Following the deadly raid on Osama bin Laden, there were a lot of conspiracy theories thrown around. One of the most spread theories was that a bunch of operators who took part in the UBL raid died in the Chinook crash. On August 6, 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter in Afghanistan, killing all 38 people on board. It has become known as the Extortion 17 crash (Chinook helicopter call sign).
Of the 30 Americans killed, 22 were Navy personnel, and 17 were SEALs. These included two bomb specialists and 15 operators in the Gold Squadron of DEVGRU, or Team 6, the highly classified unit that conducted the raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the previous May.
Despite the theories and claims, officials said that none of the operators killed in the Afghan helicopter crash had been involved in that mission. In addition to the SEALs, the others who died in the Chinook crash included five other Naval Special Warfare (NSW) personnel, three Air Force forward air controllers, and five Army helicopter crew members.
This theory stays just because at least two men from the raid are alive and known to the public. The man who pulled the trigger is most definitely still alive, has appeared on the news, has authored a book called The Operator, and has a prominent presence on social media. However, he is no longer on active duty. His name is Robert O’Neill.
Another Navy SEAL, Matt Bissonnette, who went by ‘Mark Owen,’ was also on the mission. He has been much less vocal about the feat, only appearing on the TV Show “60 minutes” to describe the mission and writing about it in his book. He, too, has left active duty.
