Obama: 4 killed in Libya were patriots

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Four men killed at a U.S. consulate embodied the "American ideal," President Obama said in a ceremony Friday as their bodies returned to the United States.

The president, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials attended a transfer of remains ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.

Obama, in brief remarks, praised Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya; Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, former Navy SEALs working for a private contractor; and Sean Smith, an Air Force veteran working for the State Department.

"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," Obama said. "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."