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|alma_mater= [[Boston University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
|allegiance= {{Flag|United States of America}}
|branch= {{Army|United States|size=23px}}<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.svg|size=23px}} [[Central Intelligence Agency]]
|branch= {{Army|United States|size=23px}}<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.svg|size=23px}} [[Central Intelligence Agency]]
|serviceyears= 1947–1965 (Army)<br />1965–1985 (CIA)
|serviceyears= 1947–1965 (Army)<br />1965–1985 (CIA)
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'''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">{{cite news |date=27 June 1985 |page=A10 |first=David |last=Binder |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/world/hostages-lebanon-israelis-are-guarded-another-seven-americans-held-hostage.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |volume=CXXXIV |issue=129 |title=Hostages in Lebanon: Israelis are guarded; another seven Americans held hostage in Lebanon }}</ref> until 1985. His cover was as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy.{{sfn|Thomas|1989}}{{sfn|Kushner|2003|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/isbn_9780761924081/page/85/mode/2up Buckley, William Francis (Entries A-Z)]|p=85-86}} He was kidnapped by the group [[Hezbollah]] in March 1984. He was held hostage and tortured by [[psychiatrist]] [[Aziz al-Abub]]. Hezbollah later claimed they executed him in October 1985, but another American hostage disputed that, believing that he died five months prior, in June.<ref name="AP">{{cite news |title=Former Hostage Says Buckley Died Five Months Before Date Given by Captors |date=2 December 1986 |access-date=11 September 2021 |work=[[Associated Press|The Associated Press (AP)]] |url=https://www.apnews.com/article/23e0309c50df4c4e15ce5c6609badd70 }}</ref><ref name="Thomas" /><ref name="Trento" /> He is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] and is commemorated with a star on the [[CIA Memorial Wall|Memorial Wall]] at the [[George Bush Center for Intelligence|CIA headquarters]] in [[Langley, Virginia]].<ref name="nyt91" />
'''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">{{cite news |date=27 June 1985 |page=A10 |first=David |last=Binder |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/world/hostages-lebanon-israelis-are-guarded-another-seven-americans-held-hostage.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |volume=CXXXIV |issue=129 |title=Hostages in Lebanon: Israelis are guarded; another seven Americans held hostage in Lebanon |archive-date=September 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913222820/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/world/hostages-lebanon-israelis-are-guarded-another-seven-americans-held-hostage.html |url-status=live }}</ref> until his kidnapping and execution in 1985.
Buckley's cover was as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy.{{sfn|Thomas|1989}}{{sfn|Kushner|2003|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/isbn_9780761924081/page/85/mode/2up Buckley, William Francis (Entries A-Z)]|p=85-86}} He was kidnapped by the group [[Islamic Jihad Organization|Islamic Jihad]] in March 1984, and held hostage and tortured by [[psychiatrist]] [[Aziz al-Abub]]. Hezbollah later claimed they executed him in October 1985, but another American hostage disputed that, believing that he died five months prior, in June.<ref name="AP">{{cite news |title=Former Hostage Says Buckley Died Five Months Before Date Given by Captors |date=2 December 1986 |access-date=11 September 2021 |work=[[Associated Press|The Associated Press (AP)]] |url=https://www.apnews.com/article/23e0309c50df4c4e15ce5c6609badd70 }}</ref><ref name="Thomas" /><ref name="Trento" />
He is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] and is commemorated with a star on the [[CIA Memorial Wall|Memorial Wall]] at the [[George Bush Center for Intelligence|CIA headquarters]] in [[Langley, Virginia]].<ref name="nyt91" />


== Early life and education ==
== 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, Massachusetts|Stoneham]]. He graduated from high school there in 1947,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stoneham|first=Mass Stoneham High School|url=http://archive.org/details/stonehamhighscho1947ston|title=Stoneham High School yearbook|date=1947|publisher=Stoneham High School|others=Stoneham Public Library}}</ref> and then joined the [[United States Army]]. He began as a [[military police]] officer 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 [[NATO School|Intelligence School]] at [[Oberammergau]], [[West Germany]].
Buckley was born in [[Medford, Massachusetts]], on May 30, 1928. He grew up on south Main Street in the neighboring town of [[Stoneham, Massachusetts|Stoneham]]. He graduated from high school there in 1947,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stoneham|first=Mass Stoneham High School|url=http://archive.org/details/stonehamhighscho1947ston|title=Stoneham High School yearbook|date=1947|publisher=Stoneham High School|others=Stoneham Public Library}}</ref> and then joined the [[United States Army]].
He began as a [[military police]] officer 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 [[NATO School|Intelligence School]] at [[Oberammergau]], [[West Germany]].


== Career ==
== Career ==


=== U.S. Army ===
=== U.S. Army ===
During the [[Korean War]], Buckley served as a [[company commander]] with the [[1st Cavalry Division (United States)|1st Cavalry Division]]. Next, he returned to [[Boston University]] and completed his studies, graduating with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in [[political science]] (Class of 1955; he was inducted into the [[Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps|U.S. Army ROTC]] Hall of Fame in April 2022).<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Boston University Army ROTC |date=29 April 2022 |access-date=19 October 2022 |title=Boston University Honors CIA Officer William Buckley |first= |last= |url=https://www.afio.com/pages/WOODWARD_BU_Buckley_ROTC_Hall_of_Fame_Ceremony_2022Apr29-1.pdf |archive-date= |archive-url= |website=Afio.com}}</ref> 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 [[United States Army Airborne School|Basic Airborne]] and the [[United States Army Special Forces selection and training|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 [[Military Assistance Command, Vietnam|U.S. Military Assistance Command]], Vietnam, or MACV, as a senior advisor to the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnamese Army]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9upDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |chapter=Chapter 4: The Soldier Spy |access-date=14 September 2021 |pages=56–78 |first1=Fred |last1=Burton |first2=Samuel M. |last2=Katz |title=Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America |via=[[Google Books]] |date=23 October 2018 |isbn=978-1-101-98748-3 |lccn=2018010839 |edition=1st |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |publisher=Berkley ([[Penguin Random House]]) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9upDAAAQBAJ |oclc=1038024600 }}</ref>
After serving as a [[company commander]] during the [[Korean War]] with the [[1st Cavalry Division (United States)|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 [[United States Army Airborne School|Basic Airborne]] and the [[United States Army Special Forces selection and training|Special Forces Officers Course]]. He was assigned as an A-Detachment commander and later as a B-Detachment commander.
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=== Central Intelligence Agency ===


