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CIA Honors Fallen Officers in Annual Memorial Ceremony

May 23, 2023

For Immediate Release: May 23, 2023

CIA Honors Fallen Officers in Annual Memorial Ceremony

Today, the Central Intelligence Agency held its annual Memorial Ceremony to remember, honor, and celebrate the courageous CIA officers who died serving their country.

This year, CIA added one star to the Memorial Wall, honoring Jon Evans, a medical doctor who was killed in a plane crash in Southeast Asia in 1969. This addition brings the total number of stars to 140.

In remarks to those assembled before the Memorial Wall, CIA Director William Burns said, "We stand before these 140 stars not only with gratitude but with reverence for our fallen heroes. We'll never forget their sacrifice. We'll never forget their devotion."

CIA's Memorial Ceremony began in 1987 and is attended each year by hundreds of employees, retirees, and family members of the officers who died serving the CIA. In 1974, CIA dedicated the Memorial Wall with 31 stars to honor those who had fallen since the Agency's founding in 1947. The names of all officers memorialized on the wall are read aloud during the annual Memorial Ceremony.

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