Former Army Ranger Kris Paronto Recalls Feeling The “Hand Of God” During Benghazi Attack: “Felt A Gold Cocoon Come On Top Of Me”

All these years later, we're still finding out more about the 2012 Benghazi attack. On September 11, 2012, a group of armed militants called Ansar l-Sharia launched an attack on both a United States diplomatic compound and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans lost their life that night, including Chris Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador that was located there. The attack and fight that ensued is often referred to as the most politically scrutinized "13 Hours" since the turn of the century. As you probably know if you are familiar with the incident, countless and seemingly never-ending investigations took place after the attack - with a lot of them revolving around Hillary Clinton, who was at that point the Secretary of State. There were many questions of the security of the diplomatic compound and CIA annex, and some felt as though Hillary Clinton should have known about the risks that were naturally posed by the Benghazi mission. One of the main problems that is highlighted in Michael Bay's 2016 film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is that the CIA base chief delayed the soldier security team from responding to the attack for around 20 minutes. The "stand down" order is still argued about to this day with CIA and other military officials claiming that was never the order. Meanwhile, some of operators who were there have confirmed that "stand down" was absolutely the order. Regardless of how everything went down, the former military operatives that responded to the terrorist attack - and got into a lengthy and highly dangerous fire fight - are hailed as incredibly brave heroes. The six-man security team was compromised of Tyrone Woods, Jack Silva, Mark Geist, John Tiegen, Kris Paronto, Dave Benton. Woods sadly did not survive the Benghazi attacks. Eventually, a GRS team from Tripoli arrived to help, and former Navy SEAL Glen "Bub" Doherty was also tragically killed in the firefight. Former Army Ranger Kris “Tonto” Paronto recently joined The Shawn Ryan Show to talk more about the night that will forever be a part of United States history. The operative talked about how close to death he felt during those 13 hours, and one particular moment where he thought he was going to meet his maker: "I hear a 'boom' from a distance. I know that's an RPG. And I just go like this (and tense up), because I know I'm dead. So I'm just hoping I hear the second boom, because if I do, I know I'm alive. And I do. I hear it, 'boom,' it blows up. And all that came in my head was, 'Ranger battalion, what's your cover, ranger?' Bullets. 'What do you do when someone is shooting at you?' You shoot back." His instincts kicked in, which helped him stay alive. Though Paronto firmly believes that he only made it through the night because he benefited from being protected by the hand of God, as he explained: "I took a knee on that road and I just started shooting. I've never felt the 'Hand of God' before. I've never felt it again. I do really believe we all get one 'Hand of God' moment where he steps in and protects you, and I did. God pities the one who needs to be pitied and he says, "I gotchya.' And I felt a gold cocoon come on top of me. It was a golden egg... (I thought) 'God's got me.' Just a golden egg, it felt warm. It was a physical feeling, warm, 'I got you.' I just felt safe." In the full podcast episode, he went on to say that a Libyan man in slacks and a button shirt, "like he just got off work," took a knee right next to him and started laying down more supporting fire. He adds that he has no idea who that guy was and never saw him again. Based on how he tells the story, there must have been no other explanation for his survival other than God intervening. Considering Paronto was there, and he's the one that's saying he felt the hand of God, I'd say that's all the reason we need to believe him. You can hear him talk about it in the clip below: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEQCP_JRnCJ/ The whole episode is a fantastic watch... to hear a first-hand account of what these heroes endured in Benghazi that night, as well as he aftermath, the anger that followed... it's just beyond comprehension for the average person. Check it out: https://youtu.be/rmsDplVPX6Y?si=uuWnxscynT8V7f1Y