“Leslianne received a star on the CIA Memorial Wall in 1996 and was posthumously awarded the Agency’s Exceptional Service medallion. Her name was unveiled in the Book of Honor in 2012.”
CIA Website — Remembering CIA’s Heroes
“Leslianne Shedd—a young, courageous, highly successful CIA operations officer serving in East Africa—was a passenger on an Ethiopian Airlines flight when it was hijacked and then crashed into the Indian Ocean on November 23, 1996, killing 125 people, including Leslianne. Survivors said that Leslianne spent her final moments comforting those around her.”
CIA Tweet (November 23 2016)
“When my sister Leslianne Shedd, ’90, was killed in the 1996 crash of a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane, my family not only went into mourning. We also continued to keep a secret: Leslianne didn’t work for the U.S. State Department, as she told everyone. She worked for the CIA, fighting terrorism in Africa. When Lesli (right) was killed, there was a private memorial ceremony at CIA headquarters at Langley. Then in May of the following year, she was given an anonymous star on the CIA Wall of Honor. The CIA told us that at some point, we would be able to talk about her.”
Corinne Collie
The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service. There are 133 stars carved into the white Alabama marble wall. Eleven are known to represent women.
November 23 2019 — Leslianne Shedd was killed on November 23, 1996. She was a passenger on a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoro Islands. Perhaps the CIA could remember her and post a tweet? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
