U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton comments on Benghazi during her remarks on Democratic Transitions in the Maghreb at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., October 12, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the United Nations Security Council session on peace and security in the Middle East, New York, NY, September 26, 2012.  You can read the Secretary’s full remarks here.

President Barack Obama comments on Ambassador Chris Stevens during his remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York on September 25, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Libyan President Mohamed Magariaf in New York, New York on September 24, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns delivers remarks at a ceremony honoring fallen Americans in Tripoli, Libya, September 20, 2012. [Go tohttp://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deliver remarks at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya, at Andrews Air Force Base on September 14, 2012. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

On September 14, 2012, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered remarks at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony to honor those lost in attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Secretary Clinton began her remarks by saying, “…Today we bring home four Americans who gave their lives for our country and our values. To the families of our fallen colleagues, I offer our most heartfelt condolences and deepest gratitude.”

President Obama remembered the four men, and said:

“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,… more »

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton honor the Benghazi victims at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony held at Andrews Air Force Base, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, September 14, 2012. An attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya claimed the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and security personnel Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty on September 11, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Andrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews, MD
September 14, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Chaplain. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Panetta, Ambassador Rice, Secretary Powell and Mrs. Powell, family members of the four patriots and heroes we bring home, members of the State Department family, ladies and gentlemen, today we bring home four Americans who gave their lives for our country and our values. To the families of our fallen colleagues, I offer our most heartfelt condolences and deepest gratitude.

Sean Smith joined the State Department after six years in the Air Force. He was respected as an expert on technology by colleagues in Pretoria, Baghdad, Montreal, and The Hague. He enrolled in correspondence courses at Penn State and had high hopes for the future. Sean leaves behind a loving wife Heather, two young children, Samantha and Nathan, and scores of grieving family, friends, and colleagues. And that’s just in this world. Because online in the virtual worlds that Sean helped create, he is also being mourned by countless competitors, collaborators, and gamers who shared his passion.

Tyrone Woods, known to most as Rone, spent two decades as a Navy SEAL, serving multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2010, he protected American diplomatic personnel in dangerous posts from Central America to the Middle East. He had the hands of a healer as well as the arms of a warrior, earning distinction as a registered nurse and certified paramedic. Our hearts go out to Tyrone’s wife Dorothy, and his three sons Tyrone, Jr., Hunter, and Kai, born just a few months ago, along with his grieving family, friends, and colleagues. MORE

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