Matthew E. O'Neil

Picture of O'Neil in August 2000

Operation Southern Watch

Picture taken at Peterson AFB: Fitness and Sports Center in December 1998.Ten months later O'Neil TKO'd Preston Hartzog.It is in the library book Everipedia Boxing Archives.

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 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.

Cape Cod Military Museum Recorded O'Neil's Incident With Terrorist

O'Neil was stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base as part of 763rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron (EARS) from May 1999 until September 1999. 763rd EARS was in support of Operation Southern Watch. When he was at a Colorado Springs business a Middle Eastern man with a foreign accent punched O'Neil as hard as he could, told him he was going to kill him, and said he had a partner. O'Neil landed a kung fu punch and broke the terrorists neck. The terrorist died immediately upon impact. O'Neil had an eyewitness for the event. O'Neil believes that the Middle Eastern man was a terrorist. The Middle Eastern man was in his 30's or 40's, stood approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed roughly 190 pounds. The terrorist may have been sponsored by Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The Iraq War started in 2003. The incident is in the records department of the Cape Cod Military Museum which is run by Joe Yunka. It is also recorded at the website TogetherWeServed under 11th SWS. At the time he was cleared O'Neil held an Associate of Applied Science degree in Information Technology from The Community College of the Air Force. He graduated on February 11, 1999. O'Neil's immediate commanding officer while stationed in the Middle East was Captain Dickey Rounsaville. He worked as a truck driver, base telephone operator, and computer network administrator as an Airman First Class and Senior Airman while a member of 763rd EARS.

O'Neil's Military Background

O'Neil was stationed at Schriever Air Force Base at the time of the incident as a member of 11th Space Warning Squadron. 11th Space Warning Squadron's Commander from December 1997 to July 2000 was Lt. Colonel Suzanne Vautrinot. He briefed a U.S. Air Force Captain and a Lockheed Martin employee about the incident. O'Neil entered active duty on August 28, 1996 and was honorably discharged from the active duty U.S. Air Force on August 27, 2000. He was honorably discharged from the Individual Ready Reserve U.S. Air Force on July 24, 2004. He entered the United States Armed Forces through MEPS Boston in the summer of 1996. His Air Force Specialty Code was 3C051 Communications-Computer Systems Operator Journeyman. He helped install 11th Space Warning Squadron's computer network, including laying network cables and installing computer hardware and software for about 100 computers. O'Neil was ordered to the Schriever Air Force Base martial arts sensei in 1997. He was instructed in boxing, wrestling, and kung fu punching. He had been using the weight training and boxing room in the basement of the Joint National Test Facility on Schriever Air Force Base regularly in the months leading up to the killing.

Brief Description Of Incident With Terrorist

The incident between Senior Airman O'Neil and the terrorist took place at a business located off of a side street of North Academy Boulevard in Colorado Springs. O'Neil has stated that he believes that the car he was driving may have been tailed to the business. He drove a 1998 Hyundai Accent GL Sedan. O'Neil's car had 4 doors and was red. He has stated that he had never seen the terrorist before. The entire incident lasted less than 10 minutes. O'Neil lived by himself at Devonshire Square Apartments in Colorado Springs from early November 1999 to July 31, 2000.

O'Neil Was Interviewed On Fight News Unlimited On July 4, 2025

O'Neil was interviewed by Rich Bergeron on the Fight News Unlimited podcast for July 4, 2025 at the 26th minute. The interview lasted 25 minutes. O'Neil discussed his sports background and the incident that he had with a terrorist.

Previous Terrorist Incidents Linked To Operation Southern Watch

In 1996, a truck bomb exploded adjacent to a building that housed U.S. Airmen that were in Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern Watch. The Khobar Towers bombing killed 19 U.S. service members and seriously wounded well over 400. That incident has been linked to Al-Qaeda or Hezbollah. In the 1990's and early 2000's, Iraqi jets frequently violated the no-fly zones imposed over their country. These violations often involved Iraqi aircraft entering the southern no-fly zone, sometimes sparking aerial confrontations with US and allied forces. The violations were a recurring issue, with the Iraqi military testing the resolve of the enforcing powers and occasionally responding to perceived threats or provocations.

His Work, Education & Athletic Background

O'Neil is a former amateur boxer that competed in USA Boxing sanctioned matches in the late 1990's. He KO'd 1991, 1993 LSU National Baseball Champion Jeffrey Naquin on June 20, 1998. Naquin retained a full NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Naquin signed sports memorabalia on Worthpoint and pictures of him playing baseball are for sale on eBay. O'Neil TKO'd 1997, 1999 US Armed Forces Superheavyweight Boxing Champion Preston Hartzog on October 8, 1999. Hartzog was a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. At the age of 17, O'Neil scored a 1180 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. He passed 30 credits at The University of Massachusetts Amherst as a teenager. O'Neil graduated with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems Management from Colorado Christian University in 2001. He graduated with a M.B.A. from Regis University in 2004. In his mid-twenties he was employed by Harvard University. O'Neil was paid to work in business and was a top rated writer and journalist for the Santa Monica, California based company Everipedia Inc. from June 2019 to September 2022. He is the author of numerous books on Amazon. He is also the host of Everipedia Boxing Show. The podcast can be found on Amazon Music.

Personal Life

O'Neil has never been married. O'Neil's biological son, Daniel Marshall, resides in Toronto, Canada. He was born when O'Neil was serving in the Individual Ready Reserve U.S. Air Force.

References