Cowardice: Father of murdered Navy SEAL reacts to news calls for help were denied three times

October 26, 2012

Writer

Charles Woods was on with Glenn last night on TV and again on radio this morning to talk about the incredibly shocking interactions he had with the President, the Vice President, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Woods goes over those stunning details and also reacts to the breaking news that the administration denied his sons calls for help 3 times. How did he react?

"We have a report in just now that there is a source that has confirmed that there were at least two requests for help sent to the CIA when the attack in Libya commenced. Both of the requests were denied. The two SEALs that went in to help the ambassador went in against orders. They died four hours after the attack began. They report now that two SEALs who were at the CIA annex one mile down the road had a position that they could have coordinated artillery or mortar support but they were told in no uncertain terms to stand down," Glenn told Woods on radio.

Rather than react to the breaking news with outrage and anger, Woods simply called the order an act of "cowardice" that did not represent the strength and character of America.

"That is cowardice by the people that issued that order. And our country is not a country of cowards. Our country is the greatest nation on Earth. And what we need to do is we need to raise up a generation of American heroes just like Ty who is an American hero. But in order to do that, we need to raise up a generation that has not just physical strength but moral strength. We do not need another generation of liars who lack more strength."

"I was just going to say to you, Charles, you have so much restraint and you are a far better man than I am," Glenn said.

"Glenn, I totally respect what you're doing. You're doing this every day. And like I said yesterday, I have to make sure that I have total forgiveness towards everyone. Like I said yesterday after the president spoke, the representative from Libya came up to me and said he was sorry. Afterward I sought him out and I said total forgiveness. I may be coming across a little bit strong, but I sincerely from my heart, I want to have total forgiveness towards everyone, but I also want to see justice and I also want to see the people who were involved change the direction of their lives for the better. I want the best for them as well."

"I hope to be able to shake your hand someday. You are a remarkable man," Glenn said.

Full interview transcript from radio below:

GLENN: Last night, last night I spoke to a man on television who is a remarkable, remarkable man, Charles Woods, father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods. Tyrone was killed in Benghazi. Charles is a guy who lives in Kona, Hawaii and has just, has remarkable peace and was not planning on speaking out at all about his son's death in Benghazi, nor saying things about what he experienced on the tarmac as his son's body was coming off of the plane in the flag‑draped coffin. But when he heard that the memos ‑‑ that the White House knew at 5:00 in the afternoon that the Secretary of Defense was in the Oval Office at 5:00 in the afternoon, the president was there, that Hillary Clinton also had these cables that have been released and that CBS has reported and verified that there was a drone in the air. If there wasn't a drone, because now Geraldo Rivera's saying there wasn't a drone, if there wasn't a drone, then that has ‑‑ you have to ask a question: Why wasn't there one? This was a seven‑hour battle. Why was there not a drone? We had people that were stationed and ready to go in Spain and in Sicily. You could have had people to help these guys within the hour.

At 4:00 the White House gets the first notice, at 5:00 another notice. Goes all the way, the last notice is about mortar fire at 11:57 p.m. The White House didn't ‑‑ what, they didn't go downstairs in the situation room? Really? The Secretary of Defense, this is going on, an embassy or a CIA safe house is under attack on September 11th and the Secretary of Defense doesn't have access, the president doesn't have access, they don't go downstairs? Really? We have asked the White House. They haven't responded. They won't tell us where the president was during the attack. We know that he was in the Oval Office at 5:00 with the Secretary of Defense. We know that. Other than that, they won't tell us what the White House did, what the White House knew, they won't tell us where the president was.

We have after this interview last night with Charles Woods, we reached out to Joe Biden's office; no comment. We reached out to the State Department for a comment; no comment. This story is huge, but ABC and CBS and NBC and MSNBC and CNN, they're not going to play this story. They are not going to cover this story. And it is really important that the word gets out because this goes to honor. As you will hear from Charles, he's on hold now as we go to him, I want you to listen to who this man is. I have not been struck by anything that smelled at all like politics. He was not going to speak out... until he started reading the cables.

Charles Woods from Hawaii, how are you, sir?

Woods: Yes. Good morning, Glenn. It's good to speak with you.

GLENN: First of all, how has your night been?

Woods: Oh, it's fine. The one thing I really wanted to emphasize, Glenn, is this is not about politics. Allow this ‑‑ to allow this would be political would be to dishonor my son's death. This is about honor, this is about integrity, and this is about justice.

GLENN: Okay. So you weren't planning on saying anything at all about your son's death and ‑‑

Woods: No. Actually, Glenn, my immediate family had made the decision that we were not going to make any public statements, but as I mentioned yesterday, this week, the past few days it did become public knowledge that within minutes of the first bullet being fired that the White House actually did know in realtime that my son and the other heroes that were defending American lives would be slaughtered and immediate air support was denied. And now it has come out that people in the White House, they knew the capabilities. They knew you that there were C‑130s that were ready to respond immediately. They knew that in less than an hour, the perimeters could have been secured and the American lives, including my son, could have been spared. But, you know, they heartlessly, for seven hours, watched my son and the other American heroes there fight numerically superior forces and they basically watched him die. They knew he was going to die if they did not send immediate air support, and they took the cowardly action: They chose not to do that.