Colonel Buckley served in Vietnam with the [[Military Assistance Command, Vietnam|U.S. Military Assistance Command]], Vietnam, or MACV, as a senior advisor to the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnamese Army]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9upDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |chapter=Chapter 4: The Soldier Spy |access-date=14 September 2021 |pages=56–78 |first1=Fred |last1=Burton |first2=Samuel M. |last2=Katz |title=Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America |via=[[Google Books]] |date=23 October 2018 |isbn=978-1-101-98748-3 |lccn=2018010839 |edition=1st |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |publisher=Berkley ([[Penguin Random House]]) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9upDAAAQBAJ |oclc=1038024600 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106233954/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9upDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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In 1965 (or 1963, according to one source), Buckley rejoined the CIA in what is now called the [[Special Activities Division]].{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} According to Leslie Cockburn's book, ''Out of Control'' (1987), Buckley was involved in approving CIA assassinations undertaken by the Shackley organizations. In his book, ''Prelude to Terror'' (2005) Joseph Trento claims that Buckley was "one of Shackley's oldest and dearest friends."<ref name="Trento">{{cite book |lccn=2007278136 |title=Prelude to Terror: The rogue CIA and the legacy of America's private intelligence network |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |collaboration=Design by Maria E. Torres |oclc=237187597 |isbn=978-0-7867-1464-3 |first=Joseph John |last=Trento |edition=2nd |date=29 April 2005 |access-date=14 September 2021 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url=https://www.archive.org/details/preludetoterrorr00tren_0 }}</ref>


He was inducted into the [[Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps|U.S. Army ROTC]] Hall of Fame in April 2022.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Boston University Army ROTC |date=29 April 2022 |access-date=19 October 2022 |title=Boston University Honors CIA Officer William Buckley |first= |last= |url=https://www.afio.com/pages/WOODWARD_BU_Buckley_ROTC_Hall_of_Fame_Ceremony_2022Apr29-1.pdf |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019134842/https://www.afio.com/pages/WOODWARD_BU_Buckley_ROTC_Hall_of_Fame_Ceremony_2022Apr29-1.pdf |website=Afio.com |url-status=live }}</ref>
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Buckley may have been working for the CIA while in [[Mexico]] in 1963, but this is unconfirmed. His CIA employment kept him in [[South Vietnam]] from 1965 to 1970, and he was promoted in his military capacity to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] in May 1969. After leaving Vietnam, he served in [[Zaire]] (1970–1972), [[Khmer Republic|Cambodia]] (1972), [[Egypt]] (1972–1978), and [[Pakistan]] (1978–1979).{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}


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=== Central Intelligence Agency ===
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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 [[1983 United States embassy bombing|bombing of the U.S. Embassy]]<nowiki/>after the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|Marine Corps barracks bombing in October 1983]], the [[Islamist]] group [[Hezbollah]] wrongly announced that they had also killed the CIA station chief (they did not yet know the station chief was Buckley)<ref name="buckley-cia"/> in the blast; their announcement was the first real indication that he was on a Hezbollah "hit list."{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/239 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=239}}{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/253 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=253}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephens: Iran's Unrequited War: The mullahs are at war with us. Maybe we should return the favor |first=Bret |last=Stephens |date=22 October 2012 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203630604578072452443447568 |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url-access=subscription |archive-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214035443/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203630604578072452443447568 }}</ref>
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In 1965 (or 1963, according to one source), Buckley rejoined the CIA in what became the [[Special Activities Division]].<ref name=buckley-spartacus>{{cite web|title=William Francis Buckley|publisher=Spartacus Educational|access-date=2023-07-26|last=|first=|url=https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKbuckleyWF.htm|archive-date=July 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706203659/https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKbuckleyWF.htm|url-status=live}}</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">{{cite book |lccn=2007278136 |title=Prelude to Terror: The rogue CIA and the legacy of America's private intelligence network |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |collaboration=Design by Maria E. Torres |oclc=237187597 |isbn=978-0-7867-1464-3 |first=Joseph John |last=Trento |edition=2nd |date=29 April 2005 |access-date=14 September 2021 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url=https://www.archive.org/details/preludetoterrorr00tren_0 }}</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 (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] in May 1969. After leaving Vietnam, he served in [[Zaire]] (1970–1972), [[Khmer Republic|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 [[1983 United States embassy bombing|bombing of the U.S. Embassy]] after the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|Marine Corps barracks bombing in October 1983]] when the [[Islamist]] group [[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".{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/239 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=239}}{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://www.archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/253 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=253}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephens: Iran's Unrequited War: The mullahs are at war with us. Maybe we should return the favor |first=Bret |last=Stephens |date=22 October 2012 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203630604578072452443447568 |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url-access=subscription |archive-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214035443/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203630604578072452443447568 }}</ref>


