Fifteen years after the covert operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the US Navy SEAL who fired the fatal shot has shared new details about the daring raid. Matt Bissonnette, a former special forces serviceman and one of the 23-strong team that executed the mission in 2011, says he still hasn't fully processed the events of Operation Neptune Spear.
The Raid: From Helicopter Crash to Fatal Shot
Bissonnette, now 50, recalled the moment he realized the Taliban leader behind the 9/11 attacks was dead. The team was scrambled from the US to Afghanistan and then to Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The mission was delayed by a day due to weather, but when they finally launched, high temperatures caused their helicopter to crash-land, leaving Bissonnette with severe injuries, including a broken neck.
"I was sitting in the doorway when we crashed. We were supposed to hover, push a rope out, slide down the rope and go to work, but that never happened," Bissonnette said. "We got very lucky. We hit the ground and then it was time to jump out and go to work."
The team breached the compound, moving women and children to safety, and found a reinforced metal door. After blowing through it, they encountered Bin Laden's son Khalid, who was shot while holding an AK-47. On the third floor, they saw Bin Laden and shot him. Bissonnette initially didn't recognize him due to his dark beard, but later found hair dye in the bathroom. "He had been dying his beard. We had Bin Laden," he said.
Aftermath and Injuries
After collecting evidence and Bin Laden's body, the team destroyed their crashed helicopter and flew to Afghanistan. Bissonnette's injuries required multiple surgeries, including a fusion and two artificial discs. He wrote a book under the pseudonym Mark Owen in 2012, but faced backlash for revealing classified information. His new book, No Easy Way, is released this month under his real name.
Reflections on the Mission
Bissonnette expressed pride in the mission, saying, "We relieved the world of one of its worst tyrants." He also urged President Donald Trump to avoid sending troops into the Middle East, drawing from his own experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Too many of my friends died and too many lives were lost," he said.
