September 11, 2019
To All –

Today marks the 18th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. This day in history will always mean something to us in the FBI, as a nation, and as Americans. This day represents hatred and loss. But it also represents sacrifice and selflessness. It represents grit and resilience and strength in the face of great adversity. It represents the way that Americans from all walks of life – with different backgrounds and beliefs – can stand together as one when tragedy strikes home. And nearly two decades later, it has come to represent the FBI’s continued ability to adapt to a changing world, and to stay laser focused on keeping our country safe from an attack like this again.

As I visit field offices and walk the halls of Headquarters, I see that our workforce is evolving. Many of the folks who lived through the dark days of 9/11 have retired or moved on, and then there are folks here now who were school age when the attacks happened. But we all feel the impact of that day, no matter where we were or what we lived through.

That’s one of the reasons I added a visit to the National September 11Memorial and Museum for all new agents and intelligence analysts at Quantico, so that they can see and feel firsthand what that day was like, and why we’ve transformed the way we do our work in so many ways. We’ve integrated intelligence into every program and every investigation. We’re working in new ways with new partners. And we’re thinking not just about current threats, but about what new dangers may lie ahead.

Ask anyone who was working for the FBI on September 11th and in the weeks and months afterward, and they’ll all say the same thing: After that terrible day, we had one purpose – to make sure nothing like it ever happened again. Despite the passage of time, we must never forget that feeling, and we should honor the anniversary of 9/11 by renewing our commitment to protect the American people.

We’ve all seen the additions to the Wall of Honor. And more and more, we hear about members of the FBI family who are fighting for their lives due to 9/11-related illnesses. We can never adequately express our gratitude and admiration for the folks who walked the walk when it mattered most.

I’d like to once again urge those who served as first responders after the 9/11 attacks to review the resources available to you, so you can get the support you need – whether that’s today or years from now.

And let’s all take a moment to remember the men and women at the FBI, and around the law enforcement community, who dropped everything and raced toward danger without a second thought. We honor them by forging ahead, and by staying focused on why we do the work, who we do the work with, and who we do the work for.

Thank you.

Chris Wray

Members of the FBI family:

Each year during Police Week, we remember those law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving those they were sworn to protect. Their deaths remind us all that the safety and security we enjoy come at great cost. 

Here at the FBI, we honor our fallen colleagues on the Wall of Honor. I’m saddened to say that we’re adding the names of nine special agents to our memorial this year. Earlier this year, the Wall of Honor Board voted to expand the Wall of Honor criteria to include those killed during official travel. With that expansion, we’re adding SA Edward J. Knartzer Jr., and SA Sheila Jean Regan, who were both killed in a 1974 plane crash while returning from different assignments. We’re also adding SA Rickey O’Donald and SA Sang Jun, who each passed away following FBI-supervised events. Finally, we’re adding the names of five special agents who died of 9/11-related illnesses: SA Dennis Bonelli, SSA Brian Crews, SSA Mark Johnston, SAC David LeValley, and SSA Mark Mikulski.

We’ll honor and remember the dedication and bravery of these nine agents — and far too many others — who have laid down their lives in service to our country during our annual Special Agent Memorial Service at FBIHQ on Tuesday and at other events at field offices throughout the country during Police Week.  

I encourage you to read about each of the special agents we’re adding to the Wall this year, and to reflect on their sacrifices. I know I will, as all of us in the FBI renew our commitment to continuing their legacies through our work.

Chris Wray

SA Dennis Bonelli (1951-2017) entered on duty in September 1983. He worked in the then-Alexandria Field Office on both the Applicant Squad and the General Criminal/Narcotics Squad, where he investigated crimes at the Lorton Prison Complex and other government facilities. He also developed credible sources for a tax fraud case that resulted in eight convictions. In 1985, SA Bonelli went to the New York Field Office, where he worked on a counterintelligence squad and later became the division security officer. On 9/11, SA Bonelli was in the north tower assisting with the building evacuation when the second plane struck the south tower. He exited the tower before it collapsed and was exposed to toxic dust and debris. In the following months, he regularly travelled between Ground Zero, an emergency command post, and his office, which had been filled with dust and debris from the nearby collapse. In 2012, he was diagnosed with chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease and later with lung cancer. He succumbed to his illnesses on November 28, 2017. He is survived by his fiancée and brother. 

