The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden has spoken of how the memory of September 11 gave him the courage for the daring 2011 raid on the terrorist leader's compound, which he and his team believed would be their final mission.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMailTV Rob O'Neill described the 9/11 memorial in downtown Manhattan as 'hallowed ground'.

He said: 'It'll always be sacred to me. I've been up to the observatory and it's incredible. I think everyone in the world should see the memorial.

'It's very humbling. I go down there once in a while just to realize what's important. To relive the moment and to see the incredible job that the 9/11 memorial staff has done.'

O'Neill was a member of SEAL Team 6 which stormed the 9/11 mastermind's compound under cover of darkness in Abbottabad, Pakistan seven years ago. O'Neill came forward in 2014 and named himself as the man who fired the kill shots which ended bin Laden's reign at the top of al Qaeda.

On a blistering 90F day in Manhattan, the decorated veteran, 42, joined DailyMailTV on the USS Intrepid to discuss the lasting impact of 9/11, the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil that claimed the lives of 2,977 victims.

And he warned bin Laden's son Hamza, who has become a senior figure within al Qaeda, that he will meet his father's fate too.

Navy SEAL Rob O'Neill fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden in the daring 2011 raid on the al Qaeda leader's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV's Jesse Palmer, O'Neill reveals how the memory of September 11 gave him the courage to carry out the mission

O'Neill described the 9/11 memorial in downtown Manhattan as 'hallowed ground', adding: 'It's very humbling. I go down there once in a while just to realize what's important'

'It was a beautiful day and then the world changed,' O'Neill said. 'I was in the operation center and the TV went to breaking news. As a group of Navy SEALs, we realized that we were just attacked, and it was seconds before someone said al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden'

O'Neill came forward in 2014 and named himself as the man who fired the kill shots which ended Osama bin Laden's reign at the top of al Qaeda

Tribute: Rob O'Neill has been a regular visitor to the 9/11 site, including the museum to which he donated the uniform he was wearing when he killed bin Laden

'It was a beautiful day and then the world changed,' O'Neill said. At the time, he was stationed in Germany and had just returned from a peace-keeping mission to Kosovo.

'I was in the operation center and the TV went to breaking news,' O'Neill said. 'As a group of Navy SEALs, we realized that we were just attacked, and it was seconds before someone said al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden.

'We realized immediately we were going to war, to Afghanistan and after al Qaeda.'

Before 9/11, O'Neill had only visited New York a few times. 'I never knew how much this city would play a part in my life. I've gotten to know victims' families and NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority officers. It's incredible that the mission that my team and I did helped them with the healing process. Although there will never be closure, the healing does help.'

He added: 'New York is the greatest city in the world.'

Navy SEAL training is widely considered the hardest military training in the world, but O'Neill went one step further. He volunteered for Tier 1 units, the elite of the elite in special ops, which get the highest risk missions.

O'Neill said: 'To become a Navy SEAL, you need to talk your body into doing things over and over. If your mind stays, your body will follow. Every Navy SEAL has proven they won't quit, so for Tier 1, you have to get into the mind.

'Find people who can make decisions, effectively communicate and not panic. Calm is contagious.

'You learn close quarters combat and more advanced tactics to a point where you can't be taught anymore. There's a selection course and about half of the guys don't make it through.'

He added: 'You need to be able to think clearly when something goes wrong. And when something goes wrong, get over it.'

Before 9/11, O'Neill had only visited New York a few times, adding: 'I never knew how much this city would play a part in my life. Although there will never be closure, the healing does help.' Pictured: A guest wipes a tear among names at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum today

O'Neill said: 'I've gotten to know victims' families and NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority officers. It's incredible that the mission that my team and I did helped them with the healing process.' Pictured: Firefighters watch as smoke rises from the site of the World Trade Center collapse

A guest pauses today among names at the edge of the north reflecting pool at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum during ceremonies marking the 17th anniversary of the attacks

O'Neill believes that his team's success on previous missions helped President Obama decide they were the right team for the job. Pictured: President Obama with members of the national security team receiving an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011

O'Neill completed some 400 missions during his illustrious career. He was part of the mission that rescued Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and 'Lone Survivor' SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan – both heroic tales which have been turned into Hollywood blockbusters.

In 2011, following a decade of work by multiple U.S. military intelligence agencies, a concrete location of bin Laden's whereabouts had emerged. The story of the CIA agent who doggedly tracked bin Laden down inspired the movie Zero Dark Thirty.

O'Neill said: 'When I was a battlefield interrogator we would question al Qaeda guys.

