Reply With QuoteI think that it is a good thing, it will remind people that if nothing happen it is because some guys die for it.
CIA discloses names of 15 killed in line of duty
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,1192348.story
Official CIA WebsiteBy Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau May 23, 2012, 5:00 a.m.
WASHINGTON — The CIA on Tuesday disclosed the names of 15 of its operatives killed in the line of duty over the last 30 years, the result of a new effort to honor fallen officers whose sacrifices had long gone unrecognized by all but a few.
Fourteen of the dead already had a star inscribed in their memory on the CIA's wall of honor in the lobby of the old headquarters building on the agency's Langley, Va., campus. But their names had been withheld. In a closed agency ceremony Mondaytheir names were added to the Book of Honor, which accompanies the stars.
In addition, a new star was added this year for Jeffrey R. Patneau, who died at age 26 in Yemen in 2008 from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was the 103rd CIA officer recognized as having died in the line of duty.
"The 103 souls represented by the stars on the wall behind me all heard the same call to duty and answered it without hesitation — never for acclaim, always for country," CIA Director David H. Petraeus said at the ceremony, according to a CIA statement. "Their words and deeds will inspire us forever, and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten."
Many of the CIA officers were working under State Department cover, and some are recognized in a memorial list kept on the website of the American Foreign Service Assn. of diplomats who died in the line of duty.
Some were identified as CIA employees in news media accounts at the time of their deaths. Several of them had been secretly awarded intelligence medals. But Tuesday's statement from the CIA marked the first official acknowledgment that any of them had been undercover operatives for the spy agency.
"Much of this disclosure is long, long overdue," said Ted Gup, author of "The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives," who identified some of the 15 for his book. "These families who lost loved ones who were covert not only had to endure the loss — they also were tethered to bogus cover stories for years and years. They had to raise their children without any details or specifics as to what their mothers or fathers gave their lives for."
Patneau's name had not been publicly linked to the CIA previously. The car crash in Yemen that killed him occurred on Sept. 29, 2008, the U.S. government said. Officials dispute a claim by Al Qaeda that he was killed during a well-publicized attack on the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Sana, on Sept. 17 that year.
The list includes five officers — Phyliss Nancy Faraci, Deborah M. Hixon, Frank J. Johnston, James F. Lewis and Monique N. Lewis — who died in the April 18, 1983, bomb attack against the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. They were all listed at the time of the bombing as State Department employees.
And it includes four others who died in terrorist attacks. Jacqueline K. Van Landingham was shot and killed in Pakistan in March 1995. Matthew K. Gannon was killed in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Molly N. Hardy died in the August 1998 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Leslianne Shedd died in November 1996, when hijackers forced down her plane over the Indian Ocean, killing more than 125 people.
The agency also named Barry S. Castiglione, who died during the July 1992 ocean rescue of a colleague in El Salvador; Lawrence N. Freedman, killed in Somalia in December 1992; Thomas M. Jennings, Jr., who died in Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 1997; Freddie R. Woodruff, who was killed in Georgia in August 1993; and Robert W. Woods, who died in a plane crash in August 1989 with Rep. Mickey Leland on a humanitarian mission in Ethiopia.
Those five deaths, Petraeus said, are a reminder of "the sheer sweep of our global mission" and "the risks inherent to intelligence work, as well as the bravery and integrity of those who perform it."
ken.dilanian@latimes.com
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
https://www.cia.gov/news-information...-ceremony.html
CIA Holds Annual Memorial Ceremony to Honor Fallen Colleagues
May 22, 2012
The Central Intelligence Agency on Monday paid tribute to all of its exceptional men and women who have died in the line of duty. An additional star was carved on the Memorial Wall this year, which now commemorates the lives of 103 courageous Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country.
Standing before the wall in the lobby of CIA headquarters, Director David H. Petraeus said: “The 103 souls represented by the stars on the wall behind me all heard the same call to duty and answered it without hesitation—never for acclaim, always for country. They devoted their hearts and minds to a mission unlike any other, at an agency unlike any other, serving on the world’s most dangerous frontiers to defend our people, defeat our adversaries, and advance our freedoms. Their words and deeds will inspire us forever, and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
The DCIA honored the memory of Jeffrey R. Patneau,a young can-do officer who was killed in Yemen in September 2008. “Jeff proved that he had boundless talent, courage, and innovativeness to offer to our country in its fight against terrorism,” the Director said. “Tested by adversity, Jeff had been more than equal to every task. He was taken from us just as he had begun what promised to be a brilliant career and a life of great consequence—one of faithful service to the people he loved and to the nation he revered.”
