The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 14, 2012
Andrews Air Force Base
2:46 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Scripture teaches us “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  Glen Doherty never shied from adventure.  He believed that, in his life, he could make a difference — a calling he fulfilled as a Navy SEAL.  He served with distinction in Iraq and worked in Afghanistan.  And there, in Benghazi, as he tended to others, he laid down his life, loyal as always, protecting his friends.  Today, Glen is home.

Tyrone Woods devoted 20 years of his life to the SEALs — the consummate “quiet professional.”  At the Salty Frog Bar, they might not have known, but “Rone” also served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And there, in Benghazi, he was far from Dorothy and Tyrone Jr., Hunter and little Kai.  And he laid down his life, as he would have for them, protecting his friends.  And today, Rone is home. 

Sean Smith, it seems, lived to serve — first, in the Air Force, then, with you at the State Department.  He knew the perils of this calling from his time in Baghdad.  And there, in Benghazi, far from home, he surely thought of Heather and Samantha and Nathan.  And he laid down his life in service to us all.  Today, Sean is home.

Chris Stevens was everything America could want in an ambassador, as the whole country has come to see — how he first went to the region as a young man in the Peace Corps, how during the revolution, he arrived in Libya on that cargo ship, how he believed in Libya and its people and how they loved him back.  And there, in Benghazi, he laid down his life for his friends — Libyan and American — and for us all.  Today, Chris is home.

Four Americans, four patriots — they loved this country and they chose to serve it, and served it well.  They had a mission and they believed in it.  They knew the danger and they accepted it.  They didn’t simply embrace the American ideal, they lived it.  They embodied it — the courage, the hope and, yes, the idealism, that fundamental American belief that we can leave this world a little better than before.  That’s who they were and that’s who we are.  And if we want to truly honor their memory, that’s who we must always be. MORE