CIA Memorial Wall
Encyclopedia
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
at the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
headquarters in Langley, Virginia
Langley, Virginia
Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.The community was essentially absorbed into McLean many years ago, although there is still a Langley High School...
. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.
Memorial
The Memorial Wall is located in the Original Headquarters Building lobbyLobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
on the north wall. There are 102 star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s carved into the white Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
wall, each one representing an employee who died in the line of service. Paramilitary officers of the CIA's Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
comprise the majority of those memorialized.
A black Moroccan goatskin
Morocco leather
Morocco leather is a leather made from goatskin, dyed red on the grain side and then tanned by hand to bring up the grain in a bird's-eye pattern....
-bound book, called the "Book of Honor," sits in a steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
frame beneath the stars, its "slender case jutting out from the wall just below the field of stars," and is "framed in stainless steel and topped by an inch-thick plate of glass." Inside it shows the stars, arranged by year of death and, when possible, lists the names of employees who died in CIA service alongside them. The identities of the unnamed stars remain secret, even in death. In 1997, there were 70 stars, 29 of which had names. There were 79 stars in 2002,
83 in 2004, 90 in 2009, and 102 in 2010. 62 of the 102 entries in the book contain names, while the other employees are represented only by a gold star followed by a blank space.
The Wall bears the inscription IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY in gold block letters
Block letters
Block letters are a form of writing in which the letters are upright, separated, and usually made without serifs. In English-speaking countries children are first taught to write in block letters , and later may advance to cursive writing...
. The Wall is flanked by the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
on the left and a flag bearing the CIA seal on the right.
Adding new stars
When new names are added to the Book of Honor, stone carverStone carving
Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work....
Tim Johnston of Carving and Restoration Team in Manassas, Virginia
Manassas, Virginia
The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...
adds a new star to the Wall. Johnston learned the process of creating the stars from the original sculptor of the Wall, Harold Vogel, who created the first 31 stars and the Memorial Wall inscription when the Wall was created in July 1974. The wall was "first conceived as a small plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
to recognize those from the CIA who died in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, the idea quickly grew to a memorial for Agency employees who died in the line of duty." The process used by Johnston to add a new star is as follows:
Candidates
The Honor and Merit Awards Board (HMAB) recommends approval of candidates to be listed on the wall to the director of the Central Intelligence AgencyDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency serves as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is part of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director reports to the Director of National Intelligence . The Director is assisted by the Deputy Director of the Central...
. The CIA states that "Inclusion on the Memorial Wall is awarded posthumously to employees who lose their lives while serving their country in the field of intelligence. Death may occur in the foreign field or in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Death must be of an inspirational or heroic character while in the performance of duty; or as the result of an act of terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
while in the performance of duty; or as an act of premeditated violence targeted against an employee, motivated solely by that employee's Agency affiliation; or in the performance of duty while serving in areas of hostilities or other exceptionally hazardous conditions where the death is a direct result of such hostilities or hazards." After approval by the director, the Office of Protocol arranges for a new star to be placed on the Wall.
People honored on the Memorial Wall
- Douglas MackiernanDouglas MackiernanDouglas Seymour Mackiernan was the first officer of the Central Intelligence Agency to be killed in the line of duty. He worked as a cryptographer for the United States Air Force and was then posted to China, as an Air Force Meteorologist during World War II...
- The first CIA employee to be killed in the line of duty and the first star on the wall. Mackiernan had worked for the State DepartmentUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
since 1947. When the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was established at the end of the Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in 1949, the State Department ordered that the TihwaÜrümqiÜrümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
(Ürümqi) consulate where Mackiernan was stationed as vice consulConsul (representative)The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
to be closed, and personnel were to leave the country immediately. Mackiernan, however, was ordered to stay behind, destroy cryptographicCryptographyCryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
equipment, monitor the situation, and aid anti-communistAnti-communismAnti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
NationalistsKuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
. Mackiernan fled south toward IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
after most escape routes were cut off, along with Frank BessacFrank BessacFrancis Bagnall Bessac was an American anthropologist who spent much of his life teaching the subject at the University of Montana, where he was appointed to the faculty in 1965...
