Thread by @CIA

Dear Fallen Stars,

In our HQs lobby, a wall w/black stars carved into white marble stands as a humble memorial to our fallen officers

There are currently 129 stars; 91 are unclassified. Out of those, 11 represent women

bit.ly/2UQ7abo

#WomensHistoryMonth
#AskMollyHale

Officially, 1st female CIA officer to die in the line of duty was Barbara Robbins. She was killed in 1965 terrorist bombing of US Embassy in S. Vietnam

She’s the youngest CIA officer to receive a star on our Memorial Wall, at just 21 yrs old

1.usa.gov/1GHoCU3

#InMemoriam

What many CIA history buffs don’t know is the 1st CIA officer to die while working for the Agency was also a woman: her name was Jane Wallis Burrell

She was returning to Paris from a trip to Brussels (1948) when the flight she was on crashed

bit.ly/29Ov13s

#InMemoriam

At a time when most women in US intelligence worked in clerical roles, Jane was a CIA counterintelligence officer who served in all of CIA’s predecessor agencies: the #OSS, the Strategic Services Unit, & the Central Intelligence Group.

#WomensHistoryMonth

Jane wasn’t a candidate for a star on CIA’s Memorial Wall because the wall commemorates Agency employees who died in specific circumstances: deaths from accidental crashes of commercial aircraft have generally not qualified.

#InMemoriam

In addition to stories about Barbara & Jane, you can read about the lives of many of our fallen officers by searching CIA’s “Feature Stories” (bit.ly/2um6TBe). Look for articles in our “Remembering CIA's Heroes” series.

~ Molly

#AskMollyHale
#InMemoriam