'He was a human tape measure': Ex-Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden says they confirmed his identity by asking a 6'2' sniper to lay down next to his body because they knew how tall the 9/11 mastermind was

  • Rob O'Neill is the Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama Bin Laden in May 2011 
  • O'Neill and fellow SEALs raided Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan 
  • Admiral William McRaven (Ret.) on Tuesday described immediate aftermath 
  • McRaven told then-President Obama they couldn't confirm it was Bin Laden 
  • So he asked a 6ft2in sniper in the SEAL unit to lie down next to his corpse
  • O'Neill corroborated McRaven's story on Wednesday 

The former Navy SEAL credited with killing Osama Bin Laden said that his commander asked a fellow sniper who was nearly as tall as the 6ft5in Al Qaeda leader to lie down next to his corpse in order to make sure they got the right guy.

Rob O’Neill, the decorated special forces soldier who shot Bin Laden during the raid on his Abottabad, Pakistan compound in May 2011, confirmed on Wednesday the account first given on Tuesday by Navy Admiral William McRaven (Ret.).

During an appearance on Fox Business Network on Tuesday, McRaven recalled the immediate aftermath of the Bin Laden raid.

‘The SEALs had come back over the border from Pakistan [to Afghanistan] and I was on a video conference with the president (Barack Obama),’ McRaven said.

Osama Bin Laden
Rob O'Neill

Navy SEALs asked a 6ft2in soldier in their unit to lie down next to the corpse of Osama Bin Laden (left) after the May 2011 raid on his Pakistan compound, Rob O'Neill (right), the SEAL who shot and killed the al Qaida leader, said

It was O'Neill's commander, Navy Admiral William McRaven (Ret.), who used a tall Navy SEAL to confirm Bin Laden's identity

It was O'Neill's commander, Navy Admiral William McRaven (Ret.), who used a tall Navy SEAL to confirm Bin Laden's identity

‘The president asked me, “Are you certain it’s Bin Laden?”

‘I said, “No, sir, I need to go personally identify the body.”

‘So my command post was just a minute or two away from the air field. So I drove to the airfield.

‘The SEALs were just arriving. They brought the body bag in.

‘I unzipped the body bag and took a look at the remains. He obviously didn’t look too well.

‘He had taken a couple rounds. The beard was a little shorter than we expected, but I knew he was about 6ft4in.

‘So I looked around and saw some young SEAL. I said, “Son, how tall are you?”

‘He said: “Well, sir, I’m 6ft2in.”

‘“Come here. I need you to lie down.”

‘First he had a kinda funny look on his face, but he quickly understood and, of course, the remains were a couple of inches taller.

McRaven said he told then-President Barack Obama about how he tried to make certain the SEALs got the right guy. Obama jokingly told McRaven at the time: 'So let me get this straight, Bill. We had $60million for a helicopter, and you didn¿t have $10 for a tape measure?'

McRaven said he told then-President Barack Obama about how he tried to make certain the SEALs got the right guy. Obama jokingly told McRaven at the time: 'So let me get this straight, Bill. We had $60million for a helicopter, and you didn’t have $10 for a tape measure?'

‘So I went back and reported to the president that we still needed to do some DNA but I was pretty certain it was Bin Laden.

I said, “Oh, by the way, I had a young SEAL lie down next to him and the remains were a couple of inches longer”.

‘And the president says, and, again, it had been a serious night with serious implications, but it was a lighthearted moment…

‘He said: “So let me get this straight, Bill. We had $60million for a helicopter, and you didn’t have $10 for a tape measure?”

‘It was the right relief at the right time.’

O’Neill appeared on Fox Business Network on Wednesday and corroborated McRaven’s account.

O¿Neill said that he knew right away the SEALs found Bin Laden when they stormed the compound. ¿I was sure going in - I was sure when I saw him,¿ he said

O’Neill said that he knew right away the SEALs found Bin Laden when they stormed the compound. ‘I was sure going in - I was sure when I saw him,’ he said

He said that McRaven asked a sniper in the unit to lay down next to Bin Laden’s corpse.

‘The tallest guy we had there was one of our snipers and I think he was 6ft2in and so Admiral McRaven asked him to lay down next to Bin Laden’s body - which he did and that was part of it,’ O’Neill said on Wednesday.

‘One of the plaques that [President] Obama gave to Admiral McRaven had a tape measure on it.’

O’Neill said that he knew right away the SEALs found Bin Laden when they stormed the compound.

‘I was sure going in - I was sure when I saw him,’ he said.

‘When I saw him standing up on two feet I recognized his nose… his beard was shorter and white.

‘But no doubt in my mind when I saw him about four seconds later that we just got Osama Bin Laden.’

O’Neill said that people inside the house also confirmed that Bin Laden was there.

‘There was a group of women that found him… and they turned out to be - one woman in particular - 100 percent right about 100 percent of the people inside,’ he said.

‘She was so frustrated saying “If you want a shot at Osama Bin Laden he’s on the third floor of this house right now and I don’t understand why we are not leaving”.’

O’Neill noted that Bin Laden’s youngest of four wives, Amal Bin Laden, confirmed that the raid by the SEALs killed her husband. 

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