William Francis Buckley

William Francis Buckley (May 30, 1928 – June 3, 1985) was a United States Army officer in the United States Army Special Forces, and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chief in Beirut from 1984<ref name="buckley-cia">Template:Cite news</ref> until his kidnapping and killing in 1985.

Buckley's cover was as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was kidnapped by the group Islamic Jihad in March 1984, and held hostage and tortured by Aziz al-Abub. Hezbollah later claimed they executed him in October 1985, but another American hostage disputed that, believing that he died four months prior, in June.<ref name="AP">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref name="Thomas" /><ref name="Trento" />

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and is commemorated with a star on the Memorial Wall at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.<ref name="nyt91">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Buckley was born in Medford, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1928. He grew up on south Main Street in the neighboring town of Stoneham. He graduated from high school there in 1947,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and then joined the United States Army.

He began as a military police soldier and served in that capacity for two years, but then attended Officers Candidate School (OCS) and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Armor. He continued his military education at the Engineer Officer's Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Advanced Armor Officer's Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and the Intelligence School at Oberammergau, West Germany.

Career

U.S. Army

After serving as a company commander during the Korean War with the 1st Cavalry Division, Buckley returned to Boston University and completed his studies, graduating in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. It was during this time that Buckley began his first employment with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), from 1955 to 1957. He was also employed as a librarian in the Concord, Winchester and Lexington public libraries.

In 1960, Buckley joined the 320th Special Forces Detachment, which became the 11th Special Forces Group, and attended both Basic Airborne and the Special Forces Officers Course. He was assigned as an A-Detachment commander and later as a B-Detachment commander.

Colonel Buckley served in Vietnam with the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, or MACV, as a senior advisor to the South Vietnamese Army.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Central Intelligence Agency

In 1965 (or 1963, according to one source), Buckley rejoined the CIA in what became the Special Activities Division.<ref name=buckley-spartacus>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Leslie Cockburn's book, Out of Control (1987), Buckley was involved in approving CIA assassinations undertaken by controversial CIA operative Theodore Shackley. In his book, Prelude to Terror (2005) Joseph Trento claims that Buckley was "one of Shackley's oldest and dearest friends."<ref name="Trento">Template:Cite book</ref>

Buckley may have been working for the CIA while in Mexico in 1963, but this is unconfirmed.<ref name=buckley-spartacus/> His CIA employment kept him in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1970, and he was promoted in his military capacity to lieutenant colonel in May 1969. After leaving Vietnam, he served in Zaire (1970–1972), Cambodia (1972), Egypt (1972–1978), and Pakistan (1978–1979).<ref name=buckley-spartacus/>

In 1983, Buckley succeeded Ken Haas as the Beirut station chief/political officer at the U.S. Embassy. Buckley was successfully rebuilding the network of agents lost in and due to the bombing of the U.S. Embassy after the Marine Corps barracks bombing in October 1983 when Hezbollah wrongly announced that they had also killed the CIA station chief, not yet knowing the station chief was Buckley.<ref name="buckley-cia"/> Their announcement was the first real indication that he was on a Hezbollah "hit list".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kidnapping and death

Background and prelude

In recent history, Lebanon has been considered by American intelligence agencies as a politically and socially unstable country, but throughout 1983 this instability increased dramatically as Western-affiliated infrastructure was targeted.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

David Barkay, a former officer in Israel's intelligence unit 504, asserts that a spy from Hezbollah delivered a note to his operatives (Barkay among them) six days before the kidnapping occurred.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The note contained a message from Imad Mughniyeh to a Hezbollah team that had been training for a kidnapping operation for months. The message instructed the team to prepare for the operation, which was set to take place in a couple of days. The note identified the target of the operation as "an American senior intelligence officer". Barkay adds that it is possible that the information about the impending kidnapping did not reach the CIA due to an "egotistical" dispute between the Mossad and Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate.

Kidnapping

On March 16, 1984, Buckley was kidnapped by Hezbollah<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> from his apartment building when he was leaving for work.<ref name="Thomas">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Woodward">Template:Cite news</ref> Army Major General Carl Stiner had warned Buckley that he was in danger, but Buckley told him that "I have a pretty good intelligence network. I think I'm secure." However, according to Stiner, Buckley continued to live in his apartment and travel the same route to and from work every day.Template:Sfn

Execution

On October 4, 1985, Islamic Jihad announced that it had executed Buckley.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After Buckley's death, Hezbollah's concern for other hostages' health increased, with Hezbollah captors inquiring about the hostages' health and well-being.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The United States National Security Council acknowledged in an unclassified note that Buckley probably died on June 3, 1985, of a heart attack.<ref name="AP" /><ref name="Thomas" /><ref name="gup3">United States National Security Council, "U.S./Iranian Contacts and the American Hostages"-"Maximum Version" of NSC Chronology of Events, dated November 17, 1986, 2000 Hours – Top Secret, Chronology, November 17, 1986, 12 pp. (UNCLASSIFIED)</ref>

Buckley's remains were recovered by Major Jens Nielsen (Royal Danish Army) attached to the United Nations Observation Group Beirut<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on December 27, 1991, after they were dumped on a road near Beirut airport.Template:Sfn His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Aftermath

