CIA: Two officers killed over last year

Two CIA officers were killed in the line of duty over the last year, the agency said on Monday after a formal ceremony memorializing them.

In remarks before the agency’s Memorial Wall, CIA Director John Brennan said recalling the two agents — whose identities and jobs remain secret — bring out the “very best in each and every one of us.”

{mosads}“And just as they helped build a safer, better world, so shall we,” he said before a crowd of hundreds of employees, former officers and people close to the dead officers.

The white marble Memorial Wall in the lobby of the CIA’s Langley, Va., headquarters was constructed 41 years ago and is used to commemorate members of the CIA who have died in the line of duty. This year, two stars were added for the two officers who died over the last year. There are now 113 stars on the wall.

The inscription at the top of the memorial sets out to honor “those members of the Central Intelligence Agency who gave their lives in the service of their country.”

On Monday, the agency presented the two officers’ family members with marble replicas of their loved one’s stars.

“For as long as this agency endures, we will never shy away from the risks that must be taken to protect America and to further freedom’s cause,” Brennan said during Monday’s speech, according to remarks shared by the agency.

“Today, we pay tribute to our heroes who accepted those risks and placed themselves in harm’s way, expecting neither praise nor fame in return.”