REMARKS BY WILLIAM H. WEBSTER, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, MAY 13, 1988

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90G01353R000600070001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 30, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 24, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

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REMARKS
BY
WILLIAM H. WEBSTER
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AT THE
MEMORIAL CEREMONY FOR WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
MAY 13, 1988
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I AM AT ONCE PROUD AND SADDENED TO BE HERE TODAY. PROUD TO
SHARE IN REMEMBERING A BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS MAN. SADDENED--AGAIN--
BY HIS LOSS.
THOSE WHO WORKED WITH BILL BUCKLEY AT THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, OR HIS MANY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTELLIGENCE. NOR WILL THEY.
ONE OF BILL'S FRIENDS, AN OFFICER WHO HAD KNOWN HIM FOR MANY
YEARS, OBSERVED, "BILL DID THINGS THAT NONE OF THE REST OF US WOULD
HAVE ATTEMPTED." THROUGHOUT HIS YEARS OF SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY --
INCLUDING MILITARY SERVICE IN KOREA AND VIETNAM -- BILL DID WHAT HE
THOUGHT WAS NEEDED. HE LED BY EXAMPLE.
THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENCE INVOLVES RISK -- NECESSARY RISKS --
FOR WITHOUT OUR WILLINGNESS TO UNDERTAKE RISK, WE WILL FAIL. RISK
AND DANGER ARE INTEGRAL PARTS OF EFFECTIVE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING.
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BILL BUCKLEY UNDERSTOOD THIS AND DID NOT SHY AWAY FROM IT. BILL
ROUTINELY TOOK ON THE MOST DIFFICULT MISSIONS -- MISSIONS WHERE
NOTHING WAS ROUTINE.
THIS WAS NEVER MORE NECESSARY THAN IN HIS LAST ASSIGNMENT AS
CHIEF OF STATION IN BEIRUT. DURING BILL'S TIME THERE, LEBANON WAS
IN TURMOIL, ARMED MILITIAS FOUGHT FOR CONTROL OF VARIOUS AREAS, AND
THE U.S. MISSION WAS UNDER CONSTANT THREAT. SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE
HE ARRIVED, OUR EMBASSY IN WEST BEIRUT HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY A
TERRORIST BOMBING. THE ENVIRONMENT WAS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS; A
SIMPLE TRIP ACROSS TOWN WAS A TRIP THROUGH CHECKPOINTS MANNED BY
TRIGGER-HAPPY MILITIAS. BILL'S SUCCESS IN COLLECTING INTELLIGENCE
IN SITUATIONS OF INCREASING DANGER WAS EXCEPTIONAL, EVEN
PHENOMENAL.
BILL BUCKLEY PROVIDED EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY. HIS
RECORD IS A STUNNING LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- LETTERS OF
APPRECIATION AND COMMENDATION, CERTIFICATES OF DISTINCTION AND
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EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE, MEDALS AND CITATIONS FROM WITHIN AND FROM
OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. BUT IT IS THE LIVING
MEMORY OF THE MAN WE HONOR AT THIS CEREMONY. TO THOSE FOR WHOM BILL
WORKED, HIS DIRECT APPROACH TO ANY PROBLEM WAS A DISTINCT ASSET. HE
WAS KNOWN FOR HIS ABILITY TO HANDLE TOUGH SITUATIONS. TO THOSE WHO
WORKED FOR BILL, HE WAS A MAN WHO EXPECTED MUCH BUT GAVE MUCH IN
RETURN. HE WAS FAIR-MINDED, SYMPATHETIC, AND SUPPORTIVE OF HIS
STAFF. THEY SOUGHT HIS COUNSEL AND ADVICE.
BILL BUCKLEY MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THOSE WHO SERVED WITH HIM; TO
THOSE WHO BENEFITTED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BENEFIT FROM THE RISKS HE
TOOK; AND TO THOSE WHO VALUE DISCIPLINE, INTEGRITY, AND FREEDOM.
AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AN AREA IN THE MAIN FOYER OF THE
HEADQUARTERS BUILDING DESIGNATED AS THE "CIA MEMORIAL PLAQUE."
BENEATH THE INSCRIPTION, "IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR
COUNTRY," IS CARVED A STAR FOR EACH MEMBER OF THE AGENCY WHO LOST
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HIS LIFE WHILE SERVING HIS COUNTRY IN THE FIELD OF INTELLIGENCE.
THE 51ST STAR CARVED ON THE WALL HONORS WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY -- A
SMALL BUT VERY MEANINGFUL RECOGNITION OF HIS ULTIMATE GIFT TO HIS
COUNTRY.
TODAY AS WE HONOR BILL BUCKLEY, WE REMEMBER HIS COURAGE, HIS
DECISIVENESS, AND HIS LEADERSHIP. AND WE ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DEBT TO
BILL AND OTHER SILENT SOLDIERS OF DEMOCRACY WHO HAVE STRUGGLED
MANFULLY IN THE SHADOWS IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM, SO THAT WE MIGHT
LIVE IN A SAFER AND A BETTER WORLD.
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