GLENN: So Charles ‑‑

Woods: Then ‑‑

GLENN: Charles, I want to bring you to ‑‑ we'll talk some more about the president and Joe Biden, but I want to bring you to Hillary Clinton because I think this is critical in the timeline of the story. The president said during the debates when Mitt Romney said, "Where were you guys?" And you said that this was a video. And the president came and said, "No, no, no, I did not say it was a video. I said on September 11th that this was a terrorist attack," but ‑‑ and so now the whole media is spinning that, yes, that's really what he said, and everybody's trying to cover for this president. But you say when you were on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force base to receive your son's body, Hillary Clinton came up and spoke to you.

Woods: No. Actually, Glenn, this was not on the tarmac before the president spoke at the hangar that was televised. There was a building, very nice, fairly large room where there were couches in four different areas of that room, and each one of the four families was being represented, was comforting each other in each one of these four pods. And so it was not on the tarmac. It was actually in a building.

GLENN: Okay. And she came up to you and she said what?

Woods: Basically Hillary, she came up to me and, you know, she looked quite frankly very worn out. She came up to shake my hand. I shook her hand and I put my arm around her shoulder and, you know, she did express sympathy, "I'm sorry for what happened to your son" and then she, I guess to comfort me, said, "We will make sure that the person who made this film is arrested and prosecuted."

GLENN: This flies in the face now of everything that they said because now they're saying that they ‑‑ no, they knew that it was attack. Again, this verifies the story that they are now trying to cover that they were blaming it on this video. Did any of them talk to you at all about a terrorist attack, or was it just this film, and is this the only thing that they said about it?

Woods: You know, Glenn, I really don't want to cast aspersions about any particular individual, okay? There were people in the White House who were morally not strong, who watched my son valiantly fight against superior forces for seven hours. There were people in the White House who made the decision to deny their cries for help. I don't want to suggest any particular people. Those people, they know who they are. And they need to have the moral courage to stand up.

GLENN: Can I ‑‑

Woods: So that they can change their lives. Well, Glenn, I did not want to pinpoint any particular person.

GLENN: Okay.

Woods: There are people that did not have the moral strength. They know who they are. My son showed courage. Now it is time for those people to stand up and to make a change in their lives for the better. I don't want to pinpoint any particular person. I do not want this to become political.

GLENN: I understand that and I'm ‑‑ what I'm trying to do, Charles, is just ask for the facts on ‑‑ because this is not political. This ‑‑ to me this is so important because Libya shows that we have changed as a country the way we treat our military. We always go in and get the last man. We always risk all to save. That's who we are as Americans and they are ‑‑

Woods: That's exactly right. And when Ty went into the Navy SEALs, that is what he went in for was to save life, not to take life. When he first went in, he went in to become a medic. Each team, each Navy SEAL team has a number of individuals. Each one of them has a different set of skills. His skill set was to become as skillful as an emergency room doctor. That's why for two years he was with the ambulance service in San Diego with the San Diego fire department, not dressed as a SEAL but dressed as one of them so that he could do that because that is always the policy of the SEALs and every other military operation that they never abandon their men in the field. They never leave anyone behind. That's the way our military works. That's because our military has a high code of ethics.

GLENN: Okay. Can you tell me about what the vice presidents ‑‑ I got yelled at by my wife last night.

Woods: You know, Glenn, what was said was said, and I really don't want to make any more statements. That was ‑‑

GLENN: Okay.

Woods: ‑‑ what was said.

GLENN: But do you stand by ‑‑ I want to make sure that you do stand by what you told me last night.

Woods: Oh, 100%.

GLENN: Okay.

Woods: What I said was quotes, was word for word. I do not speak that way.

GLENN: All right.

Woods: I did not speak those words.

GLENN: Okay. All right. Well, Charles, I thank you so much for your courage to stand up and I hope you don't mind that I said this morning ‑‑

Woods: No, I really ‑‑ Glenn, I appreciate very much what you're doing, and this is such an important issue, I don't want it to be forgotten. I don't want it to be swept under the rug. But all I want to do is I want to honor my son and I also want to give those people who did not have moral strength, the opportunity to voluntarily stand up and show the moral strength now that they should have shown while they were watching for seven hours my son fight while they were allowing my son to be murdered, when they showed a lack of moral courage to send in and respond to the cries for help.

GLENN: We have ‑‑ we have a report in just now that there is a source that has confirmed that there were at least two requests for help sent to the CIA when the attack in Libya commenced. Both of the requests were denied. The two SEALs that went in to help the ambassador went in against orders. They died four hours after the attack began. They report now that two SEALs who were at the CIA annex one mile down the road had a position that they could have coordinated artillery or mortar support but they were told in no uncertain terms to stand down.

