“My first son was my 1993 World Trade Centre bombing baby. I call my second son my “Khobar Towers baby” (born shortly after the 1996 bombing of a military housing complex in Saudi Arabia); my third child, a daughter, is my “African embassy bombing baby” (she arrived a few weeks before the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania); and my fourth, another son, is my “9/11 baby”. My fifth child, a girl, was my “Fallujah baby”.” Gina Bennett –Veteran CIA analyst

Mother, Daughter, Sister, SPY panel is featuring women in the intelligence world: Jonna Mendez (CIA), Melissa Mahle (CIA), Sandy Grimes (CIA), Rollie Flynn (CIA), Alison Bouwmeester (CIA), Kristin Wood (CIA), Jill Singer, and Kathy Smith. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

I take this opportunity to remind you that the CIA “Memorial Wall” has today 125 stars, honouring the agency officers who’ve died in the field. At least eleven of these stars represent women.

In September of last year, Abigail Jones published a piece in Newsweek titled “Women of the CIA“. Jones wrote:

There are more women in the CIA than ever before, with women operating at unprecedented levels on every floor of CIA headquarters and throughout its far-flung global outposts. Yet women remain underrepresented in executive-level jobs and the clandestine service. The Memorial Wall, in the lobby of the CIA in McLean, Virginia, has 117 stars, honoring the agency officers who’ve died in the field. Eleven represent women.

Eight stars were added to the Memorial Wall on May 22 of this year. I wrote a short post about ten of these women. QUESTION: Who is the missing star? Drop a comment or send an email if you know the answer, assuming — of course — that this information is not classified.

Mother, Daughter, Sister, SPY – Women of the CIA

This event was moderated by Governing Board Member and Co-anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning on WABC-TV in New York City, Lori Stokes.

REFERENCES

Women of the CIA — Newsweek

The Mystery of Jane Wallis Burrell: The First CIA Officer To Die in the Agency’s Service — CIA news & Information

“Zero Dark Thirty” entertaining but inaccurate: ex-CIA agents — Reuters

30 Years of Remembrance — CIA website

CIA Honors its Fallen in Annual Memorial Ceremony — CIA website

On Monday (22 May 2017), the Central Intelligence Agency held its annual memorial ceremony to pay tribute to the men and women of CIA who have died in the line of duty – courageous Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Eight stars were added to the Memorial Wall this year. CIA dedicated the Memorial Wall with 31 stars in 1974 to honor those who had fallen since the Agency’s founding in 1947. There are now 125 stars on the wall. Three of the stars added on Monday pay tribute to the lives of David W. Bevan, Darrell A. Eubanks, and John S. Lewis. They came to the Agency by way of the Smokejumpers – brave firefighters who parachute into remote areas to combat wildfires. CIA has benefited from the service of many former Smokejumpers, including for its Air America program. All three men died when their plane crashed while carrying out a mission in Laos in 1961. A fourth star was added to honor Mark S. Rausenberger, an Agency officer of eighteen years, who died while serving overseas. The circumstances of his death remain classified. The names of the other four individuals honored with newly-carved stars this year remain classified.

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Mother, Daughter, Sister, SPY – Women of the CIA