'To try to catch them off guard, to get information, I would say, ''Where's bin Laden?''

'The guy would actually laugh because it was like, no one's going to find him. He's a ghost.'

He added: 'We didn't know behind the scenes a lot of men and women were busy locating him under both the Bush and Obama administrations. It was a lot of tireless work.'

O'Neill believes that their success on previous missions helped President Obama decide they were the right team for the job.

He said: 'Not everyone believed bin Laden was there, we kept hearing it was 70-75 percent. President Obama said that he wasn't 100 percent sure he was there but he was 100 percent sure after meeting us that we could go and find out and come back.

'I don't want to get too political - I support the coalition, the West and our values - but that was a political decision. Every first-term president wants a second term. If we failed the mission, like it or not, he's probably not getting re-elected.'

O'Neill said he never believed that he would be part of such an important mission, adding: 'I wanted to be part of the effort but I never thought I'd be part of the team.

'I was in the right place, at the right time, on the right team that was available - because there are other units that could've pulled it off.'

O'Neill told DailyMailTV's Jesse Palmer he never believed he would be part of such an important mission, adding: 'I wanted to be part of the effort but I never thought I'd be part of the team'

Navy SEAL training is widely considered the hardest military training in the world, but O'Neill went one step further. He volunteered for Tier 1 units, the elite of the elite in special ops, which get the highest risk missions

Weeks before the attack took place, SEAL Team 6 was called to a secret base.

O'Neill said: 'We were briefed by my team's commanding officer. He told us, ''The reason you're all here is because this is as close as we've ever been to Osama bin Laden.''

'They wanted proof. If we bombed him, there would be conspiracy theories he was still alive somewhere.'

After training all day, the SEALs would gather around and discuss the dangers.

O'Neill said: 'No one had flown these helicopters before, we didn't know what kind of air-defense technology Pakistan had, we could get shot down. If anyone was going to blow up himself and his entire family, then bin Laden would.'

He added: 'I had last meals with my family even though I couldn't tell them. I knew I probably wouldn't see my kids again.

'We said it out loud, we knew we were going to die, why are we going? We did it for New York.'

O'Neill said there was no hesitation for the mission among SEAL Team 6.

'We all joined for this. We were not giving up this opportunity. It was an honor to be asked.'

The last thing he did before he got on the helicopter was call his father, in his hometown of Butte, Montana. 'I had all my gear on and my gun. I'm holding my helmet in my hand.

'My Dad was my best friend growing up. Every time I'd call him in combat, he'd say, ''Be safe, I wish I could go with you.''

'I would say I did too – but this time I said, I'm with great guys don't worry. I thanked him and said it was time to go to work.'

As soon as they arrived at the Abbottabad compound, the mission took an early setback as one of the Black Hawks grazed a wall of the compound and was downed.

The former SEAL told DailyMailTV that his years in active combat have shaped his opinions. 'When we first started, I wanted to go to war. But after seeing it, there's a realization that life is very fragile.' Pictured: O'Neill with President Trump in June of 2017

O'Neill said of killing bin Laden: 'He was standing three feet away and right away, I knew it was him. I shot him in the head twice as he was standing up and then once more on the ground'

O'Neill said: 'We were supposed to let off the snipers, a dog and an interpreter then my team of eight was going to jump down from the roof to the third-floor balcony to shoot through the window at bin Laden.

'When the other helicopter crashed, our pilot put us down and told us to get out.'

SEAL Team 6 went to blow the door on the car port, Rob said, 'and a thumbs-up came out.'

The team from the crashed helicopter had sustained no serious injuries and were already inside fighting. O'Neill made his way to the second floor and came up behind another SEAL who was assessing the third floor.

'We knew bin Laden was up there and we assumed suicide bombers but I squeezed him on the shoulder and we went up.'

On the third floor were some women and the first SEAL jumped on them because he assumed they were wear suicide vests. 'He was sacrificing himself so someone else could get the shot. Thankfully the grenade didn't go off,' O'Neill said.

'Tactically, he went one way, so I went the other to cover his back and when I turned the corner there was Osama bin Laden.

'He was standing three feet away and right away, I knew it was him. I remember how skinny he was and taller than I thought, about 6'4. His beard was short and grey.

'He was a high-level threat and we had very strict rules of engagement but he was not surrendering.

'I shot him in the head twice as he was standing up and then once more on the ground.'

With the clock ticking, the SEAL Team 6 gathered as many computers and as much intelligence as they could find and made their way out.

