the way you deal with the suicide 304 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:07.279 bombers to shoot him in the face. So I did 305 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.720 twice at about three feet away, and then he fell down. 306 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.600 I shot him one more time, and then because his 307 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:15.679 wife is in front of me and we're the good guys, 308 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:17.440 now it's time to move her out of the way 309 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.120 because other seals will be coming in. I don't want 310 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:21.279 it to be a crossfire. And that's when I looked 311 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:24.360 down and saw his two year old son. And this 312 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.000 is the humanity of stuff like this. I'm a father 313 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:28.879 and I'm looking at his two year old son, and 314 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.879 my first thought was, this kid has nothing to do 315 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.039 with this. He should not have seen this. So I'm 316 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:35.440 moving them out of the way, and I tune around. 317 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.440 I can hear bin Laden exhaling. I can. I mean, 318 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:39.519 it's an ugly side. I can see what it looks like. 319 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.440 I gets shot in the head three times at close range, 320 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:43.240 and I'm kind of looking at him, and one of 321 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.480 my friends comes up to me. He kind of gets 322 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:47.480 controlling me and says, hey, are you good? And I 323 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.360 said I am, But what do we do now. And 324 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.960 he laughed and he said, now we find the computers. Bro, 325 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:54.679 we do this every night, hundreds of times. 326 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:55.159 You've done this. 327 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:58.080 Come on And I said, you're right, I'm back. Oh 328 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:00.200 my god. And his words to me were, yeah, you 329 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.240 just killed Osama bin Laden and your life just changed. 330 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:02.960 Now get to work. 331 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.399 Yeah. Yeah. 332 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:07.200 And so at that point, you get the body out. 333 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.000 They don't want him to become a martyr, they don't 334 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:10.519 want to leave him behind. You got to get the 335 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:12.200 body out. You got to throw the body on the 336 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.440 helicopter and get back to base or I guess to 337 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:16.519 the aircraft carrier, right, because that's where it was a 338 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:17.639 thing at sea. 339 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.879 Right. Well, we had to call another helicopter in because 340 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.759 we have to blow the one that crash up. So 341 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.000 we have to call and and no one realizes this too, 342 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:27.720 is that that's more Army pilots, another Army helicopter, and 343 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:30.320 more Navy heels. So the heroes on that mission, the 344 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.080 Army and Seal Team six actually rescued Seal Team six 345 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.879 on the bin Laden raid. No one ever talks about that. 346 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:37.120 I'm amazed. But so that's the one we got to 347 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.840 get out on. So we turned the body to our 348 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.320 The first team that crash gave them our initial helicopter. 349 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.159 This one came in to get us. And then we're leaving. 350 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:48.440 And this is the coolest part of the mission because 351 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.200 we just we got his body. Now we're leiaeving. The 352 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:53.679 Pakistani's no, we're here, and they're definitely going to try 353 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.519 to shoot us down with a jet that we sold them, 354 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.879 and a jet against the helicopter is a bad fight. 355 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.840 But if we can live for ninety minutes, we get 356 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.080 fifty years. I get to see my kids again. But 357 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:06.600 worrying about a missile shooting me down is It're gonna 358 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.000 stop it, So I'm not gonna worry about it. So 359 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.440 I just started my Stopwatch and I'm waiting for ninety minutes. 360 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.679 If I get ninety minutes across that border, across the 361 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:16.559 border into Afghanistan, we live. And I look down at 362 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:19.080 my watch, It's like I spent ten minutes. I spent 363 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:21.399 twenty minutes. The sniper sitting next to me is the 364 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.240 guy who rescued Richard Phillips from Smallly Pirates. Like, this 365 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.639 is how small this team is. I looked thirty minutes. 366 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:29.080 Now it's been forty fifty minutes. Now it's been fifty minutes. 367 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.360 Got to get to ninety seventy minutes. Then I start thinking, 368 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.480 you just mentioned baseball. I started thinking about a baseball game, 369 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.039 top of the seventh watching a no hitter, like I 370 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:40.000 don't want to jinx this, I don't want to say anything. 371 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:43.600 But it's been eighty minutes. Got to get to ninety. Then. 372 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.240 I love sports analogies because it doesn't matter how you 373 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.120 got some even a pro golfer, you had a team 374 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:51.720 with you, right, So I love sports analogies. I started 375 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:56.039 thinking about the greatest sporting event in American history in 376 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:58.759 nineteen eighty Lake Placid, when Team USA Hockey was playing 377 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.440 the greatest hockey team ever played, assembled the Russians, the 378 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:06.279 professional Russian team we've never lost since the fifties or 379 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.440 something like that. And you have this group of college 380 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:12.039 kids have no business being on the ice, but now 381 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.919 they're winning. And it's three to four in the third period. 382 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:17.519 You hear the crowd ten nine, still nervous, you know, 383 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.000 six five, And then the pilot came over the radio. 384 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:21.639 This is going through my head. Then the pilot comes 385 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.519 over the radio at eighty five minutes into a ninety 386 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.279 minute flight, and he said, very calmly, all right, gentlemen, 387 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:27.799 for the first time in your lives, you're gonna be 388 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.840 happy to hear this. Welcome to Afghanistan. 389 00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:31.559 Oh boy, wow yep. 390 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.840 So we fly him down, We bring him to Jalalabad 391 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.600 to show Admiral mccraven, who was running the mission, greatest 392 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:39.720 officer I've ever worked for. And then we showed it 393 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.320 to the showed the body to the woman who found him, 394 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.279 and she was she that was the only thing she 395 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.919 did in life was find him. That's it. She gave 396 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.279 up her life, no husband, no kids, seven days a 397 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.080 week for years to find him. And we walked her 398 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:54.679 over to his body, and I thought it would have 399 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:56.799 been cool enough. This could have ended it. I pointed 400 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.000 to his body and I said to her, is that 401 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.360