== Kidnapping and death ==
== Kidnapping and death ==
===Background and prelude===
Historically, Lebanon had always been a [[politics of Lebanon|politically]] and socially unstable country but throughout 1983 this instability increased dramatically. The [[Shi'ite]] population of Lebanon became increasingly radicalized and started to [[anti-Americanism|target Westerners]] and Western-owned infrastructure such as embassies.<ref>{{cite thesis |title=The battle for South Lebanon: The radicalization of Lebanon's Shi'ites 1982–1985 |publication-place=[[Nijmegen]], [[Gelderland]], [[Netherlands]] |date=19 June 2000 |access-date=14 September 2021 |oclc=742181947 |chapter-url=https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/147053/147053.pdf |type=Doctoral thesis (PhD in letters) |editor1-first=C.H.M. |editor1-last=Versteegh |editor2-first=N. |editor2-last=van Dam |editor3-first=E.J. |editor3-last=Zürcher |editor4-first=R. |editor4-last=Peters |editor5-first=H. |editor5-last=Motzki |editor6-first=Françoise |editor6-last=Berserik |editor7-first=Teus |editor7-last=de Jong |editor8-first=Nij |editor8-last=Beets |editor9-first=Henk |editor9-last=Pel |via=Radboud Repository (Radboud University) |publisher=[[Radboud University Nijmegen|Radboud University (Radboud Universiteit)]]/Uitgeverij Bulaaq (Bulaaq Publishers) |language=en, nl |department=Rabdoub University Faculty of Social Sciences |chapter=Chapter Six: Escalation (May 1983-June 1984) |pages=197–246 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Violence and Diplomacy in Lebanon: The Troubled Years, 1982–1988 |date=31 December 1994 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]/I.B. Tauris |first=Elie |last=Salem |isbn=978-1-85043-835-9 |doi=10.5040/9780755612109 |series=Bloomsbury Modern History/I.B. Tauris General Middle East History |publication-place=[[London]], [[England]] |edition=1st }}</ref>
In recent history, Lebanon has been considered by American Intelligence agencies as a [[politics of Lebanon|politically]] and socially unstable country, but throughout 1983 this instability increased dramatically. The [[Shi'ite]] population of Lebanon became increasingly radicalized and started to [[anti-Americanism|target Westerners]] and Western-owned infrastructure such as embassies.<ref>{{cite thesis |title=The battle for South Lebanon: The radicalization of Lebanon's Shi'ites 1982–1985 |publication-place=[[Nijmegen]], [[Gelderland]], [[Netherlands]] |date=19 June 2000 |access-date=14 September 2021 |oclc=742181947 |chapter-url=https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/147053/147053.pdf |type=Doctoral thesis (PhD in letters) |editor1-first=C.H.M. |editor1-last=Versteegh |editor2-first=N. |editor2-last=van Dam |editor3-first=E.J. |editor3-last=Zürcher |editor4-first=R. |editor4-last=Peters |editor5-first=H. |editor5-last=Motzki |editor6-first=Françoise |editor6-last=Berserik |editor7-first=Teus |editor7-last=de Jong |editor8-first=Nij |editor8-last=Beets |editor9-first=Henk |editor9-last=Pel |via=Radboud Repository (Radboud University) |publisher=[[Radboud University Nijmegen|Radboud University (Radboud Universiteit)]]/Uitgeverij Bulaaq (Bulaaq Publishers) |language=en, nl |department=Rabdoub University Faculty of Social Sciences |chapter=Chapter Six: Escalation (May 1983–June 1984) |pages=197–246 |archive-date=September 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915044547/https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/147053/147053.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Violence and Diplomacy in Lebanon: The Troubled Years, 1982–1988 |date=31 December 1994 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]/I.B. Tauris |first=Elie |last=Salem |isbn=978-1-85043-835-9 |doi=10.5040/9780755612109 |series=Bloomsbury Modern History/I.B. Tauris General Middle East History |publication-place=[[London]], [[England]] |edition=1st }}</ref>
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Within this backdrop, on March 16, 1984, Buckley was kidnapped by Hezbollah<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |edition=2nd |orig-date=2004 |year=2003 |publication-place=[[Detroit]], [[Michigan]] |series=Gale virtual reference library |department=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Group]] |publisher=([[Thomson Corporation]]) |page=341 |url=https://www.archive.org/details/Encyclopedia_of_Espionage_Intelligence_Security_Vol_III_By_Lee_Lerner_Brenda_Ler |chapter-url=https://www.archive.org/details/Encyclopedia_of_Espionage_Intelligence_Security_Vol_III_By_Lee_Lerner_Brenda_Ler/page/n341 |collaboration=Design and pictures by Dean Dauphinais, Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Mary K. Grimes, Lezlie Light, Luke Rademacher, Kate Scheible; printing by Rhnonda Williams |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=Cusack |editor2-first=Kate |editor2-last=Scheible |editor3-first=Erin |editor3-last=Bealmar |editor4-first=Joan |editor4-last=Cerrito |editor5-first=Jim |editor5-last=Craddock |editor6-first=Carol |editor6-last=Schwartz |editor7-first=Christine |editor7-last=Tomassini |editor8-first=Michael J. |editor8-last=Tyrkus |editor9-first=Peter |editor9-last=Gareffa |access-date=11 September 2021 |lccn=2003011097 |isbn=978-0-7876-7546-2 |first1=K. Lee |last1=Lerner |first2=Brenda Wilmoth |last2=Lerner |volume=3 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security |chapter=Chapter 3. Chronology |title=1984 (entry 7) }}</ref> from his apartment building when he was leaving for work.<ref name="Thomas">{{cite web |title=William Buckley: The spy who never came in from the cold |first=Gordon |last=Thomas |author-link=Gordon Thomas (author) |publication-place=[[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada |date=25 October 2006 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas102506.htm |website=Canada Free Press (CFP) |editor1-first=Judi Ann T. |editor1-last=McLeod |editor1-link=Judi McLeod |archive-date=9 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109092551/https://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas102506.htm }}</ref><ref name="Woodward">{{cite news |last1=Woodward |first1=Bob |author-link1=Bob Woodward |last2=Babcock |first2=Charles R. |date=November 25, 1986 |title=William Buckley Murdered: Captive CIA Agent's Death Galvanized Hostage Search |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |via=highbeam.com |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3456600093.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329154713/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3456600093.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 29, 2015 |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref> It was thought that one of the reasons he was kidnapped along with two other Americans at different times in Beirut was because of the upcoming trial of 17 Iranian-backed militants that was about to begin in [[Kuwait]]. Army [[Major general (United States)|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.{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/260 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=260}}


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>{{Cite book |last=Bergman |first=Ronen |title=By Any Means Necessary |publisher=[[Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-965-552-175-7 |editor-last=Alterman |editor-first=Shahar |edition=2011 |pages=170–171 |language=he |author-link=Ronen Bergman}}</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's possible that the information about the impending kidnapping did not reach the CIA due to an "egotistical" dispute between the [[Mossad]] and [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate]].
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>{{Cite book |last=Bergman |first=Ronen |title=By Any Means Necessary |publisher=[[Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-965-552-175-7 |editor-last=Alterman |editor-first=Shahar |edition=2011 |pages=170–171 |language=he |author-link=Ronen Bergman}}</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's possible that the information about the impending kidnapping did not reach the CIA due to an "egotistical" dispute between the [[Mossad]] and [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate]].


