His head just popped right off!

[Czarcasm]

Part Native American, O’Neal was trained in both military combat and the ways of his native people

(italics mine)What Native American martial arts technique would this be?

[simster]

@Czarcasm

(italics mine)What Native American martial arts technique would this be?

one of the lesser known bird styles - crow.

[picunurse]

@LH75

Among firearms enthusiasts, there seem to be a huge number of people who were Marine Recon Special Operations Snipers. There are also a great many who are former Navy Seal Team Special Operations Snipers.

They are on the internet, so it must all be true

Seals never talk about being Seals, only posers do.

Anatomicly, the skin is VERY difficult to tear in a healthy, young adult. There are many strong muscles in the neck that are necessary since the head is so heavy. Otherwise we’d all have our heads lying on our sholders. The spine, with its cartilaginous joints is not as strong as others, but is protected by the mass od muscles surounding it. The trachea and esophagus are both strong.

It was once calulated how much weight it would take to tear off the head of a hanged man*. It was well over 600 lbs.

*It had to do with a prisoner on death row in Washington who gained ~ 400 lbs, then said that hanging would be cruel and unusual punishment, since his head would be torn off.
Because the calculations showed his head might come off the law was changed to either hanging or injection.
He expected his sentance to be changed to life, but instead he change the law.

[Colibri]

@Grestarian

Really? How did he reconcile the fact that the Great America he’s grandstanding for used its military to steal every inch of ground from beneath his ancestors’ feet and relegate them to wastelands (until useful metals and minerals were discovered underground)? By acting as that military’s reaper against other cultures?

Even if we somehow believe his tales, he’s selling a brawn-without-brains idol. That’s not what we need in our populace or its leadership.

–G!
[/SIZE][/FONT]

Moderator Note

Grestarian, let’s keep political commentary of this sort out of General Questions. If you want to go on in this vein, please take it to Great Debates.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

[Mister_Rik]

It sounds like this guy could get a job as executioner in Ohio:

http://www.theonion.com/video/ohio-replaces-lethal-injection-with-humane-new-hea,36077/

@bubba001

I’ve noticed, in a long career of drinking, that most everybody I’ve ever met that told me that they were in Nam, was either a Marine sniper, special forces, black ops guy, or CIA. I question if a lot of these folks were ever in the military at all. I’ve had guys that were several years younger than me, tell me that they were in the Vietnam. One guy told me that he was a door gunner during the Tet offensive in 68? I was 13 in 68, and he was 5 years younger than I. The same idiot told me that he was a seal, a marine aviator, LURP, and a few other things. When somebody tells me that they were in that war, I immediately think “Bullshit”.

When I lived in a homeless shelter (1996-2004), I knew a number of Vietnam vets, and they were all a good bit older than me (like, my dad’s age, or a few years younger). The US pulled out of that war when I was 8 years old. So one day I was riding in the shelter van on a trip to the grocery store (I worked in the kitchen), and there, at the entrance to the store parking lot, was a guy holding a sign that read, “HOMELESS VIETNAM VET PLEASE HELP”

I looked at the guy, and he was clearly younger than me. And wearing crisp new fatigues that I guess he must have bought at the local Army surplus store. :rolleyes:

@Melbourne

Of course you can. It’s why I don’t wear a ring. Happens when your ring gets cought on a truck, or a fence, or a machine. Happens to kids when their ring gets cought on a merry-go-round.

Okay, totally OT, but …

I work as a cook, and one of the Health Department rules for food prep is that you don’t wear rings on your fingers, because bacteria can get trapped under them and contaminate the food.

And then they make an exception for wedding rings. Like no bacteria is going to get trapped under a wedding ring :rolleyes: Good, grief, if the rule says “no rings”, for good reason, then it should be “no rings, no exceptions”. The exception is only there for insecure spouses who don’t believe the “I have to take it off for work” excuse.

[Farang]

Mr. O’Neal’s book is garbage.

There are many, many fabrications, half-truths, outright lies, and just plain delusional fantasy throughout this sad little “war story”.

