Some parts are easier than others. But the 13 hours he and other private military contractors spent fighting, trying to defend the U.S. compound in Libya from a terrorist attack, are etched in his memory forever.
"Parts are still hard for me to talk about," Paronto, a former Army Ranger, told a crowd of around 200 gathered at The Fort Worth Club on Thursday. "Politics had a lot to do with what went on that night.
"The State Department failed us."
That has been an issue of so much debate that a special House committee studied the Islamic militant attack on the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound in Libya -- and the response from Paronto and others on the CIA annex security team -- that occurred on the 11th anniversary of 9/11.
Four Americans -- including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens -- were killed.
The committee issued an 800-page report spreading blame through several governmental agencies for failing to better respond.