===Kidnapping===
⚫
On November 22, 1985, Ted Shackley, Buckley's friend and recruiter, traveled to the [[Hotel Atlantic Kempinski|Atlantic Hotel]] in [[Hamburg]], where he met [[Spahbed|General]] [[Manouchehr Hashemi]], the former head of [[SAVAK]]'s counterintelligence division. Also at the meeting on November 22 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">{{cite book |author=President's Special Review Board |title=Report of the President's Special Review Board |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP89G00643R001300120001-9.pdf |date=February 26, 1987 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=B-3 |ref={{harvid|President's Special Review Board|1987}}}}</ref> but the CIA had designated him one year earlier as a "fabricator".<ref>{{cite mailing list |first1=Malcolm |last1=Byrne |first2=Peter |last2=Kornbluh |first3=Thomas |last3=Blanton |title=The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On: Documents Spotlight Role of Reagan, Top Aides |date=24 November 2006 |access-date=11 September 2021 |editor1-first=Edgar N. |editor1-last=James |editor2-first=Nancy E. |editor2-last=Soderberg |editor3-first=Cliff |editor3-last=Sloan |editor4-first=Nancy |editor4-last=Kranich |publication-place=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824231052/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210 |publisher=[[National Security Archive|The National Security Archive]] ([[George Washington University]]) |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210/index.htm |mailing-list=National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book |issue=210 }}</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>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycHFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Navigating Iran: From Carter to Obama |first=Ofira |last=Seliktar |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-33729-9 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] ([[Springer Nature]]) |access-date=11 September 2021 |edition=1st |pages=47–68 |chapter=Chapter 3 – The Reagan Administration's Balancing Act: Confusion in Washington and Tehran |publication-place=[[London]], [[England]] |oclc=964883038 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycHFAAAAQBAJ|via=[[Google Books]] |doi=10.1057/9781137010889_4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Karam |doi=10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298 |pages=431–443 |volume=36 |issue=3 |title=Reflections on Beirut Rules: the wider consequences of US foreign and security policy in Lebanon in the 1980s |issn=0268-4527 |journal=[[Intelligence and National Security]] |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298 |date=12 May 2020 |s2cid=219459136 |access-date=11 September 2021 }}</ref><ref name="AP" />
⚫
On March 16, 1984, Buckley was kidnapped by Hezbollah<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |edition=2nd |orig-date=2004 |year=2003 |publication-place=[[Detroit]], [[Michigan]] |series=Gale virtual reference library |department=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Group]] |publisher=([[Thomson Corporation]]) |page=341 |url=https://www.archive.org/details/Encyclopedia_of_Espionage_Intelligence_Security_Vol_III_By_Lee_Lerner_Brenda_Ler |chapter-url=https://www.archive.org/details/Encyclopedia_of_Espionage_Intelligence_Security_Vol_III_By_Lee_Lerner_Brenda_Ler/page/n341 |collaboration=Design and pictures by Dean Dauphinais, Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Mary K. Grimes, Lezlie Light, Luke Rademacher, Kate Scheible; printing by Rhnonda Williams |editor1-first=Stephen |editor1-last=Cusack |editor2-first=Kate |editor2-last=Scheible |editor3-first=Erin |editor3-last=Bealmar |editor4-first=Joan |editor4-last=Cerrito |editor5-first=Jim |editor5-last=Craddock |editor6-first=Carol |editor6-last=Schwartz |editor7-first=Christine |editor7-last=Tomassini |editor8-first=Michael J. |editor8-last=Tyrkus |editor9-first=Peter |editor9-last=Gareffa |access-date=11 September 2021 |lccn=2003011097 |isbn=978-0-7876-7546-2 |first1=K. Lee |last1=Lerner |first2=Brenda Wilmoth |last2=Lerner |volume=3 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security |chapter=Chapter 3. Chronology |title=1984 (entry 7) }}</ref> from his apartment building when he was leaving for work.<ref name="Thomas">{{cite web |title=William Buckley: The spy who never came in from the cold |first=Gordon |last=Thomas |author-link=Gordon Thomas (author) |publication-place=[[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada |date=25 October 2006 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas102506.htm |website=Canada Free Press (CFP) |editor1-first=Judi Ann T. |editor1-last=McLeod |editor1-link=Judi McLeod |archive-date=9 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109092551/https://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas102506.htm }}</ref><ref name="Woodward">{{cite news |last1=Woodward |first1=Bob |author-link1=Bob Woodward |last2=Babcock |first2=Charles R. |date=November 25, 1986 |title=William Buckley Murdered: Captive CIA Agent's Death Galvanized Hostage Search |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |via=highbeam.com |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3456600093.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329154713/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3456600093.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 29, 2015 |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref> Army [[Major general (United States)|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.{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/260 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=260}}


It was thought that one of the reasons he was kidnapped along with two other Americans at different times in Beirut was because of the upcoming trial of 17 Iranian-backed militants that was about to begin in [[Kuwait]].
⚫
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."{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/261 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=261}} 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>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack |last2=Van Atta |first2=Dale |date=September 28, 1988 |title=CIA Official Tortured to Death, Gave Secrets |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |archive-date=29 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829155126/https://www.deseret.com/1988/9/28/18779491/cia-official-tortured-to-death-gave-secrets |publication-place=[[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]] |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/18267/CIA-OFFICIAL-TORTURED-TO-DEATH-GAVE-SECRETS.html?pg=all |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref> In a video taken approximately seven months after the kidnapping, his appearance was described as follows:
⚫
<blockquote>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>{{cite web |publisher=SOFREP Media Group |date=4 January 2020 |access-date=11 September 2021 |title=A Delta Force encounter with a Hezbollah operative |first=George E. |last=Hand IV |url=https://www.sofrep.com/news/a-delta-force-encounter-with-a-hezbollah-operative |archive-date=5 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105044456/https://www.sofrep.com/news/a-delta-force-encounter-with-a-hezbollah-operative |website=SOFREP }}</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" /></blockquote>


He was apparently tortured over the 15 months of his capture, using drills to his joints and general beating with blunt force instruments.
⚫
On October 4, 1985, [[Islamic Jihad Organization|Islamic Jihad]] announced that it had executed Buckley.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tales From Langley: The CIA From Truman to Obama |first=Peter |last=Kross |publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press |publication-place=[[Kempton, Illinois]] |date=15 April 2014 |isbn=978-1-939149-34-3 |access-date=14 September 2021 |via=[[Google Books]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYpXDwAAQBAJ |chapter=Chapter 39) The Murder of William Buckley |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYpXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |pages=255–259 }}</ref> The [[United States National Security Council]] acknowledged in an unclassified note that Buckley probably died on June 3, 1985, of a [[Myocardial infarction|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&nbsp;– 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>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unogilbackgr.html |title=Lebanon—UNOGIL |work=United Nations Peacekeeping Missions |publisher=[[United Nations]] |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref> on December 27, 1991, after they were dumped on a road near [[Beirut airport]].{{sfn|Picco|1999|pages=334}} His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991, and was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], in [[Arlington, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdidWNrbGV5Egd3aWxsaWFtGgFm/ |title=Burial Detail: Buckley, William F. (Section 59, Grave 346) |work= ANC Explorer|publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |id=(Official website)}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |page=A7 |date=26 January 2017 |first=Kevin |last=Wade |title=Memory of Buckley deserves better |series=Kevin Wade: The Other Side |url=https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/opinion/local-opinion-columnists/memory-of-buckley-deserves-better |access-date=11 September 2021 |newspaper=The Daily Republic |publisher=McNaughton Newspapers, Inc. |publication-place=[[Fairfield, California]] |issn=0746-5858 |department=Columns and Op-Eds }}</ref>


