SEAL who killed Bin Laden blasts government, says he's been abandoned

Well, that is the title of the article at FoxNews.

SEAL who killed Bin Laden blasts government, says he's been abandoned

I don't see any active threads discussing this topic. If mistaken, please ignore.

What is going on here?

The Navy SEAL who says he put three bullets in the head of Usama bin Laden is out of work, separated from his wife and believes he's been abandoned by his government, according to a new report.

The hero frogman is bitter as he waits for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to an exclusive story for Esquire by the Center for Investigative Reporting. After quitting just three years short of retirement, he has no health care or pension, he said.

“I left SEALs on Friday,” the unnamed SEAL told author Phil Bronstein last September. “My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night.

First off, do we all really believe that Bin Laden was killed as described in the official story? I don't think so. We all know the burial-at-sea with no pictures of the body story. Many believe Bin Laden was dead for quite some time before the raid. But this SEAL makes it sound pretty convincing:

“And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done? This is real and that’s him. Holy s---,” the SEAL recalled. “Everybody wanted him dead, but nobody wanted to say, Hey, you’re going to kill this guy. It was just sort of understood that’s what we wanted to do. His forehead was gruesome. It was split open in the shape of a V. I could see his brains spilling out over his face. The American public doesn’t want to know what that looks like.”

Perhaps he is saying "If you are going to use me as the so-called guy who killed Bin Laden, you are going to let me retire with benefits or I'm going to be talking to the media." Is this guy going to have an "accident" soon or what?

Also, is this the way we want to treat our veterans? Seems like we hear stories like this too often, in my humble opinion.

Well whether you believe the official story or not is a separate topic.

This looks like someone who is simply dealing with the bureaucracy of managing health care which affects all of us.

He said he left early to watch his kids graduate and for some reason that just doesn't seem to fit. Most people do not retire just three years shy of getting their retirement knowing they are going to lose it if they do.

It seems like there are a couple of pieces of information missing from this story.

Originally posted by InTheFlesh1980
Well, that is the title of the article at FoxNews.

SEAL who killed Bin Laden blasts government, says he's been abandoned

I don't see any active threads discussing this topic. If mistaken, please ignore.

What is going on here?

The Navy SEAL who says he put three bullets in the head of Usama bin Laden is out of work, separated from his wife and believes he's been abandoned by his government, according to a new report.

The hero frogman is bitter as he waits for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to an exclusive story for Esquire by the Center for Investigative Reporting. After quitting just three years short of retirement, he has no health care or pension, he said.

“I left SEALs on Friday,” the unnamed SEAL told author Phil Bronstein last September. “My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night.

First off, do we all really believe that Bin Laden was killed as described in the official story? I don't think so. We all know the burial-at-sea with no pictures of the body story. Many believe Bin Laden was dead for quite some time before the raid. But this SEAL makes it sound pretty convincing:

“And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done? This is real and that’s him. Holy s---,” the SEAL recalled. “Everybody wanted him dead, but nobody wanted to say, Hey, you’re going to kill this guy. It was just sort of understood that’s what we wanted to do. His forehead was gruesome. It was split open in the shape of a V. I could see his brains spilling out over his face. The American public doesn’t want to know what that looks like.”

Perhaps he is saying "If you are going to use me as the so-called guy who killed Bin Laden, you are going to let me retire with benefits or I'm going to be talking to the media." Is this guy going to have an "accident" soon or what?

Also, is this the way we want to treat our veterans? Seems like we hear stories like this too often, in my humble opinion.

edit on 11-2-2013 by InTheFlesh1980 because: (no reason given)

I have the utmost respect for service men and women but I don't buy it for a second and never have. The entire "we got Osama" thing read like a bad hollywood script. Sorry if I need more than the governments "good" word to go on. I think you nailed it with this:

"Perhaps he is saying "If you are going to use me as the so-called guy who killed Bin Laden, you are going to let me retire with benefits or I'm going to be talking to the media." Is this guy going to have an "accident" soon or what?"

Besides, he might not even be who he claims to be in the first place.

The problem with this is there is no way to prove the authenticity of it since we don't even know who this supposed SEAL is. It can't be fact checked.

