CIA Memorial Wall

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The Wall with 83 stars
CIA book of Honor 1950-2005

The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.[1]

Memorial

The Memorial Wall is located in the Original Headquarters Building lobby on the north wall. There are 113 stars carved into the white Alabama marble wall,[2] each one representing an employee who died in the line of service.[1] Paramilitary officers of the CIA's Special Activities Division comprise the majority of those memorialized.[3]

A black Moroccan goatskin-bound book, called the "Book of Honor," sits in a steel 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."[4] 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.[1][4] The identities of the unnamed stars remain secret, even in death.[1] In 1997, there were 70 stars, 29 of which had names.[4] There were 79 stars in 2002, [5] 83 in 2004,[6] 90 in 2009,[7] 107 in 2013,[8] 111 in 2014[2] and 113 in 2015. 80 of the 113 entries in the book contain names,[9] while the other employees are represented only by a gold star followed by a blank space.[10][11]

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.[4] The Wall is flanked by the flag of the United States on the left and a flag bearing the CIA seal on the right.[4]

Adding new stars

When new names are added to the Book of Honor, stone carver Tim Johnston of the Carving and Restoration Team in Manassas, Virginia adds a new star to the Wall if that person's star is not already present.[1] Johnston learned the process of creating the stars from the original sculptor of the Wall, Harold Vogel, who created the first 31 stars[6] and the Memorial Wall inscription when the Wall was created in July 1974.[1] The wall was "first conceived as a small plaque to recognize those from the CIA who died in Southeast Asia, the idea quickly grew to a memorial for Agency employees who died in the line of duty."[6] The process used by Johnston to add a new star is as follows:

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Johnston creates a star by first tracing the new star on the wall using a template. Each star measures 2¼ inches tall by 2¼ inches wide and half an inch deep; all the stars are six inches apart from each other, as are all the rows. Johnston uses both a pneumatic air hammer and a chisel to carve out the traced pattern. After he finishes carving the star, he cleans the dust and sprays the star black, which as the star ages, fades to gray.[1]

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 Agency.[1] 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. Death must be of an inspirational or heroic character while in the performance of duty; or as the result of an act of terrorism 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."[1] After approval by the director, the Office of Protocol arranges for a new star to be placed on the Wall.[1]

People honored on the Memorial Wall

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2

Other fatalities

Civil Air Transport

On May 6, 1954, during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, two CIA pilots, James B. McGovern, Jr. and Wallace Buford, were killed when their C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane was shot down while on a resupply mission for the French military.[61] They worked for Civil Air Transport, which was later reorganized as Air America. Neither of them has a star on the Memorial Wall.

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 war that were not counted as part of the agency even though they worked for it.[62][63]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "The Stars on the Wall." Central Intelligence Agency 24 April 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Gup, Ted (2000). The Book of Honor: Cover Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gup, Ted. "Star Agents: The anonymous stars in the CIA's Book of Honor memorialize covert operatives lost in the field." Washington Post 7 September 1997.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "CIA Honors Slain Agency Officers at Annual Ceremony." Central Intelligence Agency 31 May 2002.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "CIA Remembers Employees Killed in the Line of Duty." Central Intelligence Agency 21 May 2004,
  7. ↑ "[1]." Central Intelligence Agency 1 June 2009.
  8. ↑ Remembering CIA's Heroes: Barbara A. Robbins
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Remembering CIA's Heroes: William F. Buckley
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 CIA discloses names of 15 killed in line of duty
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Amnesia to Anamnesis
  13. ↑ Cold War Missing In Action Aviator Identified
  14. ↑ "Remembering CIA's Heroes: Agency Pilots in the U-2 Program." Central Intelligence Agency 14 May 2008.
  15. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- BY CHANCE
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "CIA Adds Four Stars to Memorial Wall." Central Intelligence Agency 20 May 2007.
  17. ↑ Remembering CIA's Heroes: Chiyoki Ikeda
  18. ↑ Remembering CIA's Heroes: Stephen Kasarda
  19. ↑ Wallace, Robert Henry: "Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's spytechs from Communisim to Al Qaeda". Peguin, 2008. pg 273
  20. ↑ Capt Thomas W "Pete" Ray
  21. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- DECEPTION
  22. ↑ Director Leon E. Panetta Honors First Agency Officer Killed in Vietnam at Annual Memorial Ceremony
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Special Forces - Roll Of Honour
  25. ↑ Remembering CIA’s Heroes: John W. Waltz
  26. ↑ The CIA and the "Secret" War in Laos: The Battle for Skyline Ridge, 1971-72
  27. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- THE TWO MIKES
  28. ↑ Director Leon E. Panetta Honors First Agency Officer Killed in Vietnam War
  29. ↑ Finding a Mission
  30. ↑ Tribute to Jack W. Weeks, CIA A-12 Project Pilot for Operation
  31. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- HOMECOMING
  32. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- HONOR AND HUMILIATION
  33. ↑ Remembering CIA's Heroes: James A. Rawlings
  34. ↑ "CIA Commemorates 78th Star at Memorial Ceremony." Central Intelligence Agency 8 June 2001.
  35. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- PRIVATION AND PRIVILEGE
  36. ↑ "CIA Holds Ceremony to Honor Fallen Colleagues." Central Intelligence Agency 2 June 2008.
  37. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- INDESTRUCTIBLE
  38. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- EPILOGUE
  39. ↑ SLAIN ADVISER THE SOLE AMERICAN AT SALVADOR BASE
  40. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- DAMAGE CONTROL
  41. ↑ THE BOOK OF HONOR -- THE LAST MACCABEE
  42. ↑ "Lansing Bennett, Physician Slain Outside CIA", Washington Post, January 27, 1993.
  43. ↑ Remembering CIA’s Heroes: Jacqueline K. Van Landingham
  44. ↑ CRASH IN THE BALKANS;Passengers and Crew
  45. ↑ Remembering CIA's Heroes: John Gregory Anthony Celli, III
  46. ↑ CIA Operative Dies in Prison Riot
  47. ↑ Osama raid avenged CIA deaths, a secret until now
  48. ↑ Afghan Accident Kills CIA Agent
  49. ↑ http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/thisweek/2008/11/24_mueller.asp
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/press-release-archive-2004/pr05212004.html
  52. ↑ http://www.specialforcesroh.com/browse.php?mode=viewiroll&rollid=5099
  53. ↑ Press Release
  54. ↑ The CIA Memorial Wall
  55. ↑ In Memoriam of Gregory R. Wright, Jr.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Press Release
  58. ↑ CIA employee ID'd as victim in Kabul shooting
  59. ↑ Memorial for CIA’s Fallen Marks Somber 40-Year Anniversary
  60. ↑ CIA rushed to save diplomats as Libya attack was underway
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ THESE WE REMEMBER: SMOKEJUMPERS WHO DIED IN LAOS
  63. ↑ Air America in Loas

External links

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