, an American Fulbright Scholar who was in Tihwa, and three White RussiansWhite movementThe White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
. Although Mackiernan and his party survived the Taklamakan Desert and HimalayasHimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, Mackiernan was shot by TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an border guards, probably because they mistook them as CommunistCommunist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
infiltrators. Although Mackiernan's death was reported on the front cover of the New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
at the time of his death and his name appears on a plaqueCommemorative plaqueA commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
in the State Department lobby, the CIA did not reveal his service, because he was operating under diplomatic cover. His star was acknowledged to family members in a secret memorial ceremony at the Wall in 2000 but remained officially undisclosed until 2006, when his name was placed into the CIA's Book of Honor. - Norman A. Schwartz and Robert C. Snoddy - Both were pilots of a C-47 aircraft on a mission to extract a CIA operative from China. Their plane took off on November 29, 1952, from South Korea for Jilin province, China. They were preparing to pick up the agent with an airborne extraction system when the operative was compromised by Chinese forces on the ground and their plane was shot down. Both Schwarts and Snoddy were killed, while two other CIA crewmembers, Richard G. FecteauRichard FecteauRichard Fecteau of Lynn, Massachusetts was captured by the Chinese during the CIA-sponsored flight over China during the Korean War. News of the capture of Fecteau and John T. Downey reached the United States in November 1954, sparking a nearly 2 decade battle of wills between the U.S. and the PRC...
and John T. DowneyJohn T. DowneyJohn T. 'Jack' Downey was a CIA operative who was held captive in China for twenty years.-Early life:Originally from New Britain, Connecticut, Downey graduated from The Choate School and in 1951 Yale University....
, were captured by the Chinese and held until 1971 and 1973, respectively. Schwartz's and Snoddy's remains were returned in 2005. - Four CIA Lockheed U-2Lockheed U-2The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
pilots who died in plane crashes - Wilburn S. Rose (d. May 15, 1956), Frank G. Grace (d. August 31, 1956), Howard Carey (d. September 17, 1956), and Eugene "Buster" Edens (d. April 1965). Rose, Grace, Carey, and Edens were honored with stars in 1974. - William P. Boteler - Boteler was killed in a bombing attack on a restaurant frequented by CIA operatives that was committed by the group EOKAEOKAEOKA was an anticolonial, antiimperialist nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on the 1st of April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving...
in Cyprus on June 16, 1956. - James J. McGrath - A native of Middletown, ConnecticutMiddletown, ConnecticutMiddletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, McGrath died following an accident while working on a high-power German transmitter in January 1957. His star was placed on the wall in 2007. - Chiyoki IkedaChiyoki IkedaChiyoki Ikeda was listed in the CIA Memorial Wall on May 14, 1997. Ikeda had possessed dual citizenship, but chose to renounce his Japanese citizenship in September 1940.-Work in the CIA:...
- Ikeda died when Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, disintegrated in-flight and crashed near Cannelton, Indiana on March 17, 1960. The flight carried 57 passengers and 6 crew members. There were no survivors....
crashed in Indiana on March 17, 1960, while he was on temporary duty assignment in the United States. - Stephen Kasarda, Jr. - A native of McKees Rocks, PennsylvaniaMcKees Rocks, PennsylvaniaMcKees Rocks, also known as "The Rocks", is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, along the south bank of the Ohio River. The borough population was 6,104 at the 2010 census.In the past, it was known for its extensive iron and steel interests...
, Kasarda died in May 1960, while stationed in Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. He was working with air supplyAirdropAn airdrop is a type of airlift, developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible troops, who themselves may have been airborne forces. In some cases, it is used to refer to the airborne assault itself. Early airdrops were conducted by dropping or pushing padded bundles from...
missions being flown into Tibet. - Four CIA pilots were killed on April 19, 1961, while supporting the failed Bay of Pigs invasionBay of Pigs InvasionThe Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
on Cuba - Leo F. Baker, Wade C. Gray, Thomas W. Ray and Riley W. Shamburger. One more American was killed during the invasion, paratrooper Herman Koch Gene, but he was not part of the CIA. - John J. Merriman - A CIA pilot, he was shot down on July 26, 1964, while attacking a convoy of Simba rebelsSimba RebellionThe Simba Rebellion was a 1964 rebellion in the former Republic of the Congo which began as a result of alleged abuses by the Congolese central government...
near KabaloKabaloKabalo is one of a number of towns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with this name. This one is in the east, in Tanganyika District.- Transport :Kabalo is the junction of railway lines to the north and to Lake Tanganyika in the east....
