Thread by @CIA

The Mystery of Jane Wallis Burrell:
The First CIA Officer To Die in the Agency’s Service
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Jane was a CIA counterintelligence officer & served in all of CIA’s predecessor agencies: #OSS, SSU, & CIG.
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After Jane graduated high school from @HoltonArms, she studied French @smithcollege & graduated in 1933.
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@HoltonArms @smithcollege Jane began working for #OSS in March 1943. During #WWII, OSS sent her to DC, London, France & Germany.
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At #OSS HQ, Jane was assigned to Pictorial Records & processed photographs by identifying them & deriving intelligence from them.
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Jane’s work as an analyst & her French language skills garnered the attention of James Murphy, chief of #OSS Counterintel X-2 group.
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Jane worked in France after the Normandy invasion as an X-2 Case Officer engaging in important field work.
bit.ly/2rXl4MS
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Jane & teammates collected intel, found enemy agents, interrogated sources & ran agents, including doubled agents, against Germans.
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#OSS dissolved in 1945, but Jane’s work was important enough that her employment w US intel survived massive post-war downsizing.
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Jane served in DC & abroad in Strategic Services Unit & Central Intelligence Group.
1947: Jane became an original officer of CIA.
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January 6, 1948: DC-3 from Brussels crashed approaching an airport near Paris, killing all 5 crew members & 10 of 11 passengers.
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Jane’s death—only 110 days after CIA was officially established—makes her the first CIA officer to die while employed by CIA.
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After Jane’s death, her parents established scholarship @smithcollege to enable students to spend their junior year in France.
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@smithcollege Jane’s groundbreaking & important work w CIA & predecessor organizations was honorable & will be remembered.
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