On Saturday, the president and commander in chief of the United States stood in front of the C.I.A. Memorial Wall — where 117 stars honor the men and women who died in the line of service — and cracked jokes, made thinly veiled threats and disrespected many Americans.

While many were stunned by President Trump’s remarks, it’s personal for me. My friend is represented by the 81st star on the Memorial Wall, which served as the background of Mr. Trump’s publicity stunt. He and the other 116 fallen colleagues did not put their lives on the line to serve as a sound bite for this president’s never-ending campaign stump speech.

Few things are sacred in our government. Even fewer command equal respect from people on both sides of the aisle.

The C.I.A. Memorial Wall is one of those things.

When the 81st star was carved into the wall in 2003, the fallen patriot’s name was not added to the accompanying Book of Honor. At the time, his C.I.A. affiliation was classified, as it remained for nearly six more years. I will never forget seeing his family at the ceremony, knowing they could not tell their loved ones the truth about his death. He died with nobody knowing who he was or what he did for our country. But I believe that is how he would have wanted it, because, as the former C.I.A. director Leon E. Panetta said when finally revealing my friend’s name in 2009, “He lived for a purpose greater than himself.”