, CongoRepublic of the Congo (Léopoldville)The Republic of the Congo was an independent republic established following the independence granted to the former colony of the Belgian Congo in 1960...
with his T-28 counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft. - Barbara A. Robbins - Killed in a Vietcong car bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon, South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
on March 30, 1965. - Edward Johnson and Louis O'Jibway - Both were members of the CIA front company called Air America who were working as intelligence officers. They were killed when their helicopter crashed into the Mekong river in Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
on August 20, 1965. - Michael M. Deuel and Michael A. Maloney - Both were members of the CIA front company called Air America who were working as intelligence officers. They were killed, along with one more Air America pilot and a mechanic, when their helicopter crashed near Saravane, LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
on October 12, 1965. - Two CIA A-12 pilots who died in plane crashes - Walter L. Ray (d. January 5, 1967) and Jack W. Weeks (d. June 4, 1968).
- 11 officers were killed in action during the Vietnam warVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
or LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
from 1967 to 1975 - Unknown (d. 1967), Billy J. Johnson (d. 1968), Wayne J. McNulty (d. 1968), Richard M. Sisk (d. 1968), Paul C. Davis (d. 1971), David L. Konzelman (d. 1971), Willbur M. Greene (d. 1972), Raymond L. Seaborg (d. 1972), John Peterson (d. 1972), John W. Kearns (d. 1972), William A. Bennett (d. 1975). - Hugh Francis RedmondHugh Francis RedmondA former World War II paratrooper and native of Yonkers, New York, Hugh Francis Redmond later worked for the CIA in their storied Special Activities Division...
- Redmond was a member of the Special Activities DivisionSpecial Activities DivisionThe Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
who was posing as an ice cream machine salesman when he was captured in 1951, in Shanghai, China while boarding a ship for San Francisco. He was in captivity for 19 years until he died on April 13, 1970. The Chinese claimed he slit his wrists. - Raymond C. Rayner - Rayner was killed by an unknown intruder who broke into his home on the night of November 23, 1974, on Bushrod IslandBushrod IslandBushrod Island is an island near Monrovia, Liberia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River and the Mesurado River. It contains the Freeport of Monrovia, the major national port of Liberia and a variety of businesses. It also contains numerous residential areas and government buildings...
, near MonroviaMonroviaMonrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
, LiberiaLiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. - James A. Rawlings - Killed in a cargo plane crash in South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
in January 1975. He was declared missing and, a year later, the CIA issued a “presumptive determination” of death. - Tucker GougelmannTucker GougelmannTucker Pierre Edward Power Gougelmann was a United States Marine Corps captain, World War II veteran, and a Central Intelligence Agency officer in their Special Activities Division who was killed in Vietnam in 1976.-World War II and entry in to the CIA:...
- Gougelmann was a Paramilitary Operations Officer from the CIA's Special Activities Division who worked in the CIA from 1949 to 1972, serving in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Gougelmann returned to Saigon in spring 1975 in an attempt to secure exit visas for loved ones after North VietnamNorth VietnamThe Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
had launched a major offensive. He missed his final flight out of Saigon, and was captured by the North Vietnamese, who tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d him for 11 months before he died. Gougelmann was honored with a Memorial Star after the criteria for inclusion on the Wall was broadened and after "It was determined that although Gougelmann did not die in the line of duty while employed by CIA, his past affiliation with the Agency led to his death." - Richard WelchRichard WelchRichard Skeffington Welch , a Harvard-educated classicist, was a CIA Station Chief killed by the radical Marxist organization Revolutionary Organization 17 November .-Early life and CIA career:...
- Station chief in Greece was assassinated by the radical MarxistMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
organization Revolutionary Organization 17 NovemberRevolutionary Organization 17 NovemberRevolutionary Organization 17 November , was a Marxist urban guerrilla organization formed in 1975 and believed to have been disbanded in 2002 after the arrest and trial of a...
in December 1975. - Denny Gabriel and Berl King - Former members of the CIA's Air America, they were killed, along with a member of the U.S. Special Forces, when their plane crashed during a training exercise for a top-secret mission on July 13, 1978, in North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. - Robert C. Ames, Phyliss Faraci, Kenneth E. Haas, Deborah M. Hixon, Frank J. Johnston, James Lewis, Monique Lewis and William Richard Sheil - Died in the 1983 Beirut embassy bombing1983 United States Embassy bombingThe 1983 U.S. embassy bombing was a suicide bombing against the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983 that killed over 60 people, mostly embassy staff members and United States Marines and sailors. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time, and is...
