Benghazi survivor David Ubben still recovering after mortar injury and being abandoned on the roof for 20 hours

Months after the Benghazi attack critics were still calling for details to piece together the horrible attacks on the safehouse in Libya which left four Americans dead, one being Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

David Ubben survived the attacks in Benghazi, so lawmakers are hopeful he can testify in the Fall hearings.
Fire burns in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi after the attack there on September 11, 2012. VOA employee public domain

Diplomatic Security agent David Ubben, who fought alongside both former Navy SEALs who lost their lives, was himself severely wounded in the 8-hour ordeal, nearly lost his right leg after it was shredded from a mortar round. He’s still being treated at Walter Reed medical center where he was interviewed by Fox News.

Video coverage is below which details the attacks on the roof of the safehouse.

Ubben’s tale involves going into the Benghazi facility several times searching for Stevens in the smoke-and-flame filled building, but never could locate him.

He was injured by the mortar which killed Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods as he attempted to rescue Sean Smith. The wounded Ubben was on the rooftop for 20 hours but little else is known as the State Department has impeded an interview.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has attempted to interview according to Representative Jason Chaffetz:

“While initially they said they would be helpful, pretty quickly they turned that off. And I had a meeting scheduled to go visit this… young man and then I was denied.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki denies Chaffetz’s claim, saying State has been fully cooperative.

Republican congressman, Frank Wolf of Virginia, who has gathered a majority of Republicans in the House in support of a select committee to investigate Benghazi, recently sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry complaining that the State Department has refused for months to provide Congress with the names and contact information of the survivors.

With more hearings scheduled on Benghazi this fall, some lawmakers hope Ubben will feel he’s well enough to publicly testify, because he’s one of the few survivors to witness both waves of the attack.

Back in 2012 Ubben’s name was revealed as a survivor and his father, Rex Ubben, says he did not blame the State Department or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his son’s injuries.

But he added, “I do find it troubling that they have not owned up to their shortcomings; in government, in the military, and in business, if something goes wrong, you admit it, correct it, and move on.”

“If you were in charge, it was your fault,” he said.