In the early morning hours of March 16, 1984, the CIA Chief of Station in Beirut, William F. Buckley, left his apartment for the short drive to the U.S. Embassy as he had many times before. This morning would be different. As the former Army Special Forces soldier, combat veteran of Korea and Vietnam, CIA Special Activities Division operative, historian, librarian, and Purple Heart recipient eased his 1983 Renault into the street, two black Mercedes sedans boxed him in, blocking any chance of escape. While the drivers remained at the wheels, two members of Hezbollah rushed his car with AK-47s, forcing their target out of his Renault and into one of the Mercedes before speeding away.
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Three weeks later, President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive 138, setting in motion what would later become known as Iran-Contra. William F. Buckley was brutally tortured at the hands of Hezbollah for fifteen months. In early June of 1985, he was buried in a shallow grave on the side of the road in the Shiite section of the city. His body would not be returned to the United States until December 1991.
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He is memorialized with the 51st star on the Memorial Wall at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and was buried with full military honors in Section 59, Lot 346 of Arlington National Cemetery. His headstone reads: WILLIAM
FRANCIS
BUCKLEY
LT COL
US ARMY
KOREA
VIETNAM
MAY 30 1928
JUN 3 1985
LEBANON
SILVER STAR
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For more information on William Buckley and America’s secret war with Hezbollah, read BEIRUT RULES by @fred_burton and @Samuel_M_Katz .