Grayston Lynch
Central Intelligence Agency officer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Grayston LeRoy Lynch[1] (June 14, 1923 – August 10, 2008) was an American soldier and CIA officer. He was one of the two CIA officers who commanded the faction of the army that went to war in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The other agent was William "Rip" Robertson.
Grayston LeRoy Lynch | |
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Born | (1923-06-14)June 14, 1923 Gilmer, Texas, U.S. |
Died | August 10, 2008(2008-08-10) (aged 85) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Army Central Intelligence Agency Drug Enforcement Administration |
Years of service | 1938–1960 (Army) 1960–1971 (CIA) 1971–1978 (DEA) |
Unit | Army Special Forces MACV-SOG Special Activities Division |
Battles/wars | World War II Korean War Project Hotfoot Bay of Pigs Invasion Operation Mongoose Vietnam War |
Awards | Intelligence Star (rare CIA valor award) Silver Star (2) Bronze Star Medal (1) Purple Heart (3) |
Alma mater | University of Maryland, College Park (BA) |
Lynch was raised in Victoria, Texas, and was the son of an oil driller. He was wounded at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and Heartbreak Ridge in Korea; served with the Special Forces in Laos; and received three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and one Bronze Star with a "V" for valor, among other awards. He was selected from the elite to become a Paramilitary Operations Officer in the CIA's famed Special Activities Division in 1960.
For his extraordinary heroism at the Bay of Pigs, Lynch was awarded the Intelligence Star, the CIA's most coveted award. In the six years after the Bay of Pigs invasion, he ran commando raids into Cuba. Lynch retired from the CIA in 1971.[2]