DISPATCHES #3664: Into The Breach

. DISPATCHES #3664: Into The Breach Will the real life story of incredible bravery, and the extreme courage of warriors Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods be lost just because of Machiavellian politics ? Updates as more information is coming through. Even if the true story of their heroism casts an uncomfortable political light of truth, we will tell it. They deserve it...... President Obama implied, quite intentionally, in his Weekly Address that Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were part of Ambassador Christopher Steven’s security detail: “Glen and Tyrone had each served America as Navy SEALs for many years, before continuing their service providing security for our diplomats in Libya. They died as they lived their lives — defending their fellow Americans, and advancing the values that all of us hold dear. -President Obama (Weekly address) Sounds good, the only problem is this statement is a total fabrication. Yes, they were both former Navy Seals, but neither Tyrone nor Glen were part of the Ambassadors official security detail. No. The truth is: they heard the attack, they heard the gunfire, and despite the danger to themselves they rushed into the breach taking weapons from the frightened Libyan security officials to help protect the American Consulate, Ambassador Stevens and his embassy aide Sean Smith. Both Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were under no obligation to assist, protect or defend Stevens. They could have bugged out, they didn’t….. They ran into the breach. It was, and is, an important enough distinction such that two U.S. officials quickly wanted to tell the truth. They told the Guardian: [...]  they feared the Obama administration’s scant description of the episode left a misimpression that the two ex-Navy SEALs might have been responsible for the ambassador’s personal safety or become separated from him. “Woods and Doherty weren’t part of the detail, nor were they personally responsible for the ambassador’s security, but they stepped into the breach when the attacks occurred and their actions saved others lives — and they shouldn’t be lumped in with the security detail,”….. According to what scant actual information is available the former seal team members, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, appear to have been in Libya because they were contracted by another intelligence office, probably the CIA, to track down the missing surface-to-air missiles from the initial rebel uprising. During the Gadaffi overthrow massive stockpiles of Libyan weapons including MANPADS and other surface to air missiles were looted from the military storage facilities. Estimates put the number of missing missiles around 20,000. It appears Doherty and Woods were in Libya to track down those weapons.  As a consequence of their visit they were crashed at an annex to the U.S. consulate grounds using it as a safe place to meet, coordinate, and evaluate their ongoing intel. Their location was approximately a half mile from the main consulate compound area. They were inside an annex building when the main consulate complex came under attack from the Libyan al-Qaeda terrorists.  They heard the distant shots and responded to a call for help from the compound itself. Both Woods and Doherty evaluated the assassination attempt, and immediately took up arms to defend Ambassador Stevens. Their heroism is incredible when you consider what they were facing.   Doherty and Woods reached the main compound of the Consulate and evacuated approximately 20 employees. Unfortunately, Ambassador Steven’s aide Sean Smith was already dead when they arrived.   Woods and Doherty fought through the firefight, and took the consulate employees back to the annex building where again they came under another wave of attacks. Between the initial firefight at the Main Consulate, and at the annex building, for over two hours they were able to fight back against approximately 200 al-Qaeda terrorists, who pre-planned and coordinated the attack to occur in two stages. The second wave of attacks at the annex brought even more firepower upon them.  Yet they held their position providing time for the 20 consulate employees to be rescued.  In total for over two hours they held off upwards of 200 attackers, under heavy fire from RPGs, mortars, and at least one 23mm Anti Aircraft gun firing on their position(s) around the consulate grounds and the annex building. This story must be told.  