Part III – Part I and II can be found on firstnationsdrum.com
O’Neal became attracted to martial arts, and he trained understanding the superior power of the mind over the strength of the physical. “I always trained my subconscious,” said O’Neal. “I’m a conscious being. I’ll tell you the secret that I did. I trained my mind first, before I did the action. It’s just like watching a video. I would see it, and then I would repeat it in my head a lot. Then I could do it, and I just went out and did it.”
This talent proved invaluable for the dyslexic SF demolition expert with a background as a poorly performing student when studying in a formal, civilian educational setting who is now required to use math to do his job. “I got over on that – as to the [math] formula – I could look at the steel, I could look at whatever we just happened to need to build or destroy, I pretty much knew what the formula was going to do and how much I needed,” said O’Neal. “After memorizing the formulas I could look at something and see the formula in my head and transcribe in my head, and then plant the charges, or whatever I was building.”
O’Neal credits the ability to visualize and then perform a task with saving his life and the lives of men under his command. “I was able to solve a lot of problems like that,” said O’Neal. “In combat, the tactics, I could see what was going on so I knew where I needed to move, I knew where I needed to go, I knew where I could take my guys. I just knew it. I took my natural ability and perfected it and adapted it.”
His talents caught the eye of military brass so O’Neal was often selected to participate in research and development projects like designing parachutes. “I could see something and make it tactical,” said O’Neal. “I was in some of the toughest units in the military. I’ve served with Navy SEALS. I’ve worked with indigenous forces as a UW (unconventional warfare) expert, and learned their language.”
These days, O’Neal said he can read a lot better but relies mainly upon audio books and video instructions – a formula that helped him get through college.
A society without warriors to protect it is not a society for long. O’Neal selflessly served his nation overseas for decades. He served a nation respectful of pluralism and the Right to strident dissent, including the Right to protest against not only the war but their nation’s soldiers fighting the war. I asked O’Neal for his thoughts on those Americans opposing the nation’s involvement in Vietnam – a war he was risking his life to prosecute – including the conscientious objector, the “draft dodger,” the draft-card burner, and those who vented their rage against U.S. service personnel like himself upon their return home.
“I don’t take issue with them because there’s a place for everybody,” began O’Neal. “We’re not all warriors. We’re not all doctors. We’re not all lawyers. We’re not all plumbers, or educators, or whatever. The pacifist and stuff like that, I never had a problem with them. I believe in individuality. I believe in everybody has an opinion. I believe in Freedom. I believe in the U.S. Constitution, and that every man is created Equal. I never see skin color. Yellow or brown man. I’ve never seen that.”
O’Neal’s libertarian views stem from his upbringing. “My dad and my grandparents, they taught me that,” said O’Neal. “They read it in the scriptures. You always give everybody a chance. There are bad people in all races, and there are good people in all races. You just got to weed the bad people out and hang out with the good people.”
In January 2016, during the US presidential primary election season, O’Neal was keynote speaker and introduced then-GOP primary candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally before 10,000 people in Pensacola, Florida. “I only had four minutes, and I think I was up there 12 or 15 minutes,” said O’Neal. “I was wondering why I’m not getting a signal [to stop] but Trump wanted to hear what I had to say.”
He got the gig through a friend, but as a pre-condition O’Neal insisted he be able to spend time with Trump before agreeing to deliver the keynote and introduction. His purpose was to talk with the candidate, man to man, and learn his views instead of relying on reports in the media. “I like him,” said O’Neal of the current president. “He’s brash, but he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He’s not politically correct, and he don’t give a shit. He tells it like it is. That’s why I spoke with him.”
O’Neal made clear he’s not a partisan or political party loyalist and shared his dislike for politicians in general. “To me, there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans,” said O’Neal. “They’re all hogs that eat out of the same hog trough – and that’s feeding off taxpayers’ dollars. We need to cleanse our government.”
