Overlooked in many of the stories about the new book detailing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden is the author’s other big claim to fame. Matt Bissonnette, the former Navy SEAL who writes about bin Laden’s death in the soon-to-be-published tell-all “No Easy Day,” was also part of the unit that in 2009 freed Captain Richard Phillips and his crew after they were taken hostage on the high seas by Somali pirates. The story of Phillips, a Vermont resident and Massachusetts Maritime Academy grad, captured the imagination of the American public, not to mention Hollywood, which is readying a film called “Captain Phillips” starring Tom Hanks and directed by “Bourne” filmmaker Paul Greengrass. “No Easy Day,” which Penguin plans to release Sept. 11, will be the first published account by someone who actually participated in the May 2011 raid on bin Laden’s compound. Bissonnette wrote the book under the pseudonym Mark Owen — and changed the names of other SEAL members — for security reasons. But Fox News later outed Bissonnette as the author, and he has since faced criticism for leaking sensitive security details and not letting government officials see the book in advance.
