About the two Navy SEAL’s killed in Libya:
Quite an astounding tribute to the courage and bravery of the two
former Navy SEAL’s that went to the aid of Ambassador Stevens and
Embassy staff. Courageous!
Recently I was teaching a class in my church on the biblical
character, Joshua. You remember him – he’s the one who took over for
Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. God made several
promises to Joshua in the opening verses of this book of the Bible named
after him. Three times God instructs Joshua to “be strong and
courageous.” In fact, one of those times God instructed him to be “very
courageous.” The road ahead was a tough one and Joshua would need to be
up to the task.
The news has been full of the attacks on our embassies throughout the
Muslim world, and in particular, the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens
and three others in Benghazi , Libya . However, apart from the shameful
amount of disinformation willingly distributed by the Main Stream Media
and the current administration, there’s a little known story of
incredible bravery, heroics, and courage that should be the top story of
every news agency across the fruited plain.
So what actually happened at the U.S. embassy in Libya ? We are
learning more about this every day. Ambassador Stevens and Foreign
Service officer Sean Smith, along with administrative staff, were
working out of temporary quarters due to the fact that in the spring of
2011 during the so-called Arab Spring, the United States cut ties with
then president Moammar Gadhafi. Our embassy was looted and ransacked,
causing it to be unusable. It is still in a state of disrepair. Security
for embassies and their personnel is to be provided by the host nation.
Since Libya has gone through a civil war of sorts in the past 18
months, the current government is very unstable, and therefore,
unreliable
A well-organized attack by radical Muslims was planned specifically
targeting the temporary U.S. embassy building. The Libyan security force
that was in place to protect our people deserted their post, or joined
the attacking force. Either way, our people were in a real fix. And it
should be noted that Ambassador Stevens had mentioned on more than one
occasion to Secretary of State, “Hillary Clinton”, that he was quite
concerned for his personal safety and the welfare of his people. It is
thought that Ambassador Stevens was on a “hit list.”
A short distance from the American compound, two Americans were
sleeping. They were in Libya as independent contractors working an
assignment totally unrelated to our embassy. They also happened to be
former Navy SEALs. When they heard the noise coming from the attack on
our embassy, as you would expect from highly trained warriors, they ran
to the fight. Apparently, they had no weapons, but seeing the Libyan
guards dropping their guns in their haste in fleeing the scene, Tyrone
Woods and Glen Doherty snatched up several of these discarded weapons
and prepared to defend the American compound.
Not knowing exactly what was taking place, the two SEALs set up a
defensive perimeter. Unfortunately Ambassador Stevens was already
gravely injured, and Foreign Service officer, Sean Smith, was dead.
However, due to their quick action and suppressive fire, twenty
administrative personnel in the embassy were able to escape to safety.
Eventually, these two courageous men were overwhelmed by the sheer
numbers brought against them, an enemy force numbering between 100 to
200 attackers which came in two waves. But the stunning part of the
story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking
force. Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to
discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.
As it became apparent to these selfless heroes, they were definitely
going to lose their lives unless some reinforcements showed up in a
hurry. As we know now, that was not to be. I’m fairly certain they knew
they were going to die in this gun fight, but not before they took a
whole lot of bad guys with them!
Consider these tenets of the Navy SEAL Code: 1) Loyalty to Country,
Team and Teammate, 2) Serve with Honor and Integrity On and Off the
Battlefield, 3) Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit, 4) Take
responsibility for your actions and the actions of your teammates, 5)
Excel as Warriors through Discipline and Innovation, 6) Train for War,
Fight to Win, Defeat our Nation’s Enemies, and 7) Earn your Trident
every day ( http://www.navyseals.com/seal-code-warrior-creed).
Thank you, Tyrone and Glen. To the very last breath, you both lived
up to the SEAL Code. You served all of us well. You were courageous in
the face of certain death.
And Tyrone, even though you never got to hold your newborn son, he
will grow up knowing the character and quality of his father, a man
among men who sacrificed himself defending others. God bless America !
Dr. Charles R. Roots Senior Pastor Former Staff Sergeant, USMC Captain, U. S. Navy Chaplain Corps (Ret)
This should be passed on and on and on.