Richard Marcinko, First Commander of SEAL Team 6, Dies at 81: A ‘True Legend’
Richard “Dick” Marcinko, a former US Navy SEAL and founding commander of the famed SEAL Team 6, died on Christmas Eve. He was 81. Marcinko’s son, Matthew, made the announcement in a Twitter post on Sunday afternoon.

“Last night, Christmas Eve, we lost a hero, also known as The Rogue Warrior, former Navy SEAL AND founder of SEAL Team Six, my father, Richard Marcinko,” Matthew wrote in a tweet. “His legacy will live on. The man passed away as a true legend.”

“Rest in peace, Dad,” he added. “I love you forever.”

Matthew told the New York Times that he believes his father died of a heart attack.

According to the National Navy UDT SEAL Museum, Marcinko — born November 21, 1940 — deployed to Vietnam in 1967 as a member of SEAL Team 2. He led “the most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta” during the war, and was later awarded a bounty by the North Vietnamese Army for his actions.

Later, during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, Marcinko was one of two Navy representatives for a task force known as the Terrorist Action Team (TAT).

The task force’s mission was to rescue dozens of American hostages held inside the U.S. embassy in Tehran, but their mission, Operation Eagle Claw, left eight service members dead after they encountered a severe desert storm, according to the U.S. Army Air Force and Special Operations Museum.

After the mission failed, Marcinko was put in charge of creating a full-time counterterrorism unit.

The oldest living World War II veteran celebrates his 112th birthday with a drive-by party in New Orleans. Marcinko became the first commanding officer of the team, which he named “SEAL Team 6.” Although the Navy had only two other SEAL units at the time, the name was intended to fool other nations into believing the United States had three other, unnamed SEAL teams, according to the National Navy SEAL UDT Museum.

SEAL Team 6 is best known for leading the May 2, 2011, raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, which resulted in the death of the Saudi terrorist behind the September 11, 2001, attacks. After retiring in 1989, Marcinko became a best-selling author, co-writing books like Rogue Warrior and Rogue Warrior: Green Team.

“The SEALs who knew Dick Marcinko will remember him as imaginative and daring, a warrior at heart,” retired Navy SEAL Adm. Eric Olson told the Navy Times. “He was certainly a scoundrel, but we are all better for his extraordinary service.”