On November 22, 1985, Ted Shackley, Buckley's friend and recruiter, traveled to the Atlantic Hotel in Hamburg, where he met General Manouchehr Hashemi, the former head of SAVAK's counterintelligence division. Also at the meeting was Manucher Ghorbanifar. According to the report of this meeting that Shackley sent to the State Department, Hashemi said Ghorbanifar had "fantastic" contacts with Iran,<ref name="Report of the President's Special Review Board">Template:Cite book</ref> but the CIA had designated him one year earlier as a "fabricator".<ref>Template:Cite mailing list</ref> At the meeting, Shackley told Hashemi and Ghorbanifar that the United States was willing to discuss arms shipments in exchange for the four Americans kidnapped in Lebanon, although Buckley was already dead at this point.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="AP" />

Major General Carl Stiner stated that "Buckley's kidnapping had become a major CIA concern. Not long after his capture, his agents either vanished or were killed. It was clear that his captors had tortured him into revealing the network of agents he had established."Template:Sfn According to the United States, Buckley had undergone 15 months of torture by Hezbollah before his death. After Buckley's kidnapping, three videos of Buckley being tortured were sent to the CIA in Athens. Interpreters noticed puncture marks indicating he was injected with narcotics. According to several sources, as a result of his torture, he signed a 400-page statement detailing his CIA activities.<ref name="Thomas" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In a summary of the content of a video taken approximately seven months after the kidnapping, Buckley's appearance was described as follows:

Buckley was close to a gibbering wretch. His words were often incoherent; he slobbered and drooled and, most unnerving of all, he would suddenly scream in terror, his eyes rolling helplessly and his body shaking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The CIA consensus was that he would be blindfolded and chained at the ankles and wrists and kept in a cell little bigger than a coffin.<ref name="Thomas" />

Legacy

The CIA Memorial Wall as of January 2005

An agency memorial service was held in August 1987 to commemorate his death. A public memorial service was held with full military honors at Arlington on May 13, 1988, just short of three years after his presumed death date. At the service, attended by more than 100 colleagues and friends, CIA Director William H. Webster eulogized Buckley, saying, "Bill's success in collecting information in situations of incredible danger was exceptional, even remarkable."<ref name="nyt91" /><ref name="AP" />

There is a small park (dedicated May 30, 2010) with a memorial in his memory in the main square of his hometown of Stoneham, Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

According to the biographical information distributed by the CIA, Buckley was "an avid reader of politics and history" and "a collector and builder of miniature soldiers." The latter hobby enabled him to become a principal artisan in the creation of a panorama at the Lexington Battlefield Tourist Center near his native Medford, Massachusetts. The press release also said he owned an antique shop and was an amateur artist and a collector of fine art. It called him "a very private and discreet individual".<ref name="nyt91" />

Awards and decorations

Among Buckley's decorations and awards are the Silver Star, Soldier's Medal, Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device, two Purple Hearts, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. He also received the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with bronze star from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was inducted into the U.S. Army ROTC Hall of Fame in April 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Among his CIA awards are the Intelligence Star, Exceptional Service Medallion and Distinguished Intelligence Cross. The 51st star on the CIA Memorial Wall represents him, surrounded by about 132 other stars (as of January 2021) representing CIA officers killed in the line of duty. Approximately 35 of the stars are for unnamed agents whose identities have not been revealed for national security reasons. His name and year of death are recorded in the "Book of Honor" at the wall. The CIA awarded him the Distinguished Intelligence Cross, an Intelligence Star, and an Exceptional Service Medal, but has not said whether any of these were issued posthumously (although at least one award of the Exceptional Service Medal must have been made posthumously).Template:Citation needed

Among Buckley's civilian awards are the Freedom Foundation Award for Lexington Green Diorama, Collegium and Academy of Distinguished Alumni Boston University. The William F. Buckley Memorial Park in Stoneham, Massachusetts, is dedicated to his memory. Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

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Badge	Combat Infantryman Badge Template:Small
1st row	Silver Star						Soldier's Medal
2nd row	Bronze Star Template:Small				Purple Heart Template:Small				Meritorious Service Medal
3rd row	Army Commendation Medal Template:Small				Prisoner of War Medal				National Defense Service Medal Template:Small
4th row	Korean Service Medal Template:Small				Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Template:Small				Vietnam Service Medal Template:Small
5th row	Armed Forces Reserve Medal Template:Small				Army Service Ribbon				Army Overseas Service Ribbon
6th row	Vietnamese Gallantry Cross Template:Small				United Nations Korea Medal				Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal Template:Small
7th row	Vietnam Campaign Medal Template:Small				Cambodia National Defense Medal Template:Small				Korean War Service Medal
Badges	South Vietnamese Parachutist badge						Master Parachutist Badge
Badges	Special Forces Tab						United States Army Special Forces Template:Small

	Intelligence Star
	Distinguished Intelligence Cross
	Exceptional Service Medal
	12 Overseas Service Bars

See also

• William R. Higgins (1945–1990)
• Imad Mughniyah (1962–2008)

References

Sources

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Further reading

• Template:Cite book This book contains a thinly disguised portrait of Buckley in the form of the character Tom Rogers.
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