John O'Neill (Vietnam veteran)

John Ellis O'Neill (born February 19, 1946) is a Vietnam War veteran, lawyer, and the spokesman for Swift Vets and POWs for Truth (SBVT).

John O'Neill was born in San Diego, California and grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended Central Catholic Marianist High School. He has stated that his grandfather taught at the United States Naval Academy, that his father was an admiral and a Navy pilot who fought at Iwo Jima, and that he followed his two brothers into the Naval Academy, graduating in 1967.

O'Neill married the former Anne Bradley (1947–2006) in 1976, and has two grown children. He donated a kidney to Anne in February 2004, shortly before becoming involved with SBVT; the book Unfit for Command is dedicated to her.

O'Neill spent 15 months aboard a minesweeper, USS Woodpecker, about three months of which were spent in Vietnamese waters; he served in Vietnam on Swift Boats as part of Coastal Division 13 (3.5 months) and Coastal Division 11 (8 months) from 1969 to 1970, during which time he was awarded two Bronze Stars. Thus, O'Neill appears to have spent a total of about 15 months in or off the coast of Vietnam. He is said to have spent some time in a military hospital with a damaged knee and leg upon returning home, but O'Neill has not claimed, nor do his military records indicate, that the damage was sustained in combat. In this connection, he received no Purple Hearts during his service years.

Some of O'Neill's claims about his length of service in Vietnam conflict with the records of his service there. For example, on several occasions he claimed to have served in Vietnam "almost three years," although his records, as described above, indicate that he actually served no more than about 15 months there. Additionally, he claimed to have served "much" of a two-year period "in waters adjacent to Vietnam," to have served in Coastal Division 11 for one year, and to have served 18 months "in the same place" John Kerry served; however, none of these time lines match the above records. Although he wrote that he "took over [Kerry's boat] after he requested early departure," the records indicate that he took command of PCF 94 more than five months after Kerry left Vietnam.

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