CIA Unmasks Clandestine Officer Killed in 2003

Via USAToday -

The CIA revealed the identity of a clandestine officer killed six years ago and dedicated the 90th star on its memorial wall.

CIA Director Leon Panetta on Monday identified the officer killed in Ethiopia in 2003 as Gregg Wenzel, 33.

According to public accounts, Wenzel was a foreign service officer at the State Department. He was killed by a drunken driver in Addis Ababa who was convicted but as of 2008, had not been caught.

Wenzel was a member of the first clandestine service training class to graduate after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was a former public defender in Florida and an Ironman triathlete.

Wenzel grew up in Monroe, N.Y., and earned a law degree from the University of Miami law school.

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The men and women who serve in the clandestine service are rarely honored in public. According to my (informal) math, only 30 names are known out of the 90 stars on the CIA Memorial Wall.

While their lives are rarely exposed to the public....and their stories untold, it is important to remember that their work is critical to the protection of this great nation. They are at the front lines...at the spear-point of human intelligence (HUMINT) collection.

Thanks to all of those in the intelligence community that do what you do everyday to keep us safe.