In case you haven’t noticed around these parts, I’m doing a lot of research on the CIA. My husband saw the word CIA in a recent headline and immediately tore out the article to give to me.

In the lobby of the CIA’s Langley headquarters, there is one wall dedicated as a memorial to those officers who have been killed in the line of duty. Last month, the marble wall received its 103rd star commemorating a CIA officer. Along with the stars carved into the marble, the Book of Honor is displayed, listing the names of those killed.

Well, some of the names. Because CIA officers in the Clandestine Service work with such sensitive and classified materials, sometimes even their names become national secrets, and for years after their death, they are only commemorated in the book with a gold star. More than a third of the entries in the book were blank like this.

Recently, the CIA has declassified 15 names to add to the Book of Honor (leaving 26 blank now). Dating back to the Beirut Embassy bombing in 1983, some of these names were already publicly known, but this marks the first official recognition of these individuals’ sacrifices from the agency that employed them.

The CIA is in a dirty business, but I think it’s only fitting to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifices these individuals made in trying to protect our liberties in whatever way the agency can.

Photo credit: employee work product of CIA; public domain; via Wikipedia