MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH A FEW MID CLOUDS MOVING IN THROUGH THE
MORNING. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH IN EXPOSED
AREAS.
On Thursday morning Fox News outed the author of “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden.” The AP and NPR have all confirmed that former Alaskan resident Matt Bissonnette penned the book under the pseudonym “Mark Owen.” Bissonnett never lived in Wrangell, as the Fox article alleges, but his father was the magistrate here from 1998 to 2004. Greg Knight of the Wrangell Sentinel researched, and it has been confirmed that Bissonnette graduated from Aniak High School in 1994.
Most recently Bissonnette lived in Virginia Beach. He was a member of SEAL Team 6, which conducted the operation against Osama Bin Laden. In the summer of 2011 he honorably separated from the SEALS. He did not retire.
The book will be released by Dutton Books on September 11 and was not vetted by any government officials.
The CIA is not providing interviews about the book or its possible implications for national security. In a statement, CIA spokesperson Preston Golson said “CIA isn’t offering any comment on the identity of the author. As far as we can determine, this book was not submitted for pre-publication review.”
Christine Ball with Dutton Books would not confirm Bissonnette was the author. In a statement she wrote that the author’s identity is being withheld for his personal security and that writing the book was a courageous act.
The exact content of the book has not been released.