The operator : firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden and my years as a SEAL Team warrior / Robert O'Neill.
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Scribner, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First Scribner hardcover editionDescription: ix, 358 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781501145032
- 1501145037
- 9781501145049
- 1501145045
- Firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden and my years as a SEAL Team warrior
- O'Neill, Robert, 1976-
- Bin Laden, Osama, 1957-2011 -- Assassination
- United States. Navy. SEALs -- Biography
- United States. Navy. SEALs -- History -- 21st century
- Special operations (Military science) -- United States -- History -- 21st century
- Special operations (Military science) -- Pakistan
- War on Terrorism, 2001-2009 -- Personal narratives, American
- Afghan War, 2001- -- Commando operations -- United States
- Afghan War, 2001- -- Personal narratives, American
- Butte (Mont.) -- Biography
- NEW BOOKS 2017.06
- 359.9/84 B 23
- V63.O43 A3 2017
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Bedford Public Library Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction | 359.984 ONE | Available | 32500001727834 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
This instant New York Times bestseller--"a jaw-dropping, fast-paced account" ( New York Post ) recounts SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's incredible four-hundred-mission career, including the attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips, and which culminated in the death of the world's most wanted terrorist--Osama bin Laden.
In The Operator , Robert O'Neill describes his idyllic childhood in Butte, Montana; his impulsive decision to join the SEALs; the arduous evaluation and training process; and the even tougher gauntlet he had to run to join the SEALs' most elite unit. After officially becoming a SEAL, O'Neill would spend more than a decade in the most intense counterterror effort in US history. For extended periods, not a night passed without him and his small team recording multiple enemy kills--and though he was lucky enough to survive, several of the SEALs he'd trained with and fought beside never made it home.
"Impossible to put down... The Operator is unique, surprising, a kind of counternarrative, and certainly the other half of the story of one of the world's most famous military operations...In the larger sense, this book is about...how to be human while in the very same moment dealing with death, destruction, combat" (Doug Stanton, New York Times bestselling author). O'Neill describes the nonstop action of his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, evokes the black humor of years-long combat, brings to vivid life the lethal efficiency of the military's most selective units, and reveals details of the most celebrated terrorist takedown in history. This is "a riveting, unvarnished, and wholly unforgettable portrait of America's most storied commandos at war" (Joby Warrick).
Includes index.
"A stirringly evocative, thought-provoking, and often jaw-dropping account, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring four-hundred-mission career, which included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and which culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. In these pages, O'Neill describes his idyllic childhood in Butte, Montana; his impulsive decision to join the SEALs; the arduous evaluation and training process; and the even tougher gauntlet he had to run to join the SEALS' most elite unit. After officially becoming a SEAL, O'Neill would spend more than a decade in the most intense counterterror effort in US history. For extended periods, not a night passed without him and his small team recording multiple enemy kills--and though he was lucky enough to survive, several of the SEALS he'd trained with and fought beside never made it home. The Operator describes the nonstop action of O'Neill's deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, evokes the black humor of years-long combat, brings to vivid life the lethal efficiency of the military's most selective units, and reveals firsthand details of the most celebrated terrorist takedown in history."--Jacket.
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
When O'Neill retired from the U.S. Navy in 2012, after 16 years of distinguished service as a Navy SEAL, he had -participated in more than 400 missions, including what was likely the SEAL's most important one to date: killing terrorist and al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. Here, O'Neill absorbingly relates the 2011 attack on bin Laden's Pakistan compound. The author received a Silver Star for this action and for his service in Afghanistan. In this lively account, he describes his childhood in Butte, MT, along with his rigorous SEAL training and stories of building-to-building fighting in search of well-armed al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. These fascinating stories include his role in the successful 2009 mission to free Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates, and those of too many fellow SEALs who were killed in battle. The author concludes with his take on the downside of heroism, as some fellow SEALS claimed O'Neill was trading on his new-found fame as the man who killed bin Laden, which unfortunately hastened O'Neill's decision to resign. VERDICT Fans of battlefield narratives, such as Michael Golembesky's Level Zero Heroes, will relish this gripping perspective on 21st-century -warfare.-Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of -Prussia, PA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Kirkus Book Review
A war memoir from a highly decorated Navy SEAL.The news flash from this book by retired SEAL O'Neill is that he fired the bullets that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. However, the shooting does not occur until more than 300 pages in; the narrative consists of much more than the sensational account of what happened on the top-secret mission to bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Some passages are redacted due to review of the manuscript by U.S. Department of Defense Prepublication and Security Review personnel. In addition, O'Neill disguises the identities of more than a dozen individuals. As a result, judging the accuracy of the sensitive, war-related information presents difficulties, especially in light of previously published information about the bin Laden mission. (The author does not mention the controversial book No Easy Day by fellow SEAL Matt Bissonnette, who wrote using the pen name Mark Owen.) Whatever controversy might ensue, most of the memoir is enlightening about military special forces, especially the SEAL component. Born in 1976 and reared in Butte, Montana, O'Neill enlisted in the Navy in 1995 with the goal of becoming a SEAL. He understood the rigorous training, and he knew the washout rate was high, but he persisted, overcoming months of physical and mental rigor. The author had his first deployment in 1998 and went on to participate in top-secret assignments in Afghanistan and Iraq in addition to battling Somali pirates. Zealously patriotic, O'Neill seems to have never seriously questioned the motivations or consequences of his missions. During his time as a SEAL, O'Neill married and became a father, and he discusses the havoc caused by his military assignments regarding his family life. A fast-paced account quite likely to engender strong reactions among readers concerned with the U.S. military's roles in foreign conflicts. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
Robert O'Neill was born and raised in Butte, Montana, and lived there for nineteen years until he joined the Navy in 1996. Deploying as a SEAL more than a dozen times, O'Neill participated in more than four-hundred combat missions across four different theaters of war. During his remarkable career, he was decorated more than fifty-two times. Among the honors he received were two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit Citations, and a Navy/Marine Corps Commendation with Valor .O'Neill helped cofound Your Grateful Nation, an organization committed to transitioning Special Operations veterans into their next successful career. You can find him at RobertJONeill.com.