===Aftermath===
⚫
After Buckley's death, Hezbollah's concern for other hostages' health increased; Hezbollah captors inquired about the hostages' health and well-being.<ref>{{cite web |website=[[Newsweek]] |title=The Death of Terror's Pioneer |first=Kevin |last=Peraino |date=16 January 2008 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/death-terrors-pioneer-94113 |archive-date=21 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221165132/https://www.newsweek.com/death-terrors-pioneer-94113 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New Work]] }}</ref>
⚫
On November 22, 1985, [[Ted Shackley]], Buckley's friend and recruiter, traveled to the [[Hotel Atlantic Kempinski|Atlantic Hotel]] in [[Hamburg]], where he met [[Spahbed|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">{{cite book |author=President's Special Review Board |title=Report of the President's Special Review Board |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP89G00643R001300120001-9.pdf |date=February 26, 1987 |page=B-3 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410163457/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP89G00643R001300120001-9.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> but the CIA had designated him one year earlier as a "fabricator".<ref>{{cite mailing list |first1=Malcolm |last1=Byrne |first2=Peter |last2=Kornbluh |first3=Thomas |last3=Blanton |title=The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On: Documents Spotlight Role of Reagan, Top Aides |date=24 November 2006 |access-date=11 September 2021 |editor1-first=Edgar N. |editor1-last=James |editor2-first=Nancy E. |editor2-last=Soderberg |editor3-first=Cliff |editor3-last=Sloan |editor4-first=Nancy |editor4-last=Kranich |publication-place=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824231052/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210 |publisher=[[National Security Archive|The National Security Archive]] ([[George Washington University]]) |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210/index.htm |mailing-list=National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book |issue=210 }}</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>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycHFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Navigating Iran: From Carter to Obama |first=Ofira |last=Seliktar |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-33729-9 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] ([[Springer Nature]]) |access-date=11 September 2021 |edition=1st |pages=47–68 |chapter=Chapter 3 – The Reagan Administration's Balancing Act: Confusion in Washington and Tehran |publication-place=[[London]], [[England]] |oclc=964883038 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycHFAAAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]] |doi=10.1057/9781137010889_4 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106233954/https://books.google.com/books?id=ycHFAAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Karam |doi=10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298 |pages=431–443 |volume=36 |issue=3 |title=Reflections on Beirut Rules: the wider consequences of US foreign and security policy in Lebanon in the 1980s |issn=0268-4527 |journal=[[Intelligence and National Security]] |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298 |date=12 May 2020 |s2cid=219459136 |access-date=11 September 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912035324/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298 |url-status=live }}</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."{{sfn|Clancy|Stiner|Koltz|2002|loc=[https://archive.org/details/shadowwarriorsin00clan_0/page/261 VIII. The Lebanon tragedy]|p=261}} 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>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack |last2=Van Atta |first2=Dale |date=September 28, 1988 |title=CIA Official Tortured to Death, Gave Secrets |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |archive-date=29 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829155126/https://www.deseret.com/1988/9/28/18779491/cia-official-tortured-to-death-gave-secrets |publication-place=[[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]] |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/18267/CIA-OFFICIAL-TORTURED-TO-DEATH-GAVE-SECRETS.html?pg=all |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref>

In a video taken approximately seven months after the kidnapping, his appearance was described as follows:
⚫
<blockquote>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>{{cite web |publisher=SOFREP Media Group |date=4 January 2020 |access-date=11 September 2021 |title=A Delta Force encounter with a Hezbollah operative |first=George E. |last=Hand IV |url=https://www.sofrep.com/news/a-delta-force-encounter-with-a-hezbollah-operative |archive-date=5 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105044456/https://www.sofrep.com/news/a-delta-force-encounter-with-a-hezbollah-operative |website=SOFREP |url-status=live}}</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" /></blockquote>

===Execution===
⚫
On October 4, 1985, [[Islamic Jihad Organization|Islamic Jihad]] announced that it had executed Buckley.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tales From Langley: The CIA From Truman to Obama |first=Peter |last=Kross |publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press |publication-place=[[Kempton, Illinois]] |date=15 April 2014 |isbn=978-1-939149-34-3 |access-date=14 September 2021 |via=[[Google Books]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYpXDwAAQBAJ |chapter=Chapter 39) The Murder of William Buckley |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYpXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |pages=255–259 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106233954/https://books.google.com/books?id=IYpXDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</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>{{cite web |website=[[Newsweek]] |title=The Death of Terror's Pioneer |first=Kevin |last=Peraino |date=16 January 2008 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/death-terrors-pioneer-94113 |archive-date=21 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221165132/https://www.newsweek.com/death-terrors-pioneer-94113 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New Work]] }}</ref>

The [[United States National Security Council]] acknowledged in an unclassified note that Buckley probably died on June 3, 1985, of a [[Myocardial infarction|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&nbsp;– 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>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unogilbackgr.html |title=Lebanon—UNOGIL |work=United Nations Peacekeeping Missions |publisher=[[United Nations]] |access-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107144248/http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unogilbackgr.html |url-status=live }}</ref> on December 27, 1991, after they were dumped on a road near [[Beirut airport]].{{sfn|Picco|1999|pages=334}} His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991, and was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]], in [[Arlington, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdidWNrbGV5Egd3aWxsaWFtGgFm/ |title=Burial Detail: Buckley, William F. (Section 59, Grave 346) |work=ANC Explorer |publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |id=(Official website) |access-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016165543/https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdidWNrbGV5Egd3aWxsaWFtGgFm/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |page=A7 |date=26 January 2017 |first=Kevin |last=Wade |title=Memory of Buckley deserves better |series=Kevin Wade: The Other Side |url=https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/opinion/local-opinion-columnists/memory-of-buckley-deserves-better |access-date=11 September 2021 |newspaper=The Daily Republic |publisher=McNaughton Newspapers, Inc. |publication-place=[[Fairfield, California]] |issn=0746-5858 |department=Columns and Op-Eds |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912035331/https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/opinion/local-opinion-columnists/memory-of-buckley-deserves-better/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==
Line 68: Line 92:
An agency memorial service was held in August 1987 to commemorate his death. A public memorial service was held with [[Military funerals in the United States|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" />
An agency memorial service was held in August 1987 to commemorate his death. A public memorial service was held with [[Military funerals in the United States|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>{{Citation|last=Daderot|title=Memorial in Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA.|date=2012-02-19|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_F._Buckley_Memorial_-_Stoneham,_MA_-_DSC04293.JPG|access-date=2021-10-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Aliberti|first=Joe|date=Jun 1, 2010|title=Honoring the late William Buckley|url=https://stoneham.wickedlocal.com/article/20100601/NEWS/306019295|url-status=live|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=Wicked Local / Stoneham Sun}}</ref>
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>{{Citation|last=Daderot|title=Memorial in Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA.|date=2012-02-19|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_F._Buckley_Memorial_-_Stoneham,_MA_-_DSC04293.JPG|access-date=2021-10-18|archive-date=November 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106233952/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_F._Buckley_Memorial_-_Stoneham,_MA_-_DSC04293.JPG|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Aliberti|first=Joe|date=Jun 1, 2010|title=Honoring the late William Buckley|url=https://stoneham.wickedlocal.com/article/20100601/NEWS/306019295|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=Wicked Local / Stoneham Sun|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018155530/https://stoneham.wickedlocal.com/article/20100601/NEWS/306019295|url-status=live}}</ref>