. Haas was the station chief. - Richard Spicer, Scott J. Van Lieshout and Curtis R. Wood - Killed in a plane crash while on a covert mission during the Salvadoran Civil War on October 18, 1984.
- William Francis BuckleyWilliam Francis BuckleyWilliam Francis Buckley was a United States Army officer and a Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Special Activities Division of the CIA. He died on or around June 3, 1985 while in the custody of Hezbollah...
- Station chief in LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
killed in captivity in 1985. - Richard D. Krobock - Killed in a helicopter crash during the Salvadoran Civil War on March 26, 1987.
- Matthew GannonMatthew GannonMatthew Kevin Gannon was a CIA Officer killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland....
- Gannon was the CIA's deputy station chief in BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and was one of at least four American intelligence officers aboard the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
, sitting in Clipper Class seat 14J, when it was blown apart. - Michael Atkinson, George Bensch, George V. Lacy, Pharies "Bud" Petty, Gerhard H. Rieger and Jimmy Spessard - Killed when their C-47 transport plane crashed on November 27, 1989, in AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
while supporting the rebel group UNITAUNITAThe National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
. Also killed were 11 members of UNITA that were onboard. - Larry Freedman - Killed by a landmine in Somalia on December 23, 1992.
- 1993 shootings at CIA Headquarters - The two fatalities of the attack were Lansing H. Bennett M.D., 66, and Frank Darling, 28, both CIA employees. Bennett, with experience as a physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, was working as an intelligence analyst assessing the health of foreign leaders. Darling worked in covert operationCovert operationA covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
s. - Freddie WoodruffFreddie WoodruffFreddie Woodruff was a regional affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilsi, Georgia. He was shot in the head and killed in 1993...
- Assassinated in Tbilsi, GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
on August 8, 1993, while acting as the station chief involved in training the bodyguards of Georgian leader Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard ShevardnadzeEduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
and the élite Omega Special Task ForceOmega Special Task ForceThe Special Task Force "Omega" is a Georgian élite Special Forces unit, one of the first such formations in the country, active since 1993.-History:...
. - James M. Lewek - Killed when a United States Air Force CT-43A crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crashOn April 3, 1996, a United States Air Force CT-43A crashed on approach to Dubrovnik, Croatia while on an official trade mission. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-253 built as a T-43 navigation trainer, was carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and 34 other people, including The New York...
on April 3, 1996. 34 other people onboard were also killed. - John G.A. Celli III - Killed in a traffic accident in the Middle East in November 1996.
- Unknown female officer was confirmed to had died a violent death in 1996, but the exact circumstances were not revealed.
- Tom Shah and Molly C.H. Hardy - Died in the 1998 African embassy bombings1998 United States embassy bombingsThe 1998 United States embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The date of the...
. - Johnny Micheal "Mike" SpannJohnny Micheal SpannJohnny Micheal "Mike" Spann was a paramilitary operations officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division. Spann was the first American killed in combat during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.-Early life:Johnny Micheal Spann was originally from the small town of...
- He was a Paramilitary Operations Officer from the Special Activities Division killed during a Taliban prison uprising in November 2001 in Mazar-e SharifMazar-e SharifMazār-i-Sharīf or Mazār-e Sharīf is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 375,000 as of 2006. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by roads to Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the south-east, Herat to the west and Uzbekistan to the north...
(see Battle of Qala-i-JangiBattle of Qala-i-JangiThe Battle of Qala-i-Jangi took place between November 25 and December 1, 2001, in Northern Afghanistan. It began with the uprising of foreign Taliban prisoners held at Qala-i-Jangi fortress, and escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the War in Afghanistan...
). His star, the 79th, was added in 2002. Officer Spann was posthumously awarded the Intelligence StarIntelligence StarThe Intelligence Star is an award given by the Central Intelligence Agency for a "voluntary act or acts of courage performed under hazardous conditions or for outstanding achievements or services rendered with distinction under conditions of grave risk." The award citation is from the Director...
for valor for his actions. - Helge P. Boes - Killed by a grenade during a training accident in Afghanistan on February 7, 2003.
