The father of a Navy SEAL killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning and criticized the Trump administration for its timing.
Bill Owens told The Miami Herald in a story published Sunday that he refused to meet with President Donald Trump when both came to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket carrying his son, Chief Special Warfare Officer William “Ryan” Owens.
“I want an investigation,” said Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran. “The government owes my son an investigation.”
~~~ The elder Owens, a retired Fort Lauderdale police detective and veteran, told the Herald he refused to meet with the president because the family had requested a private ceremony.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to see him,” Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Trump was on his way from Washington. “I told them I don’t want to meet the president.”He said he was also troubled by the attack Trump leveled at Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, an American Muslim family whose Army officer son died in Iraq in 2004. The couple had criticized him at the Democratic National Convention last summer. He also questioned why the president approved the raid a week after taking office.
“I told them I didn’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him,” Owens told the Herald. “Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen— everything was missiles and drones— because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?”
So darn pathetic and i’ll bet they cant wait to have him of 60 MINUTES,GMA or TODAY
I suggest they assign a special prosecutor. What did the President know and when did he know it?
Actually, nearly every operation similar to this get an in-depth review. Failure to meet with the president prevented him from getting additional pieces of the issue. His son was in a unit that takes on high risk assignments. They are special people with special skills. The best plans and equipment can not prevent that one bullet that has your name on it from finding it’s mark. Often, it is not the mission planning that results in casualties, but poor judgment during the operation by individuals. In the heat of the moment, individuals advancing toward an objective cross into a friendly line of fire. Special Operations require highly trained, disciplined people with special skills. They are not exempt from making mistakes. I would hope that my family would not blame my country for my death in a combat operation. I would have hoped that they knew I was doing what I wanted to do and for a good cause. I was not drafted into this service. I volunteered as did we all in the past 30 years.
Yemen SEAL Raid Has Yielded No Significant Intelligence
@Greg: Remember this administration is not as likely to give out government secrets like the ones that killed part of Seal Team Six. Biden released that info.
Biden, dumbest senator and vice president ever…..
Ol lunch bucket joe was nothing more than impeachment insurance…..
@Randy: I know you “get it” about Special Ops. I think I understand about the father’s grief and offensive (to me and others) statements. Just yesterday I read something that helped me get some insight. Jeffrey S. Taylor was a member of Seal Team 10 who lost his life in the Operation Red Wing. He was in the MH-47 Chinook copter that crashed attempting to rescue the Seals on the ground. His father said he was angry for years with the “Lone Survivor”, Marcus Luttrell. He said “Why couldn’t my son be the one that survived?”
I was looking up Jeffrey Taylor because I discovered he was from Midway, WV. I was reading the local newspaper from the time of the premiere of the movie “Lone Survivor”. A private screening was held for the family and his father said it gave him a much better understanding of what happened and he no longer felt that anger as a result. Then I understood this father’s anger.
I went to the Navy Seals Museum last year and was deeply moved. They say their service manuel (probably calling it the wrong name) is written in blood; because when Seals die they look critically at what happened and how it could be prevented. I am sorry he did not take the opportunity to find out more from Pres. Trump. I imagine the mission was top secret and the classified information will be decades before it is released.
BTW John McCain needs to shut the F up. Also I think “Thank You for your service,” is not sufficient. Thank you for your sacrifice. Everyone in the military sacrifices something, some the ultimate sacrifice.
@Songbird:
Very well said, thank you for your comments. I believe all of us who have the utmost appreciation for the military, their service, sacrifice and commitment to the safety of this Country, feel deeply when the ultimate sacrifice is given.