== Awards and decorations ==
== Awards and decorations ==
Among Buckley's decorations and awards are the [[Silver Star]], [[Soldier's Medal]], [[Bronze Star Medal]] with [["V" Device]], two [[Purple Heart]]s, the [[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|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>{{cite web|title=Buckley, William Francis, LTC|url=https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=218637|website=army.togetherweserved.com|access-date=December 18, 2020}}</ref> Among his CIA awards are the [[Intelligence Star]], Exceptional Service Medallion and [[Distinguished Intelligence Cross]].
Among Buckley's decorations and awards are the [[Silver Star]], [[Soldier's Medal]], [[Bronze Star Medal]] with [["V" Device]], two [[Purple Heart]]s, the [[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|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>{{cite web|title=Buckley, William Francis, LTC|url=https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=218637|website=army.togetherweserved.com|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=June 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622095000/http://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=218637|url-status=live}}</ref> Among his CIA awards are the [[Intelligence Star]], Exceptional Service Medallion and [[Distinguished Intelligence Cross]].
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. 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).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
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.
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).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
{{col-begin|colwidth=auto}}
{{col-begin|colwidth=auto}}
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{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|-
|colspan="3"|[[File:CIB2.svg|235px]]
|colspan="6"|[[File:CIB2.svg|235px]]
|-
|-
|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-leaf|ribbon=Silver Star ribbon.svg|width=106}} {{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Soldier's Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="6"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-leaf|ribbon=Silver Star ribbon.svg|width=106}} {{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Soldier's Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|other_device=v|number=0|ribbon=Bronze Star Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|other_device=v|number=0|ribbon=Bronze Star Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=award-leaf|ribbon=Purple Heart BAR.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=award-leaf|ribbon=Purple Heart BAR.svg|width=106}}
|[[File:Meritorious Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:Meritorious Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]]
|-
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=award-oak|ribbon=Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=award-oak|ribbon=Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|name=Prisoner of War ribbon|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|name=Prisoner of War ribbon|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Korean Service Medal - Ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -81px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -63px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -45px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Korean Service Medal - Ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -81px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -63px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -45px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -70px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -87px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -53px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -35px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -70px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -87px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -53px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -35px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Vietnam Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -81px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Silver-service-star-3d.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -63px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Silver-service-star-3d.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -45px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|colspan="2"|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Vietnam Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -81px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Silver-service-star-3d.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -63px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Silver-service-star-3d.svg|18px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -45px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]]</span>
|-
|-
|[[File:ResMedRib.svg|106px]]<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -73px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Hourglass Device Silver.svg|16px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -53px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze M Device.svg|22px]]</span>
|colspan="2"|[[File:ResMedRib.svg|106px]]<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -73px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Hourglass Device Silver.svg|16px]]</span><span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -53px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze M Device.svg|22px]]</span>
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|ribbon=Army Service Ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|ribbon=Army Service Ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army Overseas Service Ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|colspan="2"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army Overseas Service Ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Vietnamese Gallantry Cross ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -66px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|24px]]</span>
|colspan="2"|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Vietnamese Gallantry Cross ribbon.svg|width=106}}<span style="position:relative; top: 0px; left: -66px; display: inline-block; width: 0;">[[File:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|24px]]</span>
|[[File:United Nations Service Medal Korea ribbon.svg|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:United Nations Service Medal Korea ribbon.svg|106px]]
|[[File:Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal ribbon-First Class.svg|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal ribbon-First Class.svg|106px]]
|-
|-
|[[File:Vietnam Campaign Medal ribbon with 60- clasp.svg|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:Vietnam Campaign Medal ribbon with 60- clasp.svg|106px]]
|[[File:KHM National Defence Medal - gold.png|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:KHM National Defence Medal - gold.png|106px]]
|[[File:Republic of Korea War Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]]
|colspan="2"|[[File:Republic of Korea War Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]]
|-
|-
| colspan="6"|[[File:ViPaBa.jpg|150px]] [[File:US Army Airborne master parachutist badge.gif|120px]]
| colspan="3"|[[File:ViPaBa.jpg|150px]]
| colspan="3"|[[File:US Army Airborne master parachutist badge.gif|150x100px]]
|-
|-
| colspan="6"|[[File:Einzelbild Special Forces (Special Forces Insignia).svg|125px]] [[File:SpecialForces Badge.svg|90px]]
| colspan="3"|[[File:Einzelbild Special Forces (Special Forces Insignia).svg|150px]]
| colspan="3"|[[File:SpecialForces Badge.svg|150x100px]]
|}
|}


