Navy SEALs Reveal Bin Laden Killing Story

U.S. Navy SEALs involved in the raid that killed al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden May 1 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, are finally telling their heroic story.

Working with best-selling author and former SEAL commander Chuck Pfarrer, their story is told in the upcoming book SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden.

[See photos of reactions to Osama bin Laden's death.]

Publishing officials from St. Martin's Press said that the book will detail how SEALs trained for the mission, what caused the near mission-ending helicopter crash in bin Laden's compound and what they saw in his fortress-like house. [Read: SEALs Angry At Attention, Want It Stopped.]

While St. Martin's wouldn't reveal details, they did tell Washington Whispers that the story is straight from the mouths of those involved. Pfarrer said, "The primary sources for this history were the men of SEAL Team Six who told me what they saw, what they thought, and what they felt...To a great extent, it is the SEALs themselves who wrote this book. I have based my narrative on their stories, and, whenever possible, I have used their own words." [See a slide show of six potential terrorist targets.]

While the White House has eagerly revealed some details of the shocking raid, the SEALs themselves have been tight-lipped, a trademark of their training. The book will be the first time the public will have a chance to see what the intelligence world has known for several months.

According to the St. Martin's advance press release, the book "will take readers on the helicopter flight over the wall that leads deep into the terrorist lair describing what it looked, sounded and smelled like as the bullets flew, the helicopter malfunctioned and the SEAL team stormed bin Laden's hideout."

Also, it will try to straighten out competing stories about the raid in other media, notably the History Channel and the New Yorker.

The book is due out November 8.

• Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the Middle East unrest.
• See photos of reactions to Osama bin Laden's death.
  
• See a transcript of Obama's speech on bin Laden death.
  

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