Kris Paronto, Dixie College alumnus and inspiration for the recent Michael Bay movie “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” will return to St. George to share about his harrowing experience that inspired the movie. This special event will take place at noon on Monday, Jan. 25, in the ballroom of the Gardner Student Center on the DSU campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
Paronto, affectionately known in security contracting circles as “Tanto,” is being portrayed in the film for his role in responding to the terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. As one of six members of the CIA annex security team that battled on for 13 hours, Paronto helped repel the attackers and save more than 20 lives.
Based on the book “13 Hours in Benghazi: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened” by Mitchell Zuckoff, the film presents firsthand, never-before-told details of the attack on Benghazi when terrorists attacked the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex.
Paronto is a former Army Ranger from the 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and a private security contractor who has deployed throughout South America, Central America, the Middle East, and North Africa. He also worked with the U.S. government’s Global Response Staff conducting low-profile security in high-threat environments throughout the world.
A native of Alamosa, Colo., Paronto graduated from Dixie College with an associate degree in 1992. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., and a master’s from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He served four years in the Army and an additional four years in the Army National Guard, reaching the rank of sergeant and becoming a commissioned officer in 2003. He started contracting for Blackwater Security Consulting in 2003 and continued to deploy on various security contracts to include the Global Response Staff until 2013.
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