I am making a personal appeal to my US Congressmen and Senators to award the Congressional Medical of Honor to Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. These two men were killed in the attack on the Libyan
Consulate.
Why should they rate this high honor?
We now know that these two former Navy SEALS were at a CIA station about a mile from the Consulate when it was attacked. They immediately contacted CIA headquarters to report the attack and mobilize their team to come to the defense of the Ambassador and other staff at that location. Washington instructed them to “stand down.” A second request was also denied.
In true SEAL dedication to never leaving a man behind, they disregarded the order to abandon their fellow Americans and knowing that no back-up would be coming and responded on their own. They had to know that the only two possible outcomes of their action would be their own death or loss of their CIA employment. They chose honor over self interest.
While normally the MOH is reserved for active duty military, most CIA former SEALS are still military reserve and even if they weren’t, those two men responded as NAVY SEALS and not as civil servants. More importantly, these men responded with courage and dedication of American Heroes, rather than sitting by for seven hours and watching Americans die without moving to defend them as their bosses in Washington did.
The men and women fighting for our country have to know that when they go into harm’s way that the full strength of America is backing them up and they will not be left to die or left behind as POWs. That is the very least we owe them.
If you agree with this, please express this to your members of the US House and Senate by email, fax, or letter, and remind them that they are up for election in a week.