“When I die, you need to pick up my gun and keep fighting.” These were the courageous words of Ambassador Stevens to his bodyguard, Special Agent Scott Wickland.These last words were finally revealed as Wickland gave testimony to the murders of Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith and Navy SEAL’s Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods on September 11th 2012. On trial for these heinous actions is the terrorist Ahmed Abu Khattala, who stands accused of orchestrating the attack on the American consulate in which a 13 hour firefight took place and four Americans were killed. The State Department, under Hillary Clinton, had ignored requests for more security as the post was seriously undermanned as well as the request for help during the firefight. Kris Paranto has not forgotten and it makes tons of difference as he has never let her live her deadly mistakes with the Benghazi situation down.
Wickland described the moments leading up to the death of Ambassador Stevens, telling the courtroom that they were searching for a bedroom with a window exit as the smoke and flames of the fully involved fire chased them throughout the consulate in Benghazi. Wickland found a suitable exit and left the flaming building assuming that Stevens and Smith were behind him only to realize that he was alone. The flames spread too fast and had already taken Stevens and staffer Sean Smith. We all know what transpired the following morning as hostile insurgents lead by Abu Khattala entered the consulate and retrieved the body of Stevens who they reported to be barely alive, then proceeded to desecrate his body in a riot throughout the streets of Benghazi.
Meanwhile, during the trial for numerous charges from murder to material support of terrorism, Abu Khattala plead not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he will face a life sentence in prison. While it is certainly fitting that we know evil’s face so that we may recognize it and stamp it out when it rears its ugly head, we’d rather pay more time and attention to Ambassador Stevens. While not a warrior or gunfighter or whatever slang term fighting men and women are referring to themselves as these days, Ambassador Stevens had a fighter’s heart and went out like an American. He didn’t urge surrender or appeasement. He told his bodyguard to keep fighting and to never stop.
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Ambassador Stevens did plenty of great things in his life: Being a father and a husband, and we may never know exactly how great he was at that, but we do know he did not die like a coward. He died a fighter. If how he died is any inclination as to how he lived, we were extremely lucky to have him amongst our ranks.