REMARKS AS DELIVERED BY CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR JOHN O, BRENNAN AT THE AGENCY MEMORIAL CEREMONY.

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06857466
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2020
• Case Number: F-2013-01854
• Publication Date: May 20, 2013

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Remarks as Delivered by Central Intelligence Agency Director
John 0. Brennan
at the
Agency Memorial Ceremony,
20 May 2013
(C) Good morning, and welcome everyone. We are gathered here this morning to
honor 107 extraordinary women and men from throughout our Agency's history�
beloved colleagues who will inspire us forever with their unsurpassable devotion to duty
and country. We also celebrate the lives of the four men whose stars were added to our
Memorial Wall in the past year: Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods,
(U) On behalf of our entire workforce, I warmly welcome the loved ones of those whose
stars grace this Wall. No matter how far from your home you may have traveled, you
have arrived among family�an Agency family united by bonds of trust, patriotism, and
shared sacrifice.
(U) Each spring, this remembrance of our heroes serves as our homecoming. And I
thank you all for joining us for the most important annual occasion in the life of our
Agency. What you see here�the stars, the flag, the Book of Honor�tells you
everything you need to know about the heart and soul of CIA. And I wish that every
American could see them, come to know the extraordinary valor and compassion of
those we have lost, and truly understand what America's intelligence agency seeks to
accomplish in this world.
(U) Many Directors have stood in this very spot and have told the heroic stories of our
fallen colleagues. To be standing here now, and to be given the privilege of speaking
on behalf of our Agency family, I am truly humbled by the magnitude of what our friends,
colleagues, and loved ones achieved for our country, as well as by the tragedies we all
must endure. For it is during these ceremonies that we take full measure of CIA's
unique and critical contributions to our Nation's security�and of the terrible cost these
contributions often entail.
(U) Our adversaries and our activities may change over the decades, but the inherent
risk of intelligence work endures�for officers in every part of our Agency. This
Memorial Wall reminds us of those risks.
(C) When I joined CIA in August 1980, there were 38 stars on this wall. Less than three
years later, when Hizballah terrorists bombed the US Embassy in Beirut,rnore
stars would be added in one single day. Last month marked the 30th anniversary of that
.SC)NEIDENTrAt
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tragedy�still the deadliest single day in our Agency's history�and we grieve for the
remarkable individuals lost to us in an instant in that terrible bombing:
(U) And my boss, mentor, and roll model when I was a junior officer�Bob Ames.
(U) This past January also marked the twentieth anniversary of the shooting at the
Route 123 entrance to our Headquarters compound, which claimed the lives of Dr.
Lansing Bennett and Frank Darling, who were targeted simply because they were CIA
employees.
(C) Later this year, we also will mark the fifteenth anniversary of the barbaric attacks
against our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
(U) Today, CIA officers remain on the front lines of the war against al-Qa`ida and of
every other overseas challenge facing our Nation.
(C) Over the past year�at Benghazi in Libya,
Hour stars have been added to our Memorial Wall.
(C) Two of those new stars were carved in memory of Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods,
who gave their last full measure of devotion at Benghazi.
(C) Born and raised on opposite coasts�Glen in Massachusetts, Ty in Oregon�the
two shared a deep love of country as well as an endless appetite for challenges. Each
saw becoming a Navy SEAL as the supreme test of strength and character; Ty turned
down a wrestling scholarship at the University of Oregon to enlist, and Glen joined after
earning his pilot's wings at Embry-Riddle University and becoming accomplished in his
hobbies of skiing and white-water rafting.
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(C) We are very pleased and honored that Glen's family members �
hare here with us today.
(C) We know that our words are poor consolation for your tremendous loss, and that
there is no way that we can lessen your sorrow. But please know that Glen will never
be forgotten by his CIA family.
(C) So it is my privilege to present you with a replica of Glen's star, carved from the
same type of marble as that of our Memorial Wall, and by the same craftsman who
sculpted the original.
[Presentation of the star]
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(C) We are also pleased and honored to have Ty's family with us today
(C) Ty is a hero to his Agency family. And may this star be an eternal
commemoration of his heroic life, which we will always commemorate and celebrate.
[Presentation of the star]
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(U) Today we have honored 107 patriots who chose to put themselves in harm's way for
a cause larger than self, and who gave their last full measure for our country. Too
often, this is what is asked of CIA officers�and CIA is routinely asked to do what others
cannot.
(C) The President and our fellow Americans rely on us not just because we have been
given special authorities and responsibilities. They rely on us because they know that
our Nation's security demands that a special breed of American patriots devote
extraordinary physical, moral, and intellectual strength and courage; the type of courage
shown by Glen, Ty,
(U) As America confronts both old and new rivals at this critical juncture in our history,
our country's leaders inevitably will turn to CIA time and again to meet the challenges
that defy diplomatic or military solutions. And when they do, I know�and we all know�
that the women and men of the CIA are ready to respond with the same courage, skill,
and resolve displayed by those we honor here today.
(C) Our promise�our solemn promise�to Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods,
and to all of our brothers and sisters who have fallen in the line
of duty�and to you, their families, and to our fellow Americans�is to carry on the
difficult, essential tasks we are honored to have been given: to safeguard our fellow
citizens, and our national security.
(U) On behalf of all the women and men who are honored to be part of the CIA family, I
pledge to you that we will meet the challenges with an unshakable commitment to the
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laws and principles of this great country, and with boundless faith in the spirit and
capacity of our fellow officers�sustained, at all times, by the constant support and
affection of those we love.
(U) May God bless the heroes we have lost; may God bless our Agency family; and
may God bless the United States of America.
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