The Great War of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism--From Al Qa'ida to ISIS (45 page)

When the news broke about the president’s selecting John Brennan to lead CIA, I got a personal note from Brandon. It read as follows:

Dear Mr. Morell,

It’s me Brandon. I wish you had got the job of Director of the CIA. I was really rooting for you. You will always have my vote! I know that being Deputy Director of the CIA is still a very important job and one of the most important in the world. You are my hero! I can’t wait to see you!

Your friend,

Brandon

Shortly after I retired, my family and I were at Brandon’s house the evening the CBS program
60 Minutes
aired an interview with me in which I commented on Syria. I was nervous; it was my first time on television. Brandon told me over and over again that it was going to be OK. It was. Before we left that night I mentioned to Brandon that I had received many gifts from my former colleagues as I was leaving the Agency. I invited him over to see “my loot.” His big black eyes lit up.

Brandon’s visit coincided with a time when I was agonizing over what to title this book. I shared a number of possible titles with family and friends and none of them worked. Fault was found with every one—major fault with many, and all of those were my ideas. I was stuck. On the morning of the day that Brandon was to come and see my gifts, I decided to go into the closet in the attic, go through the gifts, and bring out the really special ones for Brandon to see—a pistol that had belonged to Confederate officers in the Civil War, a dagger that had been carried by officers of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, a knife that had been used by the Polish resistance fighting the Nazis, and much more. As I was rummaging through the closet, I came across the gift from CTC. It was a reminder of a significant victory in the fight against al Qa‘ida when I was acting director, following Leon Panetta’s departure for
the Department of Defense. The plaque read “Thank you for your unconditional support to the Team in the Great War of Our Time.” It hit me instantly. I had the title.

* * *

In addition to the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, a portion of my proceeds from the book will go to the Brandon Heschel Leach Research Fund of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, which is working hard to cure the disease that afflicts my very good friend Brandon.

CIA headquarters from the air. The Original Headquarters Building (OHB in CIA parlance) is in the foreground. The New Headquarters Building (NHB) is to the rear.
(© 2011 Greg E. Mathieson Sr./MAI Photos)

The iconic seal of the CIA, in the main lobby of the Original Headquarters Building.
(CIA photo)

The Memorial Wall at the CIA’s headquarters, which had forty-three stars honoring Agency officers killed in the line of duty when I first arrived in 1980. As of early 2015 that number had reached 111.
(CIA photo)

The 258 acres of the CIA’s headquarters, named in honor of the eleventh director of central intelligence, who went on to be the forty-first president of the United States.
(CIA photo)

Former president George H. W. Bush at the ceremony to name our headquarters compound after him, April 26, 1999.
(CIA photo)

With my dad on my front lawn in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, May 1966.
(Author’s personal photo)

My mom and me, 1963.
(Author’s personal photo)

Graduating from the University of Akron, May 1980.
(Author’s personal photo)

CIA director Tenet and his staff in 1999. From left to right, Tenet, Counselor Buzzy Krongard, Special Counsel Ken Levit, Chief of Staff John Nelson, and me.
(CIA photo)

Director of Central Intelligence Tenet presenting me with the Director’s Award, one of the most prestigious awards at CIA, 1999.
(CIA photo)