Running toward the gunfire

Mitt Romney tells a story about a Navy SEAL he met by accident a couple of year ago when he got mixed up about the address of a neighborhood party:
Then there is [Glen] Doherty, the former Navy SEAL Romney met at a party he wasn't supposed to attend. 
Both were from Massachusetts.  Both enjoyed skiing.  And Doherty, who was 42 at the time of his death [in Benghazi last month], talked about his work in the Middle East for a private security company after he finished his tour of duty as a Navy SEAL. 
"You can imagine how I felt when I found out that he was one of the two former Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi on Sept. 11," Romney said in Iowa, pausing to stay composed.  "It touched me obviously as I recognized this young man that I thought was so impressive had lost his life in his service of his fellow men and women." 
Romney said he learned that Doherty was in another building across town when he and his colleagues found out the consulate was under attack. 
"They went there. They didn't hunker down where they were in safety.  They rushed there to go help," Romney said.  "This is the American way.  We go where there's trouble.  We go where we're needed.  And right now we are needed. Right now the American people need us."

3 comments:

bthun said...

One of the SEAL's mom's has voiced her displeasure of Romney making use of her son's death for politics.

Nonetheless, the point remains. These young me ran towards the gunfire to offer whatever help they could, no matter the cost.

A relatively rare breed who now sits in Valhalla.

Salute!

douglas said...

She's angry and mourning, and probably trusts no one in power right about now. She's entitled. Of course, Romney agreed to stop referring to him, as a gentleman would. Both parts of that story speak to the character of the man, in stark contrast in particular to the recent actions of the incumbent.

Texan99 said...

I agree, Romney acted the gentleman. I thought it was telling that he mentioned her son, not in the context of saying the present administration got him needlessly killed, but as a parallel for his vision of American leadership: a willingness to do the right thing at great cost. But in the present circumstances, even mentioning Benghazi has a subtext of criticizing the White House for campaign purposes, so I can understand her asking Romney to stop talking about her son on the stump.