The Distinguished Intelligence Cross is the highest decoration awarded by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. It is given for "a voluntary act or acts of extraordinary heroism involving the acceptance of existing dangers with conspicuous fortitude and exemplary courage". Only a handful of people have been awarded this medal in the history of the agency, most posthumously. As a consequence, it is one of the rarest awards for valor in the United States.The very best men: four who dared, the early years of the CIA, by Evan Thomas, published by Simon and Schuster, 1996.
The cross is the agency's equivalent of the military's Service Cross, i.e., Navy Cross, Army Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross. The agency has two awards for valor; the other is the Intelligence Star, which is analogous to the military's Silver Star.Bush at War, Bob Woodward, Simon and Schuester, 2002, page 317.Gup, Ted (2000). The Book of Honor: Cover Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA.
Known recipients Leo F. Baker, posthumously for the Bay of Pigs invasionLeo F. Baker William F. Buckley John T. Downey Richard Fecteau Wade C. Gray, posthumously for the Bay of Pigs invasion James Monroe, CIA paramilitary officer during Vietnam War Thomas W. "Pete" Ray, posthumously for the Bay of Pigs invasionLATimes.com - Bay of Pigs: the Secret Death of Pete Ray Riley W. Shamburger, posthumously for the Bay of Pigs invasion Greg Vogle, paramilitary officer and CIA trailblazer Molly Huckaby Hardy, posthumously for the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi David N. Tyson, for actions during the Battle of Qala-i-JangiHarnden, Toby, "First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11". Little, Brown, 2021. p. 310-311
See also Awards and decorations of the United States government
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