US hero Rob O’Neill speaks in ‘Now That You Ask’ series with Tom Ingram

Even though Lipscomb students are accustomed to being around heroes, thanks to the Yellow Ribbon program, encountering the man who killed 9/11 terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden is something unusual and memorable. Former Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who claims he was the one who fired the fatal bullets at bin Laden during the storming of the terrorist’s compound in Pakistan, came to speak with Tom Ingram for Lipscomb University’s Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute “now that you ask” series Thursday night in Stowe Hall in the Swang Business Center. The hall was filled of members of the Lipscomb community, as well as the Nashvillians who came to hear from the man who was involved in such missions as the rescues of Marcus Luttrell, Captain Richard Phillips and the killing of terrorist bin Laden. O’Neill recounted where he was on 9/11, the difficulties of training for the SEALs and his feelings on being the one to kill Osama bin Laden. O’Neill is a part of the elite SEAL Team Six, and has been a part of over 400 missions in his 16-year career with the Navy SEALs. Three of his missions have been turned into blockbusters “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Captain Phillips,” and “Lone Survivor.” “Captain Phillips was good but not very accurate,” O’Neill said. “Zero Dark Thirty did a good job of portraying the CIA portion of the mission, but Lone Survivor was the most accurate movie.” O’Neill is a bit of a controversial topic for the Navy, after revealing — despite instructions otherwise — that he was the one to shoot bin Laden. Although the Navy has publicly criticized O’Neill for revealing private information, he said...