'We got rescued by another SEAL team. On the helicopter, I sat next to a friend of mine from a different squadron. He's from Manhattan. He asked who got him and I said I did. He said, ''On behalf of my family, thank you.''

'We all set our watches for 90 minutes until we crossed the border of Afghanistan. I was thinking, if we don't get shot down, we live. No one was saying anything.'

O'Neill had written goodbye letters to his family before the mission. He said: 'When I got back, the first thing I did was shred them because I didn't want to read them ever again'

O'Neill, who has two children from his previous marriage, wed Jessica Halpin, 28, last summer. The two visited the White House after their wedding

O'Neill with his wife Jessica Halpin having a private dinner with President Trump last October. Also present were Fox & Friends co-host Pete hegset and the show's executive producer Jennifer Rauchet

O'Neill continued: 'Then the pilot comes over the radio and says, ''Gentlemen for the first time in your lives, you're going to be happy to hear this: Welcome to Afghanistan.''

O'Neill had written goodbye letters to his family before the mission. 'When I got back, the first thing I did was shred them because I didn't want to read them ever again.'

The former SEAL has been criticized for going public with his story but says it was clear to him there was no keeping it secret.

'Everyone in the community knew what happened. When we landed in Virginia Beach, there were a bunch of SEALs waiting and cheering.

'My name was getting out. It's better to realize there is a threat than to put your head in the sand and pretend there's not.

'I don't think I've taken credit for [the bin Laden mission], I give my guys credit. The guy in front of me is a hero - I just turned a corner.'

O'Neill dismisses claims that he did not fire the bin Laden kill shots. 'There are people on the outside that weren't there, that don't know anything.

'I haven't heard one guy from the mission say that my story's not true but again, I just played my part.'

The 16-year veteran of the elite unit left the military in 2012, four years shy of retirement, voiding his right to a pension.

He was deployed on more than a dozen tours of duty in active combat, in four different warzones, O'Neill was decorated 52 times for his service, leaving as senior chief petty officer.

He is now a successful motivational speaker and established a foundation, Your Grateful Nation – which helps special operations forces veterans when they leave the military to transition into civilian work.

Many have wondered why he would take such a risk for himself, and his family, to come forward publicly. O'Neill, who has two children from his previous marriage, wed last summer at the Chatham Inn on Cape Cod to Jessica Halpin, 28.

The 16-year veteran of the elite SEALs left the military in 2012, four years shy of retirement, voiding his right to a pension

O'Neill also has a warning for Hamza bin Laden (pictured), the terror mastermind's son who has become a significant terror target in his own right and was claimed to have married a daughter of Mohamed Atta, the 9/11 ringleader. O'Neill said: ' You stick your head out and you're going to get popped'

'What if I was just living my life and they do [know who I am] and I'm not prepared? Worried? No. Prepared. Yes.'

In 2017, O'Neill released a memoir, The Operator, which he had approved by the Pentagon before its release. He wrote the book, he says, to bring the 9/11 families a sense of closure.

O'Neill said: 'I talked to a guy last week who lived through the south tower collapse. Thirty of his friends died. He said hearing the story [of the bin Laden raid], having a name and a face to put to it helps with the healing.

'It's American history. I think people need to know what happened, about the bravery of the pilots and every analyst that was involved.'

He added: 'I think Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko [about the early history of SEAL units during the Vietnam War] got a lot of guys of my generation to enlist.

'I hope that The Operator does the same. I hope it helps the humanization of what we do.'

He also has a warning for Hamza bin Laden, the terror mastermind's son who has become a significant terror target in his own right and was claimed to have married a daughter of Mohamed Atta, the 9/11 ringleader.

Earlier this year bin Laden's family said that Hamza had told them: 'I am going to avenge my father.'

While that might appear to be a threat to O'Neill, he told DailyMailTV that it was Hamza who would be killed.

'I would tell him, don't join the jihad because they are closing in on you,' O'Neill said.

'You stick your head out and you're going to get popped.

'He should walk away, but he won't. He's too arrogant . He'll die in a drone strike.'

But O'Neill said that his years in active combat have shaped his opinions into a view that it should be after other options have failed.

'When we first started, I wanted to go to war. But after seeing it, there's a realization that life is very fragile.

'I wouldn't mind seeing a little more diplomacy. I don't wish war on anybody.'

O'Neill hopes the daring raid and the years of hard work that brought it to successful completion has given New Yorkers, and the country at large, a sense of closure.

O'Neill said: 'I think it gave some healing. I am happy that we showed the world that when we found bin Laden, we had men and women to go get him.'