How did this story even hit the media since they don't even know who he is? Explain that.

Originally posted by Hopechest
He said he left early to watch his kids graduate and for some reason that just doesn't seem to fit. Most people do not retire just three years shy of getting their retirement knowing they are going to lose it if they do.

It seems like there are a couple of pieces of information missing from this story.

Yes, there has to be something missing here. If he truly is the guy who nailed Bin Laden, you'd think he would be able to request less hazardous assignments for his remaining 3 years then retire with full benefits. Certainly the man who killed Osama Bin Laden would be given some small accolades and preferential treatments, especially after 16 years of service.

So it doesn't add up, but I'm not sure what stinks about it yet. We may never know.

Here's the original story with a much more detailed description of everything.

Esquire

Doesn't really sound this guy made up a story and I find it quite disrespectful from the OP to assume this or even hint on it. Respect for this guy! I hope they can do something about his insurance issues.

yeah, smells fishy

no real good explanation for quitting, just like the pope

doesn't add up

probably just trying to embarass potus

Why didn't he die in the helicopter crash like the rest of them conveniently did?

And just as an aside, why don't 'the American public want to see Bin Ladin with his forehead split open???'

These are the same people who rejoiced in the streets like it was the end of World War II or something when the assassination of a boogie-man patsy was announced. I'm sure most of these deluded ghouls would LOVE the fact that an ersatz bad guy (or lookalike) had his brains sprayed all over the place. Americans love violence, our tax dollars pay for plenty of it and apparently we're cool with that.

Originally posted by TheLieWeLive
The problem with this is there is no way to prove the authenticity of it since we don't even know who this supposed SEAL is. It can't be fact checked.

How did this story even hit the media since they don't even know who he is? Explain that.

He did some interviews with some author late last year that were recently published in Esquire. See the link for the full read:

The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed

Interesting excerpt:

"We're actually looking into changing my name," the wife says. "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."

When the family asked about any kind of government protection should the Shooter's name come out, they were advised that they could go into a witness-protection-like program.

Just as soon as the Department of Defense creates one.

"They [SEAL command] told me they could get me a job driving a beer truck in Milwaukee" under an assumed identity. Like Mafia snitches, they would not be able to contact their families or friends. "We'd lose everything."

So the Department of Defense doesn't have a protection program for guys like this after the type of service he allegedly performed?

Originally posted by InTheFlesh1980

Originally posted by TheLieWeLive
The problem with this is there is no way to prove the authenticity of it since we don't even know who this supposed SEAL is. It can't be fact checked.

How did this story even hit the media since they don't even know who he is? Explain that.

He did some interviews with some author late last year that were recently published in Esquire. See the link for the full read:

The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed

Interesting excerpt:

"We're actually looking into changing my name," the wife says. "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."

When the family asked about any kind of government protection should the Shooter's name come out, they were advised that they could go into a witness-protection-like program.

Just as soon as the Department of Defense creates one.

"They [SEAL command] told me they could get me a job driving a beer truck in Milwaukee" under an assumed identity. Like Mafia snitches, they would not be able to contact their families or friends. "We'd lose everything."

So the Department of Defense doesn't have a protection program for guys like this after the type of service he allegedly performed?

Sure they do. They can get him a job driving a beer truck

Give me a $&!@ing break.

reply to post by InTheFlesh1980


I understand that but who is "he" that did the interview? How does the interviewer even know he's the real deal?

It's classified is it not?

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
Sure they do. They can get him a job driving a beer truck

Give me a $&!@ing break.

No kidding. It's just like in First Blood where John Rambo says he was able to "fly a gunship, drive a tank, and be in charge of million-dollar equipment", but back here he couldn't hold a job parking cars.

Real great program they run for these guys, it seems. No wonder they feel totally alienated when they come back.

reply to post by Hopechest


He wouldn't lose his retirement he just wouldn't get the full 20. I do agree that he should have put in 3 more years to get to 20. Odd.

reply to post by syrinx high priest


The Pope is quitting because he's getting too old for the job, basically. It's all clearly outlined in every single article about it.

