For those of you that are in the loop on this sort of thing, is this a good idea or not? As a regular citizen, of course I am fascinated to hear his story of bin Laden's killing, and I am amazed as always about the sheer toughness of the kinds of guys that do these types of missions. But I couldn't help but wonder while watching if it exposes him/his family/his Dad/his town to any danger of revenge from the nutcases floating around out there. Also, does it make the other special forces and Seals nervous or hesitant to have O'Neill being interviewed? Just curious, and I know nothing of the special forces community so I have no perspective from which to base an opinion, but I felt some guys on here would have more insight.

Good question. I just read No Easy Day and given the clear sense that the author did not want his ID revealed, I was a bit taken aback when "Mark Owen" revealed his identity as well.

Being in the military, I can see how many Americans enjoy hearing this story. However IMO, this is a very prideful thing to do. Sure he is a great American for his service to our country, but why break silence & secrecy that you have with your brothers just so you can get your face out to the world and claim look what I did.. What about the other 20 plus guys that were on that mission. You don't see them saying look what I did. He just so happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Most people you find in the military are very humble. He should perhaps think of how many gave their life trying to find that SOB! Maybe give credit to them & every other agency that spent years tracking down Osama.

He should not advertise the nature of his work nor seek recognition for his actions.

Good topic... I am really conflicted about this thing. On the one hand, O'Neill (if his version is indeed true) is a national hero, and by all means certainly well deserving all of the accolades. And, yet, on the other hand, going public with this story seems selfish and, worse, perhaps detrimental to future missions. I want to think the best, but it does strike me as a bit selfish, if not foolish. Maybe there is a deeper issue here that the military needs more lucrative awards for this kind of special service.

I think he was motivated to tell his story because it was too big of a story to keep shrouded in secrecy. Not one single person here hasn't been wondering or wanted to know what happened in that oust.

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Maybe there is a deeper issue here that the military needs more lucrative awards for this kind of special service.

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I think you may be onto something here. When other SEALs see guys like Brandon Webb, Marcus Luttrell, Chris Heben, and others whoring themselves out for fame and money, they realize there's a market for their stories and everyone wants their piece of the pie. What these guys do on duty is beyond admirable but the way they're leveraging their service for personal gain is disgraceful.

I apologize in advance if this is a Germans bomb Moon thing....

But is Rob O'Neill an Aggie? I missed that, if so, but just now (3:45pm 11/14) on Jake Tapper's CNN show, they showed pics of Rob visiting the 9/11 Memorial and he had on an Aggie hat.

Again, no dog pile please, just hadn't seen that anywhere yet.

Google doesn't think he is.

There is a problem with seals in general being compelled to seek the limelight. From dick marcinko to today, it's nothing new.

You don't see delta and oda guys writing book after book, in spite of the fact that they have similar stories to tell.

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There is a problem with seals in general being compelled to seek the limelight. From dick marcinko to today, it's nothing new.

You don't see delta and oda guys writing book after book, in spite of the fact that they have similar stories to tell.

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He should just quit grandstanding. Guess he forgot about selfless service

Am I wrong about this, but I thought someone/thing else released his name, so then therefore he came forward?

No idea if this is correct, but that is what I was thinking.

It was laughable during part 2 of the Fox interview, when O'Neil was talking about President Obama asking who actually shot Bin Laden, he said he didn't speak up because he felt "it wasn't about me".