Just a few examples -

1. O’Neal claims he holds a black belt ranking in Hwa Rang Do, a belt given to him personally by Lee. Important to note he trashes Lee prior to announcing his “ranking”. O’Neal was never trained by Lee; he holds no ranking of any level in Hwa Rang Do; he certainly is not a black belt (per the online HWD black sash record hosted by Hwa Rang Do International. The only Hwa Rang Do course Mr. O’Neal participated in was the two week military program composed, blessed by Dr. Lee, and taught by Mike Echanis at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1976. That program was a sub-set of Hwa Rang Do, and no ranking was given - only a certificate of graduation…signed by Joo Bang Lee and General Robert Kingston.

2. O’Neal weaves his relationship with Mike Echanis throughout the book. In this weaving, clearly hoping to ride on Echanis’ coat tails, he denigrates, insults, and otherwise demeans Echanis while praising him with quips like “Well, that was Mike”. There are so many half-truths, lies, mis-representations, and omissions about Echanis that all he says can safely be discounted. Example? Early on O’Neal claims while on his recon team in VN Echanis “lost it” and O"Neal fired him - sending him to convoy duty where he was wounded and sent home after only a month in-country. Truth? There is no documented evidence Mike Echanis ever went out on a mission in VN with O’Neal…further, documented evidence in my possession shows he and 5 others, four of them rangers like he was, were ambushed in May 1970 in the An Khe Pass by a company of NVA. During the fight Echanis was wounded 4 times, not once as O’Neal claims in his book. As a result of his wounds he was med-evaced to Japan then Letterman Army Hospital, and then discharged with a 100% VA disability rating. Oh, and he was also awarded the Purple Heart AND the Bronze Star for Valor.

O’Neal knew this - and left it out of his book for his own reasons.

In short, “The True Story of…” is really quite the opposite. As for popping the head off of the guy as the author describes…total BS…as is the entire undocumented, unsupported, no other witnesses than O"Neal urban myth of his “family” getting whacked and his taking John Wick style revenge.

What a shame. The guy had a very respectable military career but he wasn’t any more or any less than many others coming from the Ranger/SF communities.

Pass on “American Warrior” - it stinks.

[gnoitall]

I bet it even wouldn’t be easy to rip the head off of a zombie. And we know those things sometimes spontaneously self-disarticulate after tissue decay has proceeded a bit.

@Farang

As for popping the head off of the guy as the author describes…total BS…

In other words, we concluded that ourselves.

Two years ago. :rolleyes:

[Irishman]

Thanks for the addition, Farang.

@Poysyn

I actually read American Sniper by Chris Kyle, and I will say most of what he wrote about reads pretty true (there was no mention of Ventura), mostly since he doesn’t go on and on about how badass he is/was - he does go on about how professionally most of the soldiers he worked with acted, and that his high count was mostly due to being in the right place at the right time.

Since this thread was last active, I have read American Sniper by Chris Kyle, and there were numerous stories he tells where I call “Bullshit”. The Jesse Ventura story, in the book he talks about some old guy who claims to be a former Navy Seal, and he gives him the nickname “Scruff Face”. Subsequently, Kyle went on a radio show and identified Scruff Face as Governor Ventura. Ventura sued and won, but the judgments were overturned on appeal.

An additional story I remember is his claiming he went to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina relief and sat on top of the Superdome shooting looters. There are several incidents in the book that strike my skeptic meter. One incident maybe, two incidents :dubious:, three incidents = bullshit.

Kyle is a confusing character. On the one hand, his attitude in the telling seems humble, and to give a lot of credit to the team and the soldiers around him. On the other hand, several of his tales make him come off the hero and sounds suspiciously like humblebrag. I have no doubt he was in the mess and his stories of combat action are basically true, but I think he was a bullshitter who loved making up stories.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@Irishman

An additional story I remember is his claiming he went to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina relief and sat on top of the Superdome shooting looters.

What were they looting? On 3 sides of the Superdome, there is nothing but parking lots for a couple blocks. On the other side, across a wide street there are some office buildings that would probably be in range from the roof. But what would the looters be taking from them – file cabinets? Office supplies? Desks & chairs? Doesn’t seem like the kind of stuff looter go for.

