CIA Reveals Names of 15 Slain Agents

CIA agents killed in the line of duty over the last 30 years finally got their due yesterday. The agency revealed the names of 15 such operatives in a ceremony, reports the Los Angeles Times. Many of the fallen officers had been working under the guise of State Department employees. Among the 15 were five killed in the 1983 US Embassy bombing in Beirut and one who was aboard the Lockerbie flight of 1988.

"Much of this disclosure is long, long overdue," says an author of a book about the CIA. "These families who lost loved ones who were covert not only had to endure the loss—they also were tethered to bogus cover stories for years and years. They had to raise their children without any details or specifics as to what their mothers or fathers gave their lives for." The agents had previously been memorialized with stars on a wall at the CIA's old headquarters in Langley, Virginia, but their names were not attached. Click the LA Times link for the names. (More CIA stories.)