[america76]

I can't quite remember, was William Buckley the American Colonel attached to the UN observer force who was kidnapped around this time or was that an altogether different kidnapping? I remember the pictures on TV of Buckley or this other man in his UN uniform. At the time no CIA connection was reported.

If Buckley is the same guy I'm thinking of I wonder how many other UN/CIA agents we have in the field? I also wonder how many other nations employ secret police personell in UN operations.

[CIApilot]

Yes, it was Buckley, another patriot who suffered in the same period of time as Stethem and Higgins.

May we never forget.

LT.Col. William F. Buckley served with the 320th Special Forces Detachment which became the 11th Special Forces Group. He was employed by the CIA from 1955 to 1957 and again from 1965 as Lebanon station chief until his untimely death.

Kidnapped in Beirut: March 16, 1984 by Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Held in Iran: November 25, 1986. Many CIA operatives worldwide died as Zawahiri extracted information from Buckley.

Body Recovered: December 27, 1991. The decomposed body of CIA officer William Buckley was dumped in southern Beirut early Friday, nearly eight years after being kidnapped and tortured by pro-Iranian extremists.

Remembered as Heroes: December 30, 1991. Two men (Buckley and Higgins) who met wretched deaths at the hands of Lebanese captors arrived home in flag-draped coffins and were honored as "American heroes" by leaders. ''Today the nation gathers into its arms two of its bravest sons . . . patriot-warriors who died trying to bring peace to a ravaged land."