And how, from atop the roof, did he distinguish ‘looters’ from citizens carrying their valuables’? Did he just say black person carrying valuables = looter.

I tend to doubt the whole story

[DrDeth]

@t-bonham@scc.net

What were they looting? On 3 sides of the Superdome, there is nothing but parking lots for a couple blocks. On the other side, across a wide street there are some office buildings that would probably be in range from the roof. But what would the looters be taking from them – file cabinets? Office supplies? Desks & chairs?

Red Swingline staplers.

[Philliam]

@bubba001

I’ve noticed, in a long career of drinking, that most everybody I’ve ever met that told me that they were in Nam, was either a Marine sniper, special forces, black ops guy, or CIA. I question if a lot of these folks were ever in the military at all. I’ve had guys that were several years younger than me, tell me that they were in the Vietnam. One guy told me that he was a door gunner during the Tet offensive in 68? I was 13 in 68, and he was 5 years younger than I. The same idiot told me that he was a seal, a marine aviator, LURP, and a few other things. When somebody tells me that they were in that war, I immediately think “Bullshit”.

The first rule of Vietnam Vet Club: You don’t talk about Vietnam Vet Club.

[Weisshund]

I would have to agree, someone is embellishing the story just a smidge
about 90 kilotons or so.

Like someone else said, take a fresh raw chicken, now try to rip the neck off, or the leg.
Not very easy at all is it.

Now look at the size of the major tendons in the sides of your neck, and the muscle, and that lovely tube we breath\swallow through, and all that other connective tissue.
Oh and the skin, human skin is very tough stuff.

Unless the guy was the mighty Thor himself, even ripping a child’s head off is pretty much fantasy, hell ripping a persons finger off would be quite hard.

[Irishman]

@Weisshund

Like someone else said, take a fresh raw chicken, now try to rip the neck off, or the leg.
Not very easy at all is it.

As I have said, this is not difficult at all - I have done it. The trick is twisting by using the chicken’s weight to generate the inertia.

His description reads as if he is trying to do the same thing with a human, but as I said, I find it difficult to see a person doing so. Break the neck, yes, but sever the head completely? :dubious:

[GoodOmens]

@Hampshire

I can’t think of any better way to “respect your enemy” than to rip their head off and throw it at somebody.

It’s better than keeping the head.

[Darren_Garrison]

Never tried this myself, but I’ve heard that you pick up a chicken by the head and twirl it around and around like a lasso the body will detach from the head.

Maybe Gary O’Neil did that to enemy soldiers.

[seal_cleaner]

@Darren_Garrison

Never tried this myself, but I’ve heard that you pick up a chicken by the head and twirl it around and around like a lasso the body will detach from the head.

Maybe Gary O’Neil did that to enemy soldiers.

Have done this.

[Darren_Garrison]

@seal_cleaner

Have done this.

To chickens, or to enemy soldiers?

[cochrane]

@Darren_Garrison

Never tried this myself, but I’ve heard that you pick up a chicken by the head and twirl it around and around like a lasso the body will detach from the head.

Maybe Gary O’Neil did that to enemy soldiers.

Sure, Irishman said that back in post #98, then again in post #113, just above yours.

[digs]

@April_R

I asked my dad who is a retired CW-5 and Chinook pilot, along with being a retired member of the 10 1st Airborne Division said he has never heard of the guy but doesn’t doubt he was military. He said this to me when I asked him about his opinion of the legitimacy of Warrior Man’s war stories

[QUOTE=April’s Dad]

The only difference between a Fairy Tale and a war story is how they start : Fairy Tail…
“Once upon a time.”
War Story…
"And this ain’t no shit. "
[/QUOTE]

Nice… I’m going to remember this!
As I nod and look like I’m totally buying That Guy’s story about “F’kin 'Nam, mannn…”

[seal_cleaner]

@Darren_Garrison

To chickens, or to enemy soldiers?

Chickens, but it was more fun if I pretended they were Krauts.

Kidding. Also, if the head pops off, you’re doing it wrong. You crack them like a whip and it breaks their neck.