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Navy SEAL author's identity is revealed

The author of 'No Easy Day' – the book on the Osama bin Laden mission – is reportedly Matt Bissonette, who has been awarded five Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

'No Easy Day' – a Navy SEAL's account of the raid on Osama bin Laden – is scheduled for release on Sept. 11.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The writer behind the Navy SEAL memoir about killing Osama bin Laden is anonymous no longer. The author of "No Easy Day" is now said to be Matt Bissonette, a 36-year-old former Navy commando who is retired but who earned five Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his time in the military.

Fox News reported the author’s identity less than a day after the book was announced. The book had been scheduled for released on Sept. 11 under the pseudonym Mark Owen. Penguin, the publisher behind “No Easy Day,” says that the production schedule for the book will not be changed by the revelation of Bissonette’s identity.

There was criticism of Penguin, whose imprint, Dutton, will publish the book, when the book was first announced. The Defense Department says the book needs to be approved by them before publication because of the information about the department within the book. A Pentagon spokesperson, Lt. Col. James Gregory, said they have not received a copy of the book for approval, and Colonel Tim Nye, a spokesperson for the US Special Operations Command, told Reuters Bissonette could be subject to “potential investigation” because of this.

Dutton spokesperson Christine Ball said there wasn’t any information that could be construed as classified in “No Easy Day,” and a “special operations attorney” has looked through the book for information pertaining to military tactics or procedure, according to Reuters.

“The two reasons [Bissonette] wrote this book were to raise awareness about the sacrifices the SEALs make and to raise money for charities that support fallen SEALs,” Ball said.

Nye told Reuters that approval by Penguin's "special operations attorney" was “irrelevant.”

Bissonette lives in Wrangell, Alaska, according to the Fox News report.

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