Romney will stop mentioning SEAL Doherty

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will stop mentioning in speeches a former Navy SEAL who died at the U.S. Consulate in Libya, his campaign said.

Romney has been talking during campaign appearances about Glen Doherty, one of four Americans killed in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, telling audiences he had briefly known Doherty -- that the two had met a few years ago at a party near Romney's home in La Jolla, Calif., The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"He came from Massachusetts, where I'd been governor, had family there," Romney told audiences. "He also had skied in some of the places, snow skiing that I had found during the Winter Olympics in Utah, that I'd skied at. And we had a nice chat together.

"And you can imagine how shocked I was to learn that he was one of the two Navy -- former Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi, just a couple of weeks ago."

Doherty's mother told WHDH-TV, Boston, she wanted Romney to stop using her son's name in his campaign.

"I don't trust Romney. He shouldn't make my son's death part of his political agenda," Barbara Doherty said. "It's wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama."

In one speech, Romney talked about the valor of the former Navy SEALs in Libya: "And when they heard that the consulate was under attack, they went to the attack. They didn't hunker down and hide themselves. No, they went there. That's what Americans do. When there's a challenge, when there's a threat, we go there. When things are tough, we don't give up, we keep fighting. There's a saying that I've found pretty compelling. Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose."