I have listened with interest the information being discovered
as a result of the Congressional inquiry into tragic the events in Libya. It seems that each day’s reports raise more
and more questions as to what was going on in the State Department and
Whitehouse before, during and after the September 11th attack. As the father of a son who has served his country
during two tours of duty in the Middle East, I am glad that my son returned
safely. I morn with the families who
have lost sons and daughters in service to our country, but I feel assured that
their sacrifice will bring eternal rewards.
In the words of the Savior “Greater love hath no man then this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.” [i]
In my son’s last deployment, I worried
as I was forced to question our country’s resolve. Unreasonable rules of engagement, the need
for civil clearance before action could be taken, and other political decisions tended to
tie the hands of our fighting men in an environment which was both tenuous and perilous. I am grateful my son is home safe and I will
pray for the safety of all of our nation's sons and daughters, fathers and
mothers, as long as they are in harm’s way.
As I have listen to the news coverage there are two conclusions
I have drawn. The first is that there is
no balanced coverage. There are two
presentations regarding the attacks. The
first is the portion of the media who are ignoring the story and failing to
report on anything except a few facts that they feel they must report on in
order to avoid being viewed as completely incompetent or biased. The second is the portion of the media who is
reporting on everything, whether vetted or not, who seem not to be concerned
whether their reporting is biased.
Perhaps most concerning to me is the fact that in almost each of the
reports I have seen, the media continually refers to Ambassador Stevens and
three other Americans who were killed in the attack. Are these repeated references to the three
Americans an effort to minimize the event by keeping us from putting faces on
those who died? The fact is that in
addition to Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and Glen
Doherty were also killed in the attack.
The fact that the other three Americans killed in the attack have names
and families seems to have been lost in the controversy. No matter what contributed to, happened
during, or after the attack, we should never allow those who died to become
nameless and faceless victims. They are
American Heroes, who died in defense of American soil even though that soil
lies within a foreign land.
As far as I can tell after searching the news reports, Ambassador
Chris Stevens is survived by his mother, stepfather, brothers and sisters and other extended family. Tyrone Woods had parents, a wife and three
sons, Glen Doherty is survived by his father, mother and a brother and sister, Sean
Smith had parents, a wife and a son and daughter. Woods and Doherty were
decorated veterans. I would like to
think that my conclusions about their families are accurate but the reporting
on these suffering family members is both vague and limited. Unfortunately in all the reporting currently
going on about this tragedy, the names of these dedicated Americans is too
often left out. I hope that our congress continues to examine this incident to
determine who knew and did what, who did not do what should have been done, and
why our leaders failed to react to this terrorist act in an effort to save the
lives of these heroes. As the story plays
out, I hope the media and all of America remembers the names of the three other
Americans. They are Tyrone Woods, Glen
Doherty, and Sean Smith. I hope we
remember their families in our prayers, and once the truth is learned, I hope
we hold those responsible accountable and remember the lessons learned so that other American heroes and their
families don’t have to suffer a similar fate.
I have listened with interest the information being discovered
as a result of the Congressional inquiry into tragic the events in Libya. It seems that each day’s reports raise more
and more questions as to what was going on in the State Department and
Whitehouse before, during and after the September 11th attack. As the father of a son who has served his country
during two tours of duty in the Middle East, I am glad that my son returned
safely. I morn with the families who
have lost sons and daughters in service to our country, but I feel assured that
their sacrifice will bring eternal rewards.
In the words of the Savior “Greater love hath no man then this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.” [i]
In my son’s last deployment, I worried
as I was forced to question our country’s resolve. Unreasonable rules of engagement, the need
for civil clearance before action could be taken, and other political decisions tended to
tie the hands of our fighting men in an environment which was both tenuous and perilous. I am grateful my son is home safe and I will
pray for the safety of all of our nation's sons and daughters, fathers and
mothers, as long as they are in harm’s way.
As I have listen to the news coverage there are two conclusions
I have drawn. The first is that there is
no balanced coverage. There are two
presentations regarding the attacks. The
first is the portion of the media who are ignoring the story and failing to
report on anything except a few facts that they feel they must report on in
order to avoid being viewed as completely incompetent or biased. The second is the portion of the media who is
reporting on everything, whether vetted or not, who seem not to be concerned
whether their reporting is biased.
Perhaps most concerning to me is the fact that in almost each of the
reports I have seen, the media continually refers to Ambassador Stevens and
three other Americans who were killed in the attack. Are these repeated references to the three
Americans an effort to minimize the event by keeping us from putting faces on
those who died? The fact is that in
addition to Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and Glen
Doherty were also killed in the attack.
The fact that the other three Americans killed in the attack have names
and families seems to have been lost in the controversy. No matter what contributed to, happened
during, or after the attack, we should never allow those who died to become
nameless and faceless victims. They are
American Heroes, who died in defense of American soil even though that soil
lies within a foreign land. 
As far as I can tell after searching the news reports, Ambassador
Chris Stevens is survived by his mother, stepfather, brothers and sisters and other extended family. Tyrone Woods had parents, a wife and three
sons, Glen Doherty is survived by his father, mother and a brother and sister, Sean
Smith had parents, a wife and a son and daughter. Woods and Doherty were
decorated veterans. I would like to
think that my conclusions about their families are accurate but the reporting
on these suffering family members is both vague and limited. Unfortunately in all the reporting currently
going on about this tragedy, the names of these dedicated Americans is too
often left out. I hope that our congress continues to examine this incident to
determine who knew and did what, who did not do what should have been done, and
why our leaders failed to react to this terrorist act in an effort to save the
lives of these heroes. As the story plays
out, I hope the media and all of America remembers the names of the three other
Americans. They are Tyrone Woods, Glen
Doherty, and Sean Smith. I hope we
remember their families in our prayers, and once the truth is learned, I hope
we hold those responsible accountable and remember the lessons learned so that other American heroes and their
families don’t have to suffer a similar fate. 