SSA Brian Lawrence Crews (1965-2018) SSA Crews entered on duty as a file clerk in 1988, serving in the Criminal Investigative Division and the then-Administrative Services Division. He became a special agent in 1994, and went to the Sacramento Field Office’s Fresno Resident Agency. There SSA Crews worked on the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing and other high-profile cases, including the Unabomber investigation. In 2003, he joined the Enron Task Force, which received the 2006 Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service. He next went to the Special Operations Division, where he helped coordinate multi-agency criminal investigations and disrupt transnational criminal organizations. After 9/11, as a member of Sacramento’s Evidence Response Team, SSA Crews volunteered to support the investigative efforts and later worked 8- to 12-hour shifts at the Fresh Kills landfill, processing evidence and debris from the World Trade Center. In 2015, SSA Crews was diagnosed with lung cancer (adenocarcinoma), which later spread to his spine. He succumbed to the disease on June 10, 2018. He is survived by his wife.

SSA Mark Johnston (1952-2017) entered on duty in May 1983. He worked in the Buffalo Field Office and later went to the New York Field Office, where he was an integral part of a three-year investigation that resulted in convictions of more than 150 motorcycle gang members for drug trafficking and other offenses. He went to Headquarters in 1989 to work in the Inspection Division. In 1993, he went to the Newark Field Office’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, where he investigated organized crime cases. He became an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselor, which led to his response to the World Trade Center on 9/11. SSA Johnston responded to Ground Zero, initially as an EAP counselor. In another role, he escorted personnel who lacked security clearances to sensitive areas of the site, including the FBI Command Center. In 2011, SSA Johnston was diagnosed with bile duct and ampulla of vater cancer, which was also found in his lymph nodes. SSA Johnston succumbed to the disease on September 12, 2017. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

SA Sang T. Jun (1972-2008) Motivated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, SA Jun entered on duty in August 2003. He worked in the San Francisco Field Office, applying his advanced computer skills to cyber and high technology cases. In one major case, SA Jun helped identify and analyze terrorists’ use of the Internet for command, communication, and attacks and uncovered hundreds of cyber attacks. In 2008, the team earned both the Director’s Award and the Attorney General’s Award. In April 2008, SA Jun went to the El Paso Field Office. In October 2008, SA Jun participated in the field office’s SWAT tryouts. After a challenging run, SA Jun collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital with symptoms of dehydration and heat exhaustion. Despite light duty in the following days, he continued to have headaches, breathing difficulties, and chest pains. Days later, his wife found him unresponsive and rushed him to the hospital where did not regain consciousness. SA Jun passed away on October 22, 2008. He is survived by his wife, his mother, his father and stepmother, and three sisters.

SA Edward J. Knartzer Jr. (1940-1974) SA Knartzer entered on duty in November 1963. He was assigned to the accounting squad in the Philadelphia Field Office and helped capture Jesse James Gilbert, who was wanted for the murder of a police officer during a bank robbery in California. In 1973, SA Knartzer went to the Indianapolis Field Office’s Gary Resident Agency. On December 1, 1974, SA Knartzer was traveling to Washington, D.C., aboard TWA flight 514, along with SA Sheila Jean Regan. As the aircraft approached Dulles International Airport in high winds, fog, and heavy rain, it crashed into a hillside near Upperville, Virginia. All those aboard died in the crash. SA Knartzer is survived by his wife and two sons.

