To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story cover art

To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story

To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story

By: Matthew E. O'Neil
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 Matthew E. O'Neil (born March 7, 1976 Newton, Massachusetts) is a former Senior Airman in the United States Air Force that incapacitated and killed a terrorist with a kung fu punch on April 8, 2000 at 2 PM MST and was cleared by Colorado Springs Police Department. The incident occurred at a Colorado Springs, Colorado business and was tied back to Operation Southern Watch. O'Neil was raised in Boston, Medfield, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. He attended Plymouth Public Schools from 1981 to 1994, finally graduating from Plymouth North High School ranked 47/217 in his high school class. O'Neil played youth baseball, soccer, and basketball. He then received superior instructions from top-flight boxing trainers while integrating weightlifting, running, and stretching into his boxing training. O'Neil competed as an amateur boxer in USA Boxing sanctioned matches while stationed on a U.S. Air Force military base in Colorado. The positive results of the matches were used as a catalyst to produce Plymouth's first NCAA Division I baseball scholarships. O'Neil coordinated with Plymouth North High School baseball coach Dwayne Follette to get the scholarships. That information is in the Plymouth Public Library book Everipedia Boxing Archives. O'Neil's incident with the terrorist is the records department of the Cape Cod Military Museum. His final amateur boxing record is 2 wins and 0 losses (2 KO's). He is of Irish-English ancestry.Matthew E. O'Neil Political Science Politics & Government World
Episodes
  • To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense (Final Episode)

    To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense (Final Episode)
    Nov 7 2025
    In the final episode O'Neil thanked U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Department of Defense and Colorado Springs Police Department. He also thanked former Lockheed Martin employee Steven Griffin, former USA Boxing official Dickie Wood, former football coach Carl Freyermuth, baseball coach Dwayne Follette, his parents and his brother. He re-emphasized that he killed in self defense and that the Iraq War was justified. The Iraq War started in 2003 and ended in 2011. Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006.

    The results of O'Neil's boxing matches were reported by journalist and writer John J. Raspanti in 2018. Raspanti wrote the article "You Only Live Once. Just Ask Matthew O'Neil" for the company Maxboxing. Raspanti co-authored the 2016 hardcover book Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy. The book Everipedia Boxing Archives has the results of O'Neil's boxing matches. That book is in the library of The International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Everipedia Boxing Archives is also in the New Hampshire State Library and Brockton Public Library in Brockton, Massachusetts.
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    2 mins
  • To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense (Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum)

    To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense (Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum)
    Nov 7 2025
    The Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum opened in August 2004. Its average annual visitor rate is over 8,500 people, resulting in the museum being hailed as the "biggest little military museum in the country" by former mayor of New Bedford, Scott Lang. The museum is part of the The Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Historical Association, Inc. It is a not-for-profit organization committed to assisting in the restoration, preservation and perpetuation of Fort Rodman and its surroundings. Its President is Bill Niedzwiedz.

    Some of the exhibits that are housed in the museum are a statue made by a German POW who was held at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod as well as artifacts recovered from area waters. The museum has photos and biographies of every local serviceman that was killed in the Vietnam War, including uniforms and personal items from some of those veterans. The Vietnam War room has an authentic Viet Cong uniform. Many of its volunteers are veterans and retired military personnel who provide an interesting and informative tour of the museum. Many different types of military guns and rifles are on display. There is a Civil War room, a World War I room, and a World War II display. Its website is www.forttaber.org.

    In 2009 construction began on a 1,800 square-foot addition to the museum which was made possible by a starting donation from the Bank of America. The addition increased the available area for the museum to display donated artifacts from the Revolutionary War, Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq War), Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan War). The museum is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 1:00PM to 4:00PM, and it is closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Easter. It is located at 1000C S Rodney French Boulevard in New Bedford, Massachusetts. As of November 2025 Matthew E. O'Neil's picture and information are on display in the museum.
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    3 mins
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