In total, fifteen names were inscribed in the CIA’s Book of Honor this year, allowing Agency officers to publicly acknowledge those who have been represented by stars and whom we have silently mourned for years. Five of the names entered in the Book of Honor are those of officers who perished on April 18, 1983 when a suicide bomber struck the US Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 in the most destructive terrorist attack against a US official presence at that time. Phyliss Nancy Faraci was one of the last four Americans evacuated from the Mekong Delta when Saigon fell. She was an intensely devoted officer who volunteered to work in Beirut. Deborah M. Hixon was a talented young officer fluent in French who volunteered for a temporary posting in Beirut. Frank J. Johnston, a 25-year veteran officer, couldn’t resist the request of a superior who wanted him on his team in Beirut, even though Frank’s retirement was just around the corner. James F. Lewis joined the CIA as a paramilitary officer—after a distinguished career in the US military—and his fluent French and Arabic uniquely qualified him for service in Beirut. Jim’s wife, Monique N. Lewis, was only hours into her first day as an Agency officer when the bomber struck that terrible day.
Speaking about the loss of these officers and the others who perished with them, Director Petraeus said: “Beirut was not, of course, the CIA’s first deadly encounter with terrorism, but it was there that we first caught sight of the adversary we face today.” Four other Agency officers whose names were entered into the Book of Honor this year also lost their lives to terrorist acts. Matthew K. Gannon, a talented young officer with an exceptionally bright future, died in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Veteran officer Molly N. Hardy, moments before she was killed in the August 1998 suicide bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, used her keen situational awareness to warn colleagues to take cover. Molly exemplified the valor and compassion that are hallmarks of our finest officers. Leslianne Shedd was serving a highly successful tour in Ethiopia when, in November 1996, hijackers forced down her plane over the Indian Ocean, killing over 125 people. Survivors of that flight tell us that Leslianne—an outstanding young woman—spent her final moments comforting those around her. In March 1995 Jacqueline K. Van Landingham, an accomplished officer known for her liveliness and humor, was on her fourth overseas tour when she was killed in Pakistan.
“We are reminded of the sheer sweep of our global mission by the stories of five other officers honored today, whose experiences demonstrate the risks inherent to intelligence work, as well as the bravery and integrity of those who perform it,” the Director said. For his heroism, Barry S. Castiglione earned the Agency’s Intelligence Star for a successful July 1992 ocean rescue of a colleague in distress. Barry died in the effort, which took place in El Salvador. Lawrence N. Freedman, a 25-year Army veteran when he joined the Agency in 1990, was performing work for a humanitarian aid mission when he was killed in Somalia in December 1992. Larry also was awarded the Intelligence Star. Thomas M. Jennings, Jr., an accomplished veteran officer,lost his life in Bosnia in December 1997 after volunteering for a temporary assignment there. Freddie R. Woodruff was a gifted linguist who had mastered German, Turkish, Greek and Russian. He was killed in Georgia in August 1993 after volunteering for a temporary assignment. Robert W. Woods volunteered to accompany former Congressman Mickey Leland on a humanitarian mission in Ethiopia and died when their plane crashed in August 1989—yet another example of selfless service.
The memorial ceremony is attended each year by hundreds of employees, retirees, and family members and friends of those who have died in service with CIA.
I think that it is a good thing, it will remind people that if nothing happen it is because some guys die for it.
Two members die during separate plane hijacking/bombings? That's some bad luck there.
R.I.P.
The list is not complete.
Keep on readingThe CIA was not alone in its efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. The United States has not been slack in voting funds for numerous interagency committees, offices, divisions, centers, and task forces with substantial budgets focused on the problem of terror, but none of these special-purpose entities has a clearer responsibility for “warnings and indications” than the Central Intelligence Agency, which was established in 1947 as a direct consequence of the failure to foresee the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Terrorism is only one threat to American security tracked by the CIA, but the danger is not remote or abstract; the agency itself has suffered grievous losses from terrorist attacks, notably in 1983, when a suicide bomber in Beirut devastated the US embassy and killed sixty-three people, including all six members of the CIA station. Visiting at the time was a legendary CIA field officer with long experience in the Middle East, Robert Ames, whose death was confirmed by the wedding ring on a hand retrieved from the debris.
The dead chief of station was replaced by another longtime CIA officer, William Buckley, who was kidnapped by terrorists in March 1984 and beaten to death over the following year. Four years later another CIA officer from Beirut, Matt Gannon, was killed when a midair explosion destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Gannon’s wife was also a CIA officer, Susan Twetten, daughter of the agency’s chief of operations, Tom Twetten, now retired and a book dealer in rural Vermont. Other CIA officers have been murdered by terrorists, including two just outside the gates of the agency itself.
Tom Tweeten action during Six-Day war in Benghazi here.
Posting Permissions