SAC David J. LeValley (1964-2018) SSA LeValley entered on duty in September 1996. He worked in the New York Field Office, where he investigated narcotics cases. In 2004, he was promoted to supervisory special agent in the Criminal Investigative Division, where he helped establish the MS-13 National Gang Task Force. He became a Washington Field Office (WFO) supervisor in 2007 and a WFO ASAC in 2011. After serving as a section chief, he was promoted to SAC of WFO’s Criminal Investigative Division. In 2016, he was named SAC of the Atlanta Field Office. On 9/11, the south tower collapsed as SSA LeValley reported to the FBI’s command post near the World Trade Center, engulfing him in a cloud of dust, debris, and smoke that was filled with carcinogens. For the first two days, he participated in the investigative, rescue, and recovery operations at Ground Zero. Over the next two weeks, he was part of the “bucket brigade,” which involved removing the debris by hand. In 2010, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He succumbed to the illness on May 26, 2018. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and daughter.

SSA Mark Joseph Mikulski (1963-2014) SSA Mikulski entered on duty in May 1995. He worked in the Washington Field Office investigating cyber cases and, five years later, was promoted to the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters. He joined the Cyber Division in 2003, where he specialized in cyber operations development and technical analysis. In 2009, SSA Mikulski moved to the Operational Technology Division, where he worked with Fortune 500 technology companies to enhance cooperative development of new digital forensic methods. In 2010, SSA Mikulski went to the Lab’s Hazardous Materials Response Unit, where he developed ways to retrieve digital media from contaminated evidence and hazardous environments. On 9/11, SSA Mikulski was en route to Headquarters when he witnessed the Pentagon attack from an adjacent highway and immediately used his Bureau vehicle to set up traffic control. He then headed to the Pentagon, where he helped the injured evacuate the scene and secure evidence. In that work, he was exposed to fire, debris, smoke, and toxic particles from the burning jet fuel. SSA Mikulski returned to the Pentagon the next day to assist with recovery efforts. In January 2013, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He succumbed to the disease on February 25, 2014. SSA Mikulski is survived by his son and brother.

SA Rickey O’Donald (1962-2017) SA O’Donald entered on duty in November 1987. He worked in the Miami Field Office on the Applicant Squad and later investigated fugitives and violent crimes. He also worked on bank robbery and international organized crime investigations. For most of the last 20 years of his career, he worked with the technical investigative squad, which used advanced technology to support investigations. On February 17, 2017, SA O’Donald completed his mandatory annual fitness test. He met the fitness requirements but commented about fatigue after the run. He drove himself to a local emergency room, but collapsed from cardiac arrest before making it inside. He died later that morning. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

SA Sheila Jean Regan (1941-1974) SA Regan, who was among the first female special agents to join the Bureau, entered on duty in September 1972. Initially assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office, she later went to the New York Field Office, where she investigated Selective Service violators, bank robberies, and civil rights cases. In March 1974, SA Regan transferred to the Washington Field Office and served on a security detail for the U.S. Attorney General and his wife. On December 1, 1974, SA Regan was returning to Washington, D.C., from an assignment in Columbus, Ohio, aboard TWA flight 514, along with SA Edward J. Knartzer Jr. As the aircraft approached Dulles International Airport in high winds, fog, and heavy rain, it crashed into a hillside near Upperville, Virginia. All those aboard died in the crash. SA Regan is survived by her mother, stepfather, and brother.

Click the link for information about the planned post conference cruise this year.

On Saturday, March 9, I joined a class of our new agents and intelligence analysts in New York for a visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The visit was the kickoff of a plan several months in the making, and reflected some themes particularly near and dear to me. I felt strongly that we should add this visit to our Basic Field Training Course, so I want to explain to you why I think it’s so important. 

As you know, I’m not the first Director to add an experience like this to our training. In 2000, Director Freeh decided all new agent classes should visit the HolocaustMuseum in Washington, D.C. In 2014, Director Comey built on that insight by adding a visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall. Both visits have become key elements of the FBI’s training experience. They remind us of the horrific consequences that can arise when law enforcement abuses its power and abandons accountability and the rule of law. 