- Christopher Glenn Mueller and William "Chief" Carlson - Two paramilitary contractors from Special Activities DivisionSpecial Activities DivisionThe Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
killed in an ambush in Afghanistan on October 25, 2003. On May 21, 2004, these officers' stars were dedicated at a memorial ceremony. "The bravery of these two men cannot be overstated," then-Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet told a gathering of several hundred Agency employees and family members of those killed in the line of duty. "Chris and Chief put the lives of others ahead of their own. That is heroism defined." Mueller, a former US Navy SEAL and Carlson, a former Army Ranger75th Ranger Regiment (United States)The 75th Ranger Regiment , also known as Rangers, is a Special Operations light infantry unit of the United States Army. The Regiment is headquartered in Fort Benning, Georgia with battalions in Fort Benning, Hunter Army Airfield and Joint Base Lewis-McChord...
, Green Beret and Delta ForceDelta Force1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
soldier, died while tracking high level terrorists near ShkinShkinShkin is a scattered village in Barmal District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan located about a kilometer west of the newer, much larger, and border-straddling village and bazaar of Angoor Adda. Angoor Adda is controlled by the Pakistan Frontier Guards...
, Afghanistan, on October 25, 2003. Both officers saved the lives of others, including Afghan soldiersMilitary of AfghanistanThe military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Army Air Force . Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy, and the private security forces who are sometimes seen wearing military uniforms are not part of Afghanistan's military...
, during the ambush. - Gregg WenzelGregg WenzelGregg David Wenzel was an operations officer of the Central Intelligence Agency killed in Ethiopia in 2003.He was born in Manhattan, New York to Gladys and Mitch Wenzel, brother of Maura, Rachel and Heather. Wenzel spent his childhood years in the Bronx and in Monroe, New York...
- An operations officer who was killed in Ethiopia in 2003, also was honored with a star on the CIA's memorial wall. A former defense attorney in Florida, Wenzel grew up in Monroe, New York, and was a member of the first clandestine service training class to graduate after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. His Agency affiliation was withheld for six years. Overseas, Wenzel gathered intelligence on a wide range of national security priorities. In Director Leon PanettaLeon PanettaLeon Edward Panetta is the 23rd and current United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama since 2011. Prior to taking office, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency...
’s words: “At age 33, a promising young officer—a leader and friend to so many—was taken from us. We find some measure of solace in knowing that Gregg achieved what he set out to do: He lived for a purpose greater than himself. Like his star on this Wall, that lesson remains with us always.” - Rachel A. Dean - Dean was a native of Stanardsville, VirginiaStanardsville, VirginiaStanardsville is a town in Greene County, Virginia, United States. The population was 476 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Greene County. The name is from Robert Stanard, a benefactor who donated land for public use...
who joined the CIA as a young support officer in January 2005. She died in a car accident in September 2006 while on temporary duty in KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. - Harold Brown, Elizabeth Hanson, Darren Labonte, Jennifer Matthews, Dane Paresi, Scott Roberson, Jeremy Wise - Killed in the Camp Chapman attackCamp Chapman attackThe Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack against Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan, on December 30, 2009. The base is located near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in a stronghold of the Taliban movement...
in Afghanistan on December 30, 2009. - Unknown CIA employee - Shot and killed by a rogue Afghan, who was working for the U.S. government, at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 25, 2011.
- The circumstances of death of three identified officers are still unknown - Jerome P. Ginley (d. 1951), Nels L. Benson (d. 1961) and John W. Waltz (d. 1965).
- The identities and circumstances of death of 16 officers are still unknown. Of the 16: one died in 1978, one in 1984, two in 1989, one each in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2005, two in 2008 and five in 2009.
Air America
There were more than 30 pilots and other crew members of the CIA's Air America company that were killed during the Vietnam warVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
that were not counted as part of the agency even though they worked for it.
Civil Air Transport
On May 6, 1954, during the Battle of Dien Bien PhuBattle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
, two CIA pilots, James B. McGovern, Jr. and Wallace Buford, were killed when their C-119 Flying Boxcar
C-119 Flying Boxcar
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute...
cargo plane was shot down while on a resupply mission for the French military. They worked for Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport was a Chinese airline, later owned by the CIA, that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia...
, which was later reorganized as Air America. Neither of them has a star on the Memorial Wall.
See also
- 1993 shootings at CIA Headquarters
- NSA Hall of HonorNSA Hall of HonorThe Hall of Honor is a memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It honors individuals who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology.-The Hall of Honor:...
- Hugh Francis RedmondHugh Francis RedmondA former World War II paratrooper and native of Yonkers, New York, Hugh Francis Redmond later worked for the CIA in their storied Special Activities Division...