I bet we would have more resources for our Vets if we raised taxes on the rich.

Second line.

Originally posted by Evil_Santa
I bet we would have more resources for our Vets if we raised taxes on the rich.

Second line.

No, we would have more resources if we stopped funding illegal wars/conflicts, foreign aid, well basically if DC was actually responsible with tax payer monies. Raising taxes on the rich or the poor still won't solve the irresponsible spending the US Gov't is clearly guilty of.

reply to post by Evil_Santa


It seems this story could serve two main purposes:

1) Confirm the "official story"
2) Claim that veterans are not getting the services they deserve upon their return from duty because of spending cuts to the military, and thus taxes need to be raised

Originally posted by InTheFlesh1980
So the Department of Defense doesn't have a protection program for guys like this after the type of service he allegedly performed?

No, no they do not.

This is why you rarely/never see any SOC operator stand up and ID themselves explicitly. If you have the misfortune to end up interviewed or on camera, your name tapes are off or are borrowed from someone else. You use your first name - i.e. SFC Tom. And you avoid it like the plague.

There's a couple of issues there. One, your job consists of really screwing over government level entities in a loud efficient military fashion. You're not just another face in the crowd lobbing mortar shells or running a tank, you are often (not always) Up To No Good, in a way that's calculated to cause maximal damage to some country's infrastructure, political hierarchy, or governmental stability. That attracts their attention to you, and not in a good way, and they've got lots of money to throw at it - even a small country has a comparative lot of money.

So what you don't want, is you don't want to show your face on TV or in a photo. Because they've got photos too, sometimes, of you doing something pernicious, and if they can match you to one, it's a data point. A really good slip-up that gives them your real name, and they'll go after your family if they can't get you. People have real long memories sometimes, especially if you've done something memorable for them.

It's one reason SOC personnel records are in Tampa in the big secure records facility instead of Indianapolis.

Originally posted by TheLieWeLive
reply to post by InTheFlesh1980

 

I understand that but who is "he" that did the interview? How does the interviewer even know he's the real deal?

It's classified is it not?

Missions are classified, operators are not. At least that's the way the Army does it. Your personnel records would show it, your 201 file has it and it's on DD-214's although it can be cryptic, for Army it will also show clearly on your AARTS. I assume that Navy has an equivalent.

Just goes to show you how trust worthy the government is. They will have no qualms seeing you beg and starve in the streets, even if you go kill a high profile "bad guy" for them. Just dumb hired muscle, attack dogs to them, they don't care about you. Why people still bother is beyond me, they cannot be trusted. They even throw each other under the bus occasionally.

Originally posted by InTheFlesh1980
If he truly is the guy who nailed Bin Laden, you'd think he would be able to request less hazardous assignments for his remaining 3 years then retire with full benefits. Certainly the man who killed Osama Bin Laden would be given some small accolades and preferential treatments, especially after 16 years of service.

Not sure how Navy does it, but in the Army you'd be nuts to muster out of an SF A-team at 16 years.

Some guys stay in that long - especially with the eternal stop loss that ran from 91 until recently. But usually you'd end up by that point b-teaming it, or going to CA/PO, or shuffling to a team that primarily does training, or rotating back to Bragg to one of the training groups. I've seen some guys at Benning that has blown knees and backs and were filling slots back in the states doing fairly easy stuff waiting for their retirement.

Heck, it wasn't very long ago that they tried that way-bogus thing where they tried to get you to re-up to a Guard unit to train guys from 20th - "Pass on your special talents to the next generation! Don't let your training be wasted - we want you to mentor some guardies!" Surely Navy's got similar issues.

They have a ton of money invested in you by 16 years, even Navy likely wouldn't just chuck you.

Maybe the guy had just had all he could take. He sounds like he was pretty bunged up by then, and that would be par for the course. Sounds, too, like some home pressure. And he did use that phrase 'I got out when I wasn't bothered by shooting people anymore' (more or less) which you hear pretty commonly. Still, Tricare is a hard thing to lose in today's crappy economy, if I had made it to 16 years I'd try to wangle a cush job in the bear pit or something rather than tossing it all.