CIA officers killed are worshipped on the Wall of Honor

 

The CIA’s Wall of Honor: rows of stars carved into cold granite, each representing an officer killed in the line of duty. Below the wall lies a ‘Book of Honor’ listing 48 of those whose star is on the wall, but they remain anonymous because their contributions to America are still highly classified. The covert missions they were involved in must be kept secret for various security reasons, including the fact that the operations may still be continuing…welcome to the shadowy world of espionage and counterintelligence!

     At last count, there were 139 stars on the CIA Memorial Wall, which is on the north wall of the original headquarters building lobby. A while ago, I walked past it in the early morning at sunrise and was awestruck by the golden sunbeams shining on the quiet, simple memorial. It lit up the stars of the CIA operatives who made the ultimate sacrifice (I was inside Langley for an AFIO seminar about the SR-71 spy plane Oxcart Program). It was a spiritual experience, indeed.

     Last year, the CIA added two new stars to the wall during a secret ceremony for two of its undercover operatives who died in the line of duty. Sorry, Langley is not giving out any details about their identities or missions. Regardless, even though their service must remain known to only a select few, their legacies will remain eternal.

    Yes, the CIA Memorial Wall is a testament to how dangerous a business that CIA handlers (operatives) and the assets (spies) they recruit are in. Some of them were NOCs, Non-Official Cover operatives who didn’t have the protection of diplomatic cover. Thank goodness, most captured NOCs have been sent back to the U.S. through prisoner exchanges, called “spy swaps”.

     In MISSION OF VENGEANCE, CIA spymaster Corey Pearson’s NOC status in brought to light in one scene where he talks with a former Russian KGB defector. Here’s a snippet:

         Corey was blunt with the Russian defector. “Can you guarantee the attack won’t be by Spetsnaz? If it is, anywhere in the Caribbean, not only will your chances for defecting to America be reduced to zero, but we’ll also let Putin himself know that you are a double agent, working against his Caribbean scheme. And lastly, If Markov doesn’t kill you, I will.”

        The former KGB spy replied. “As a NOC, you know there are no guarantees in the spy business. You live a deep-cover life of lies and props. I know you are not a marine biologist traversing the Caribbean trying to save the Nassau Grouper. ‘Corey Pearson’ is a false name, and you work for a phony front company. You don’t use diplomatic cover, so I know what you do is dangerous and if you get caught doing something illegal you have no diplomatic immunity to use for protection from prosecution, and America will deny your existence. The GRU and Spetsnaz operate in the same manner, and I cannot guarantee the attack will be by them or by activated Hezbollah sleeper cells. I can, however, give you my best judgement. I can also give you added reassurance that I want to cooperate by telling you the truth in order to defect.”

     “What type of guarantee can you offer?”

     “How is Suvorov doing in his new life in America?”

     “Why do you want to know?”

     Yury Bocharov sloppily chugged down his nearly full glass of Moscow Mule, wiped his mouth and said, “Because he is my son and I want to be with him.”

End of snippet

     I remember, when staring at the CIA Memorial Wall, the gold stars that were followed by a blank space. Their identities will never be known to the rest of us.   

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and enjoys writing about the U.S. Intelligence Community. He authors the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster series. Check out his latest spy thrillers: MISSION OF VENGEANCE.