Bike ride to honor unnamed CIA officers killed in bombing
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 19, 2010; 3:31 PM

http://www.pedalingforpatriots.com/


Barred by law from uttering his slain comrades' names in public, retired CIA officer Rob Richer recently hit upon a novel idea for memorializing the seven agency operatives killed in last year's suicide bombing near Khost, Afghanistan: He would climb on his mountain bike and ride across the country in their honor.

But the 56-year-old ex-Marine had no sooner posted the itinerary for the 2,500-mile odyssey on his Web site than his phone began lighting up. Dozens of people, many of them strangers, were calling to ask if they could participate, either through donations or by joining him on the journey. Retired intelligence officers, soldiers, cops, even students wanted to sign up.

"Some wanted to know if they could ride along for a few hours, or a day, or even a week," said Richer, who had envisioned making the trip this fall with only his wife, also a former Marine, pedaling alongside him. "They just wanted to find some way to help."

Five months after the Dec. 30 bombing, the same sentiment has spurred what CIA veterans describe as an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and support following the deadliest attack on the agency in a quarter-century. Former intelligence officials have raised more than $3 million this year to help the families of the dead and wounded, and others, like Richer, have launched individual initiatives to raise funds or awareness.

The CIA itself is preparing to formally honor the dead officers with a ceremony in early June that will include the unveiling of five new stars on the Memorial Wall at the agency's headquarters in Langley. The white marble wall currently has 90 stars representing intelligence officers slain since the agency's founding. Some of their names are recorded in a black, leather-bound volume near the display, but 35 of the entries are blank, denoting an officer in the clandestine service whose identity remains secret.

The December attack on the CIA's Forward Operating Base Chapman killed the bomber and nine other people, including the five agency officers, two contractors, an Afghan driver and a Jordanian intelligence officer. The CIA continues to classify as secret the names of two of the slain officers, including the base chief, a Northern Virginia resident and mother of three who was among the agency's leading al-Qaeda experts. She and the others were killed by a Jordanian double agent who came to the base claiming to have information about top al-Qaeda operatives.

The agency is conducting a formal inquiry into how the double agent was able to get so close to so many CIA officers before being searched.

Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in the past eight years, but former agency officials say the CIA deaths evoked an unusually strong public response in part because the officers' contributions to national security -- and, indeed, their identities -- are opaque to most Americans.

"They serve and lose their lives, but they remain anonymous," said Richer, a former deputy director for operations who retired in 2005. "They don't get a parade."

Within the close-knit community of current and former intelligence officers, the deaths were a "singular shock" because the victims and their families were well-known, said former CIA director Michael V. Hayden. Afterward, he said, many were looking for ways to help.

"Despite its wartime expansion, CIA is still a relatively small service," Hayden said. "So when something like Khost happens, almost everyone has a personal link to the tragedy and its victims."
At least four former CIA directors, including Hayden and former president George H.W. Bush, presided over a fundraising banquet in January to benefit the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, which supports families of slain officers. Two former agency officials familiar with the fund said that all money raised will be used to provide support to families and pay for college tuition for nine children who lost a parent in the Khost bombing. Already, the charity is helping pay tuition for 27 children of slain CIA officers, said Jeffrey Smith, a former agency lawyer who serves as the foundation's general counsel.

Richer said all proceeds from his cross-country bike ride will go to the memorial fund. The retired officer had worked with several of the Khost victims, and he came up with the idea of the ride as a way of bringing recognition to officers whose names might never be known.

He dubbed his project "Pedaling for Patriots" and created the Web site to allow friends to track his progress and make donations if they chose to. He and his wife, Kim, of Centreville, began training this spring for a trip that will begin in September and take them from St. Augustine, Fla., to San Diego. Another former CIA employee will trail the riders by van.

Richer said he has been overwhelmed by offers of donations -- some of them from non-Americans who were moved by stories about the bombing. But he said he was more deeply touched by the calls and e-mails from strangers who wanted to join in the ride. Richer now expects to be accompanied by other riders, in pairs or in groups of a dozen or more, for long stretches of the trip.

"It's kind of a cleansing experience," said Richer, who served during a time when the agency was rocked by multiple controversies, including intelligence failures and allegations of torture. "Let's forget for now about the things you read and agree that these officers served an important mission, and we need to take care of their families."

The CIA has not officially participated in the fundraising events, but spokeswoman Marie Harf said the agency welcomes them.

"The agency is profoundly grateful for expressions of support from outside groups, including fundraising, for the families of our fallen colleagues," Harf said.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.