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|colspan="6"|[[Soldier's Medal]]
|colspan="6"|[[Soldier's Medal]]
|-
|-
!2nd row
!2nd&nbsp;row
|colspan="4"|[[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]] <br />{{small|with [["V" device]]}}
|colspan="4"|[[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]] <br />{{small|with [["V" device]]}}
|colspan="4"|[[Purple Heart]] <br />{{small|with 1 [[Oak leaf cluster]]}}
|colspan="4"|[[Purple Heart]] <br />{{small|with 1 [[Oak leaf cluster]]}}
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|[[File:Intelligence Star of the CIA.jpg|165px]]
|[[File:Intelligence Star of the CIA.jpg|135px]]
|[[Intelligence Star]]
|[[Intelligence Star]]
|-
|-
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== Personal life ==
== 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 Battle Green|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">{{cite news |date=28 December 1991 |page=A3 |first=David |last=Binder |volume=CXL |issue=102 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/28/world/remains-of-cia-official-are-flown-to-us-for-rites.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Remains of C.I.A. official are flown to U.S. for rites }}</ref>
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 Battle Green|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">{{cite news |date=28 December 1991 |page=A3 |first=David |last=Binder |volume=CXL |issue=102 |access-date=11 September 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/28/world/remains-of-cia-official-are-flown-to-us-for-rites.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Remains of C.I.A. official are flown to U.S. for rites |archive-date=March 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315011004/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/28/world/remains-of-cia-official-are-flown-to-us-for-rites.html |url-status=live }}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
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== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |orig-date=1987 |publication-place=[[London]], [[England]] |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |first=David |last=Ignatius |via=[[Google Books]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjJhBQAAQBAJ |oclc=16228285 |isbn=978-0-393-02486-9 |date=24 December 2013 |edition=8th |postscript=<br />This book contains a thinly disguised portrait of Buckley in the form of the character Tom Rogers |title=Agents of Innocence }}
* {{cite book |title=Agents of Innocence |orig-date=1987 |place=[[London]], [[England]] |publisher=Quercus |first=David |last=Ignatius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjJhBQAAQBAJ |oclc=909290643 |isbn=978-1-848-66748-8 |date=24 December 2013 |edition=8th}} This book contains a thinly disguised portrait of Buckley in the form of the character Tom Rogers.
* {{cite book |first=Nigel |last=West |year=1992 |orig-date=1991 |title=Seven spies who changed the world |oclc=26543346 |isbn=978-0-7493-0620-5 |publication-place=[[London]] |edition=2nd |publisher=Mandarin |series=A Mandarin paperback }}
* {{cite book |first=Nigel |last=West |year=1992 |orig-date=1991 |title=Seven spies who changed the world |oclc=26543346 |isbn=978-0-7493-0620-5 |publication-place=[[London]] |edition=2nd |publisher=Mandarin |series=A Mandarin paperback }}


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[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:Kidnappings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Kidnappings by Islamists]]
[[Category:American spies]]
[[Category:Kidnapping in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Assassinated American people]]
[[Category:American Cold War spymasters]]
[[Category:American people executed abroad]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:People of the Central Intelligence Agency]]
[[Category:CIA personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:CIA personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:People from Medford, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Medford, Massachusetts]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Intelligence Star]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Intelligence Star]]
[[Category:People murdered in Lebanon]]
[[Category:People murdered in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Murdered CIA agents]]
[[Category:Assassinated CIA agents]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]]

Latest revision as of 12:39, 11 June 2024

For other people named William F. Buckley, see William F. Buckley (disambiguation).

William Francis Buckley
Birth nameWilliam Francis Buckley
Born(1928-05-30)May 30, 1928
Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 3, 1985(1985-06-03) (aged 57)
Lebanon
Buried
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Service/branch United States Army
Central Intelligence Agency
Years of service1947–1965 (Army)
1965–1985 (CIA)
Rank Lieutenant Colonel (Army)
Paramilitary Operations Officer (CIA)
UnitU.S. Army

Central Intelligence Agency

Battles/warsKorean War
Vietnam War
AwardsSilver Star
Soldier's Medal
Bronze Star with Valor device
Purple Heart (2)
Meritorious Service Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Parachutist Badge
Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Distinguished Intelligence Cross
Intelligence Star
Exceptional Service Medal
Alma materBoston University (BA)

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[1] until his kidnapping and execution in 1985.

Buckley's cover was as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy.[2][3] He was kidnapped by the group Islamic Jihad in March 1984, and held hostage and tortured by psychiatrist Aziz al-Abub. Hezbollah later claimed they executed him in October 1985, but another American hostage disputed that, believing that he died five months prior, in June.[4][5][6]

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and is commemorated with a star on the Memorial Wall at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.[7]

Early life and education

[edit]

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,[8] and then joined the United States Army.

He began as a military police officer 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

[edit]

U.S. Army

[edit]

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.[9]

He was inducted into the U.S. Army ROTC Hall of Fame in April 2022.[10]

Central Intelligence Agency

[edit]

In 1965 (or 1963, according to one source), Buckley rejoined the CIA in what became the Special Activities Division.[11] 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."[6]

Buckley may have been working for the CIA while in Mexico in 1963, but this is unconfirmed.[11] 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).[11]

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 the Islamist group Hezbollah wrongly announced that they had also killed the CIA station chief, not yet knowing the station chief was Buckley.[1] Their announcement was the first real indication that he was on a Hezbollah "hit list".[12][13][14]

Kidnapping and death

[edit]

Background and prelude

[edit]

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. The Shi'ite population of Lebanon became increasingly radicalized and started to target Westerners and Western-owned infrastructure such as embassies.[15][16]

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.[17] 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's 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

[edit]

On March 16, 1984, Buckley was kidnapped by Hezbollah[18] from his apartment building when he was leaving for work.[5][19] 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.[20]

It was thought that one of the reasons he was kidnapped along with two other Americans at different times in Beirut was because of the upcoming trial of 17 Iranian-backed militants that was about to begin in Kuwait.

He was apparently tortured over the 15 months of his capture, using drills to his joints and general beating with blunt force instruments.

Aftermath

[edit]

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,[21] but the CIA had designated him one year earlier as a "fabricator".[22] 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.[23][24][4]

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."[25] 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.[5][26]

In a video taken approximately seven months after the kidnapping, his 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.[27] 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.[5]

Execution

[edit]

On October 4, 1985, Islamic Jihad announced that it had executed Buckley.[28] After Buckley's death, Hezbollah's concern for other hostages' health increased, with Hezbollah captors inquiring about the hostages' health and well-being.[29]

The United States National Security Council acknowledged in an unclassified note that Buckley probably died on June 3, 1985, of a heart attack.[4][5][30]

Buckley's remains were recovered by Major Jens Nielsen (Royal Danish Army) attached to the United Nations Observation Group Beirut[31] on December 27, 1991, after they were dumped on a road near Beirut airport.[32] His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[33][34]

Legacy

[edit]
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."[7][4]

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.[35][36]

Awards and decorations

[edit]

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.[37] Among his CIA awards are the Intelligence Star, Exceptional Service Medallion and Distinguished Intelligence Cross. 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.

