艰难一日 (2012)

《艰难一日：海豹六队击毙本·拉登行动亲历》（英语：No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden）是美国海军海豹突击队前队员以“马克·欧文”（英语：Mark Owen）笔名写作的军事回忆录，后被爆真名叫马特·比索内特（英语：Matt Bissonnette），书中透露了许多击毙本拉登行动中不为人知的细节。该书原定于九一一事件十一周年纪念日发行，但后来出版公司将发行日期提前到2012年9月4日。美国国防部新闻发言人乔治·利特尔（英语：George E. Little）在9月4日的新闻发布会上表示，本书涉嫌泄密并考虑对作者提前诉讼。美国国防部部长帕内塔在CBS《今晨》节目中指责比索内特在本书出版前未经国防部许可。

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden (2012) is a military memoir by a former member of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) who participated in the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. The book was written by Matt Bissonnette under the pen name Mark Owen. It details Owen's career with DEVGRU, including several combat missions in which he participated with the unit. At least half of the book focuses on Owen's participation in the mission that killed bin Laden.

Owen and his publisher's decision to release the book without first submitting it for United States Department of Defense (DoD) review generated controversy. The DoD claims that the book contains classified information, which the book's publisher denies. In late August 2012, advance publicity increased the initial print run from 300,000 copies to 575,000. This ultimately led the publisher to release the book on September 4, a week earlier than the originally planned September 11 release date. It also made the New York Times bestseller list.

Shortly after the book's announcement, Owen's identity was revealed as former U.S. Navy SEALs Chief Special Warfare Operator Matt Bissonnette and the DoD confirmed that he was in fact the author. For media appearances, including an interview on 60 Minutes, Owen appeared incognito. In August 2016, he was ordered to return his royalties of US$6.8 million to the US federal government.

Content

In the book, Owen chronicles his upbringing in Alaska and his long desire to be a SEAL. Owen completed BUD/S training in 1999 and served with SEAL Team Five. He recounts the rigors of his entry into DEVGRU and describes several operations in which he participated with the group in Iraq and Afghanistan. Owen also discusses his involvement in the Maersk Alabama hijacking rescue operation in 2009. Throughout, he describes the camaraderie, professionalism, and dedication of his teammates during extremely demanding training and dangerous combat missions.

The second half of the book details Owen's participation in the raid that targeted bin Laden. Owen writes that he was one of the team members present in the third-floor room of bin Laden's compound when the terrorist leader was killed.

In the months following the mission, Owen left active duty and began writing the book with the journalist Kevin Maurer. Owen says the book accurately portrays DEVGRU's relationship and involvement with Operation Neptune Spear.

The book was published by Dutton Penguin and went on sale September 4, 2012, a week before the eleventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Owen stated that most of the proceeds from the book will be donated to families of SEALs killed in action.

Background

In early September 2012, a former SEAL named Brandon Webb stated that he learned of Owen's intent to write the book after a "slight" from the U.S. Navy shortly before he separated from the service. According to Webb, when Owen told his comrades on SEAL Team Six of his intent to leave the service, he was ostracized by his leadership and ordered to return to his home base while his unit was in the middle of a training exercise. The book's publisher disputed Webb's account, repeating co-author Maurer's statement that,

After spending several very intense months working with Mark Owen on this book, I know that he wrote this book solely to share a story about the incredible men and women defending America all over the world. Any suggestion otherwise is as ill-informed as it is inaccurate.