The idea for both of those visits came from an understanding that the Bureau has to do more than just teach our new agents and analysts the nuts and bolts of how to do their job. We’ve also got to remind them of why we do the job, and why we do it the way we do it.

I believe visiting the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum will reinforce these lessons for our new folks – but in a slightly different way. Above all, what I hope they’ll take away is that there’s nothing more important than the work we do, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for.

There’s no better reminder than 9/11 of the importance of the FBI’s work. As you remember, after that terrible day, under the leadership of Director Mueller, the Bureau transformed in ways that have made us stronger and better, and our country safer. Those changes weren’t limited to our counterterrorism work. They’ve spread through every FBI program and every investigation, in every community we serve.

It’s crucial for our new agents and analysts to understand the wellspring of those changes, so they’ll have a better understanding of today’s FBI. This visit will remind them why we’re so focused on integrating intelligence in everything we do; why we emphasize partnerships; and why we’ve always got to be willing to adapt and innovate, and think not only about current threats but also about the threats we haven’t seen yet. 

This visit will also remind them of the stakes of our work. That’s especially important now, as our workforce continues to age out, and we have fewer and fewer people like so many of you, who either worked at the Bureau during 9/11 or joined the Bureau because of 9/11. We need to make a special effort to ensure that 9/11 doesn’t become an abstract memory or mere historical footnote for our organization.

Every one of you who worked for the FBI on that terrible day remembers the overwhelming sense of purpose you felt – to make sure something like that never, ever happened again. Even as 9/11 recedes further into the past, and more employees who were then with the Bureau retire, the FBI should never completely lose that feeling. That sense of purpose and resolve can serve as an indispensable touchstone for our new agents and analysts. It will help them to never be complacent – to never accept anything less than excellence from themselves, their colleagues, and this organization. Because at the end of the day, it’s our work that matters.

This visit will also remind our new agents and analysts of the importance of the people we do this work with. We can’t think of 9/11 without recalling the sacrifices some of us are called upon to make in this line of work. We think of the members of the FBI family who died that day; our FBI brothers and sisters who have since lost their lives to illnesses resulting from their work after the attacks; and those fighting grave illnesses today. These selfless men and women thought of others first and answered the call of duty, no matter the cost. I hope this visit will inspire our new agents and analysts to follow their example – and to take care of their colleagues who make similar sacrifices in the future.

Finally, I hope the memory of this visit will help our people to stay focused on the people we do the work for. We work to bring justice to the victims of terrorism and crime and their families – and to make sure that others never experience the pain they’ve gone through. 

About two years after the 9/11 attacks, when I was the Assistant Attorney General, I had the chance to meet with members of the victims’ families and hear their stories, and it left an impression that I’ll never forget. The kind of knee-buckling grief those families experienced – that sense that something you held most precious was stolen from you – never goes away It dissipates with the passage of time, but it never disappears. After you experience that kind of grief – even as a prosecutor or investigator and not as a victim – you’re forever changed.

That’s why I want our new agents and analysts to visit this place. It should change you. Touring the 9/11 Memorial and Museum will give our new folks a deeper understanding of just how much crime and terrorism wound victims and families, and what an awesome responsibility we have. It will help them to understand that they haven’t chosen any ordinary job. They’ve chosen to do something extraordinary – and millions of people they’ll never know are counting on them to do that job well.

In New York, I encouraged the new agents and analysts to lock down in their memory the images, words, and emotions of what began as a beautiful September day all those years ago. When they have tough days later on in their FBI careers, I hope those memories will bring them back to the core of their job: the work we do, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for. If they keep those things front and center, they’ll carry on your legacy and leave the Bureau even better than they found it – and our country will be better for it, too.

Thank you again for modeling what it means to be part of the FBI family, and for continuing to care about this great organization.

Chris Wray  

For additional information on the visit, to include a video and Director Wray’s remarks, 

please visit https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/911-memorial-visit-added-to-agent-and-analyst-training-031319.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

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