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).[citation needed]

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

Personal life

[edit]

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".[7]

See also

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References

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Notes

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Binder, David (June 27, 1985). "Hostages in Lebanon: Israelis are guarded; another seven Americans held hostage in Lebanon". The New York Times. Vol. CXXXIV, no. 129. p. A10. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Thomas 1989.
  3. ^ Kushner 2003, p. 85-86, Buckley, William Francis (Entries A-Z).
  4. ^ a b c d "Former Hostage Says Buckley Died Five Months Before Date Given by Captors". The Associated Press (AP). December 2, 1986. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e Thomas, Gordon (October 25, 2006). McLeod, Judi Ann T. (ed.). "William Buckley: The spy who never came in from the cold". Canada Free Press (CFP). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Archived from the original on November 9, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Trento, Joseph John; et al. (Design by Maria E. Torres) (April 29, 2005). Prelude to Terror: The rogue CIA and the legacy of America's private intelligence network (2nd ed.). New York City, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-1464-3. LCCN 2007278136. OCLC 237187597. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ a b c Binder, David (December 28, 1991). "Remains of C.I.A. official are flown to U.S. for rites". The New York Times. Vol. CXL, no. 102. p. A3. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Stoneham, Mass Stoneham High School (1947). Stoneham High School yearbook. Stoneham Public Library. Stoneham High School.
  9. ^ Burton, Fred; Katz, Samuel M. (October 23, 2018). "Chapter 4: The Soldier Spy". Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America (1st ed.). New York City, New York: Berkley (Penguin Random House). pp. 56–78. ISBN 978-1-101-98748-3. LCCN 2018010839. OCLC 1038024600. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Boston University Honors CIA Officer William Buckley" (PDF). Afio.com. Boston University Army ROTC. April 29, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "William Francis Buckley". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  12. ^ Clancy, Stiner & Koltz 2002, p. 239, VIII. The Lebanon tragedy.
  13. ^ Clancy, Stiner & Koltz 2002, p. 253, VIII. The Lebanon tragedy.
  14. ^ Stephens, Bret (October 22, 2012). "Stephens: Iran's Unrequited War: The mullahs are at war with us. Maybe we should return the favor". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Versteegh, C.H.M.; van Dam, N.; Zürcher, E.J.; Peters, R.; Motzki, H.; Berserik, Françoise; de Jong, Teus; Beets, Nij; Pel, Henk, eds. (June 19, 2000). "Chapter Six: Escalation (May 1983–June 1984)" (PDF). The battle for South Lebanon: The radicalization of Lebanon's Shi'ites 1982–1985. Rabdoub University Faculty of Social Sciences (Doctoral thesis (PhD in letters)) (in English and Dutch). Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands: Radboud University (Radboud Universiteit)/Uitgeverij Bulaaq (Bulaaq Publishers). pp. 197–246. OCLC 742181947. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Radboud Repository (Radboud University).
  16. ^ Salem, Elie (December 31, 1994). Violence and Diplomacy in Lebanon: The Troubled Years, 1982–1988. Bloomsbury Modern History/I.B. Tauris General Middle East History (1st ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing/I.B. Tauris. doi:10.5040/9780755612109. ISBN 978-1-85043-835-9.
  17. ^ Bergman, Ronen (2009). Alterman, Shahar (ed.). By Any Means Necessary (in Hebrew) (2011 ed.). Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-965-552-175-7.
  18. ^ Lerner, K. Lee; Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth; et al. (Design and pictures by Dean Dauphinais, Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Mary K. Grimes, Lezlie Light, Luke Rademacher, Kate Scheible; printing by Rhnonda Williams) (2003) [2004]. "Chapter 3. Chronology". In Cusack, Stephen; Scheible, Kate; Bealmar, Erin; Cerrito, Joan; Craddock, Jim; Schwartz, Carol; Tomassini, Christine; Tyrkus, Michael J.; Gareffa, Peter (eds.). 1984 (entry 7). Gale Group. Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. Gale virtual reference library. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Detroit, Michigan: (Thomson Corporation). p. 341. ISBN 978-0-7876-7546-2. LCCN 2003011097. Retrieved September 11, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  19. ^ Woodward, Bob; Babcock, Charles R. (November 25, 1986). "William Buckley Murdered: Captive CIA Agent's Death Galvanized Hostage Search". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015 – via highbeam.com.
  20. ^ Clancy, Stiner & Koltz 2002, p. 260, VIII. The Lebanon tragedy.
  21. ^ President's Special Review Board (February 26, 1987). Report of the President's Special Review Board (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. p. B-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  22. ^ Byrne, Malcolm; Kornbluh, Peter; Blanton, Thomas (November 24, 2006). James, Edgar N.; Soderberg, Nancy E.; Sloan, Cliff; Kranich, Nancy (eds.). "The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On: Documents Spotlight Role of Reagan, Top Aides". National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book (Mailing list). Washington, D.C.: The National Security Archive (George Washington University). Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  23. ^ Seliktar, Ofira (2012). "Chapter 3 – The Reagan Administration's Balancing Act: Confusion in Washington and Tehran". Navigating Iran: From Carter to Obama (1st ed.). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Nature). pp. 47–68. doi:10.1057/9781137010889_4. ISBN 978-0-230-33729-9. OCLC 964883038. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2021 – via Google Books.
  24. ^ Karam, Jeffrey G. (May 12, 2020). "Reflections on Beirut Rules: the wider consequences of US foreign and security policy in Lebanon in the 1980s". Intelligence and National Security. 36 (3): 431–443. doi:10.1080/02684527.2020.1762298. ISSN 0268-4527. S2CID 219459136. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  25. ^ Clancy, Stiner & Koltz 2002, p. 261, VIII. The Lebanon tragedy.
  26. ^ Anderson, Jack; Van Atta, Dale (September 28, 1988). "CIA Official Tortured to Death, Gave Secrets". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  27. ^ Hand IV, George E. (January 4, 2020). "A Delta Force encounter with a Hezbollah operative". SOFREP. SOFREP Media Group. Archived from the original on January 5, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  28. ^ Kross, Peter (April 15, 2014). "Chapter 39) The Murder of William Buckley". Tales From Langley: The CIA From Truman to Obama. Kempton, Illinois: Adventures Unlimited Press. pp. 255–259. ISBN 978-1-939149-34-3. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Google Books.
  29. ^ Peraino, Kevin (January 16, 2008). "The Death of Terror's Pioneer". Newsweek. New York City, New Work. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  30. ^ 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)
  31. ^ "Lebanon—UNOGIL". United Nations Peacekeeping Missions. United Nations. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  32. ^ Picco 1999, pp. 334.
  33. ^ "Burial Detail: Buckley, William F. (Section 59, Grave 346)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website). Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  34. ^ Wade, Kevin (January 26, 2017). "Memory of Buckley deserves better". Columns and Op-Eds. The Daily Republic. Kevin Wade: The Other Side. Fairfield, California: McNaughton Newspapers, Inc. p. A7. ISSN 0746-5858. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  35. ^ Daderot (February 19, 2012), Memorial in Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA., archived from the original on November 6, 2023, retrieved October 18, 2021
  36. ^ Aliberti, Joe (June 1, 2010). "Honoring the late William Buckley". Wicked Local / Stoneham Sun. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  37. ^ "Buckley, William Francis, LTC". army.togetherweserved.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

Sources

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Further reading

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