STU: Jeez.

Woods: That is cowardice by the people that issued that order. And our country is not a country of cowards. Our country is the greatest nation on Earth. And what we need to do is we need to raise up a generation of American heroes just like Ty who is an American hero. But in order to do that, we need to raise up a generation that has not just physical strength but moral strength. We do not need another generation of liars who lack more strength.

GLENN: Charles ‑‑

Woods: And I hope my words are not too strong for you, Glenn.

GLENN: I was just saying you have ‑‑ I was just going to say to you, Charles, you have so much restraint and you are a far better man than I am. If the rules ‑‑

Woods: No, Glenn, I totally respect what you're doing. You're doing this every day. And like I said yesterday, I have to make sure that I have total forgiveness towards everyone. Like I said yesterday after the president spoke, the representative from Libya came up to me and said he was sorry. Afterward I sought him out and I said total forgiveness. I may be coming across a little bit strong, but I sincerely from my heart, I want to have total forgiveness towards everyone, but I also want to see justice and I also want to see the people who were involved change the direction of their lives for the better. I want the best for them as well.

GLENN: Charles, God bless you.

Woods: Thank you very much, Glenn.

GLENN: I hope to be able to shake your hand someday. You are a remarkable man.

Woods: Thank you very much, Glenn.

GLENN: God bless you. Thank you. I have to tell you something. I think this guy is... I mean ‑‑

STU: Amazing. Amazing.

GLENN: I mean, amazing. Amazing. Listen to that. His son, I just was handed this report in the middle that said they were told to stand down. They were told to do nothing and they were like, we cannot let people just die, our own people just die. And they went in and they had to have known. There's no help coming. They had to have known they were going to go in and fight. And I tell him that, and listen to that man. You can't tell me that's about politics.

STU: No.

GLENN: That is about honor. This is what this race is about. Because that's who we are. You just have to find the honor again. We have to reach higher than what we've reached for. Please, this story is not being told yet anywhere. Please get this story out to everyone you know. Take it. It will be posted up on TheBlaze. Last night's episode was already posted. This will be posted. Take it. Facebook it. Tweet it. Put it everywhere you know, as many places as you can. Send it to everyone you know. This is critical. Because this is really what it's all about and it shows they're lying. In a very dangerous and very callous way.

Without civic action, America faces collapse

JEFF KOWALSKY / Contributor | Getty Images

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

I slept through high school civics class. I memorized the three branches of government, promptly forgot them, and never thought of that word again. Civics seemed abstract, disconnected from real life. And yet, it is critical to maintaining our republic.

Civics is not a class. It is a responsibility. A set of habits, disciplines, and values that make a country possible. Without it, no country survives.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Civics happens every time you speak freely, worship openly, question your government, serve on a jury, or cast a ballot. It’s not a theory or just another entry in a textbook. It’s action — the acts we perform every day to be a positive force in society.

Many of us recoil at “civic responsibility.” “I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I do my civic duty.” That’s not civics. That’s a scam, in my opinion.

Taking up the torch

The founders knew a republic could never run on autopilot. And yet, that’s exactly what we do now. We assume it will work, then complain when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the people steering the country are driving it straight into a mountain — and they know it.

Our founders gave us tools: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections. But they also warned us: It won’t work unless we are educated, engaged, and moral.

Are we educated, engaged, and moral? Most Americans cannot even define a republic, never mind “keep one,” as Benjamin Franklin urged us to do after the Constitutional Convention.

We fought and died for the republic. Gaining it was the easy part. Keeping it is hard. And keeping it is done through civics.

Start small and local

In our homes, civics means teaching our children the Constitution, our history, and that liberty is not license — it is the space to do what is right. In our communities, civics means volunteering, showing up, knowing your sheriff, attending school board meetings, and understanding the laws you live under. When necessary, it means challenging them.

How involved are you in your local community? Most people would admit: not really.

Civics is learned in practice. And it starts small. Be honest in your business dealings. Speak respectfully in disagreement. Vote in every election, not just the presidential ones. Model citizenship for your children. Liberty is passed down by teaching and example.

Samuel Corum / Stringer | Getty Images

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Start with yourself. Study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and state laws. Study, act, serve, question, and teach. Only then can we hope to save the republic. The next election will not fix us. The nation will rise or fall based on how each of us lives civics every day.

Civics isn’t a class. It’s the way we protect freedom, empower our communities, and pass down liberty to the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn's Show Prep

Cowardice: Father of murdered Navy SEAL reacts to news calls for help were denied three times

Without civic action, America faces collapse

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Taking up the torch

Start small and local

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Picking up his torch

Two turning points, decades apart

A time for courage

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

From Muhammad to Marx

Gifts from God, not the state