The heroism of Doherty and Woods MUST surface. They deserve it. Unfortunately,  because the truth represents a risk to the manipulated narrative of the White House and State Department, it will be up to outsiders to keep the pressure on and force the truth to the surface. If we leave it up to the Administration and the State Department we will probably never know the TRUTH and the heroism of Woods and Doherty will not be fully recognized or appreciated. These guys died while defending US interests because they were brave patriots who put country ahead of self. We will not let their courage be hidden or diminished. I promise to do all I can to keep their story in the spotlight and provide their family the full measure of appreciation for their bravery. They deserve it. We will not forget, and will keep fighting for the recognition they deserve. Brandon Webb is a former Navy SEAL, author of a memoir, “The Red Circle,” and editor-in-chief of SOFREP (Special Operations Forces Report). He served with his best friend, Glen Doherty, at SEAL Team 3, where they were sniper students together. They had just completed a book together, “Navy SEAL Sniper,” which is due out in January. He Penned this farewell to his friend: Photo of Glenn taken by Brandon Webb on a previous fishing trip Glen, I still can’t believe you punched out early on me, but glad to hear from the guys that you fought like a hero–no surprise there. You should know, your efforts resulted in the rescue of over 20 Department of State personnel. They are alive today because of yours and Ty’s heroic action. I know you hate funerals as much as I do but, the service in Winchester was humbling and inspiring. The people of Boston are amazing. I had to choke back the tears as me and the boys rolled through town, and thousands of people lined the streets to honor a hero and our friend and teammate. Seeing American citizens united around a hero, if only for a brief moment, restored my faith in humanity and that there’s other things more important in life than killing each other. Your family is and was amazing. Their poise, patience and the dignity they displayed was incredible to witness. Your mom, Barbara, stood by stoically for hours to ensure she greeted everyone who came to pay their respects. She was an inspiration to everyone who watched. Seeing your dad, his sadness and how proud he was of you, made me give him a big hug, and reminded me to work harder at patching things up with my own father. Greg delivered one of the best talks I’ve ever heard under the most difficult of situations. What an amazing brother; I hope to get to know him better. His speech made me reflect on my own life choices and how important our relationship with friends and family are. I’m going to work harder at embracing my friends and family the way you always did. Katie gave such an awesome toast at the wake with all the Bub lessons to live by, I smirked secretly to myself knowing that I’ve heard them all before and will never forget. “Drive it like it’s stolen!” and “Kids don’t need store-bought toys, get them outdoors!” and all the rest. Your nephews are amazing and so well-behaved. Great parents of course. F.Y.I., I told them I’d take them flying when they come out west. They were beaming when I described all the crazy flying adventures me and their uncle went on. I told them how you and I would fly with my own kids and take turns letting them sit on our laps to get a few minutes at the controls. I’ll do it up right and let them each have a go at the controls. Sean has been steadfast in his support role and has handled everything thrown at him. Helping him this last week really showed me why he was such a close friend of yours. He’s solid, and I look forward to his friendship for years to come. You chose well having him execute your will, he’s solid. We are all dedicated, as you explicitly indicated to us all, to throw you the biggest eff-ing party we can, and to celebrate your life as well as our own. Done deal; Sean and I are on it. Most of SEAL Team 3 GOLF platoon showed up in Boston. It was great to see how guys like Tommy B. just made stuff happen, no matter what was needed. Things just got handled like men of action handle them, no questions asked and no instructions needed — just get it done in true SEAL fashion. One by one the Tridents were firmly pounded into to the mahogany as the guys paid their respect. Mike and I handed the plank to your mom, choked back tears, and kissed her on the cheek. We both told her how much you’ll be missed by us all. Afterwards, the Team Guys, Elf, Steve, Sean and others tipped a few back in your honor. In good Irish fashion we drank whiskey from Sean’s “What Jesus Wouldn’t Do” flask, hugged each other like brothers and said goodbye, each in our own way. We are planning the yearly surf trip to Baja in your memory. We share Steve Jobs’s philosophy on religion and tolerance, but if you can arrange it, please talk to whomever and fire up a good south swell for me and the boys. My kids will miss their Uncle Glen. I told them it’s O.K. to cry (we all had a good one together) and to be sad but not for too long. You wouldn’t want that. They will grow older, and like the rest of us, and be better human beings for having known you. You definitely lived up to the words of Hunter S. Thompson: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a ride!” When I skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke myself I’ll expect to see your smiling face handing me a cold beer. See you on the other side, brother. You are missed by many. B.W. - - - - Marine Nolan Schmidt also sent something on the subject, including the note: “These wereAmericans who lived up to their creed of duty. These days, a great many Americans have become takers instead of givers and are happy to let the few do their Duty for our Country......Semper Fidelis.” 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 on their numerically superior force. 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 Ripon Free Methodist Church - - - -