The spot where Osama bin Laden’s blood-soaked body was delivered to the USS Carl Vinson on the night he was killed has been marked in red, in a chilling reminder of the al-Qaeda chief’s demise.
DailyMailTV has learned that sailors who witnessed the corpse of the terror boss being delivered by helicopter to the Vinson on the night of May 1, 2011 painted a ‘padeye’ – an attachment point to where fighter jets or helicopters are tethered – at the exact spot where his body arrived.
It’s believed bin Laden – who was shot twice in the head during a Navy SEAL raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan hours earlier – was still bleeding heavily when he arrived on the flight deck, DailyMail.com has learned.
The padeye is one of hundreds on the deck on board the Vinson.
The spot – photographed by DailyMailTV – can be found midway along the flight deck of the nuclear powered super carrier.
Historic mark: A ‘padeye’ aboard the USS Carl Vinson was painted red to mark the area where Osama bin Laden’s bloodied body was laid after SEAL Team Six shot him dead
The round red marker on the deck of the warship is actually an attachment point to where fighter jets or helicopters are tethered
The USS Carl Vinson, a 95,000 ton vessel, transported the al-Qaeda leader’s body after bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan hours earlier
DailyMailTV was invited on board the Vinson as it prepares for deployment to the western Pacific Ocean in early 2018.
One crew member on board said: ‘That’s where bin Laden arrived, his body was bloodied and people who saw it won’t forget it in a hurry.
‘The padeye is painted red as a reminder of the Vinson’s role that night in what was a historic mission.’
Bin Laden’s arrival by helicopter on the Vinson was confirmed by Rear Admiral Samuel Perez, the former commander of the Vinson’s carrier strike group, in an email to Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette, the Vinson’s public affairs officer, according to leaked documents.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks was shot twice in the head during a Navy SEAL raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He was still bleeding heavily when he arrived on the flight deck, DailyMail.com has learned
A short time later bin Laden’s body was secretly disposed of in the Arabian Sea.
Only a handful of top officials aboard the Vinson witnessed the burial, according to the leaked memos.
It was carried out in line with Islamic tradition and kept secret from most of the 3,500 ship’s crew.
Emails released by President Barack Obama’s administration gave a glimpse of the scene.
When asked by RDML Gaouette for ‘any news on the package for us’, RDML Perez replied: ‘FedEx delivered the package. Both trucks are safely en route home base.’
Lt. Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, told DailyMail.com: ‘Yes, we have a padeye on the flight deck painted red. We’ve had it for years. It symbolizes USS Carl Vinson’s role in an important operation years ago that was part of the ongoing fight against terrorism.
‘It’s not uncommon for warships to symbolize their participation in a historic event. U.S. Navy vessels are on watch around the world every day, ready to answer the call.’
Lt. Cmdr Hawkins declined to confirm that the padeye was linked to bin Laden, however, and declined to discuss the mission or circumstances of the burial at sea.
Another email sent by RDML Gaouette to senior military officials described the 50-minute ceremony on board the Vinson, which was carried out at around 3am EST on May 2.
Operation Geronimo also recovered five videos from bin Laden’s compound, including one showing the terrorist watching himself on television
That compound, which was an ‘active command and control center’ where the al Qaeda leader remained in strategic and operational control of the organization, was later demolished almost a year later
SEAL Team 6 — an elite unit known for its ruthlessness and bravery — took bin Laden out in what was dubbed Operation Geronimo.
Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who believes he fired the fatal shot on the terror kingpin, said he had heard of the red pad eye and said the crew of the Vinson wanted to ‘acknowledge historically’ that that was where bin Laden came on the ship.
Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who believes he fired the fatal shot on the terror kingpin, said he had heard of the red pad eye and said the crew of the Vinson wanted to ‘acknowledge historically’ that that was where bin Laden came on the ship
He told DailyMailTV the Al-Qaeda leader was ‘badly damaged’ after being shot in the head several times so he was ‘not surprised’ he was still bleeding when he arrived on the carrier.
‘I know what he looked like when we handed him off, so I’m not surprised,’ he explained.
‘He took some pretty severe head shots, I did three of them, he was very badly damaged.
‘We were with him until we handed him to some Army special operators and they brought him out to the ship in the Gulf and that’s where they buried him at sea, but I wasn’t there for that.’
Bin Laden’s body was taken to Afghanistan for positive identification, before it was taken aboard for its burial.
It’s understood a lengthy CIA surveillance operation had discovered bin Laden was holed up in a remote compound in Abbottabad.
In a TV address on the night of the raid, President Obama said: ‘I can report to the American people and the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.’