Solemn Ceremony for Americans Killed in Libya

Bodies returned to U.S. Soil

Standing next to the caskets of four slain Americans, President Obama pledged the U.S. will honor their sacrifice by standing steadfast in the fight for "dignity and freedom."

The murders of the American ambassador to Libya and three colleagues at the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, should inspire Americans to not pull back from global responsibilities, he said, but rather to deepen commitment to the principles that make the U.S. exceptional.

"The United States of America will never retreat from the world," Obama told the friends and families of the four men. "We will never stop working for the dignity and freedom that every person deserves, whatever their creed, whatever their faith . . . That's the spirit that sets us apart from other nations."