Bar counsel turned CIA agent remembered for his dedication to the nation he loved
Gregg Wenzel “provided insights into a variety of critical targets, ranging from countries hostile to the U.S. to extremists spreading messages of intolerance and hate"
Gregg Wenzel left his job as a Florida Bar counsel in Miami shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to join the CIA. He graduated first in his clandestine service training class and was assigned his first overseas tour as an operations officer in Africa in 2002 to hunt down Osama Bin Laden and terrorist networks. Wenzel lost his life during that assignment and a new book, “The Life and Wrongful Death of Gregg David Wenzel, Clandestine CIA Officer Star 81,” tells his story. “He was a spy for the U.S.,” Gregg’s dad, Mitchell Wenzel, says. “I want people to realize that there are people in our country that want to make a difference, to have a better country, to have a better world.”
Mitchell Wenzel was uncharacteristically napping that July afternoon in 2003, when he was jolted awake by his wife’s screams.
Federal agents in the couple’s living room had just told her that their 33-year-old son, Gregg, a former Florida Bar counsel turned CIA operations officer, was killed in a car crash in Ethiopia.
Stunned, Wenzel’s first thought was false flag operation — some elaborate agency dodge to give Gregg cover for a secret mission.
“I said to them, ‘You’re just telling us he’s going deep undercover,’” Wenzel said. “They said no, the information is just coming out, but this is the real thing. It was very hard to accept.’”
Nearly 20 years after the tragedy, the retired college professor is eager for the world to know about his son’s magnetic personality, famous sense of humor — and above all, service to his country.
“He was a spy for the U.S.,” Wenzel says. “I want people to realize that there are people in our country that want to make a difference, to have a better country, to have a better world.”
Wenzel recounts Gregg’s exploits in “The Life and Wrongful Death of Gregg David Wenzel, Clandestine CIA Officer Star 81,” a 2019 tribute now available in paperback on Amazon.
Written by Esther V. Levy, the book lists Mitchell Wenzel and his late wife, Gladys, who died in 2020, as editors.
Born in the Bronx, and raised with three sisters, Gregg graduated with honors from Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, New York. He went on to earn a B.A. in history from State University of New York (SUNY) in Binghamton in 1991.
The plan was always to be a lawyer and a judge, Wenzel said. Gregg came close to enrolling in West Point but changed his mind when he realized it might limit his career options, Wenzel said.
“He realized there’s no guarantee, that they own you for four years, and you don’t get to make a choice,” Wenzel said.
Gregg enrolled in the University of Miami School of Law, where his studies were briefly interrupted by Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 behemoth that blasted South Florida and temporarily closed the law school’s Coral Gables campus.
Gregg worked with a cleanup crew in the weeks after the storm, until it was no longer possible, his father recalls.
“Eventually he came home, there was no food, no water, and no way to get fuel,” he said.
After earning his J.D. in 1994, Gregg worked as a criminal defense attorney, taught legal courses at the Miami-Dade Community College Police Academy, and served as a Florida Bar counsel, where he argued two cases before the Florida Supreme Court, his father recalls.
In his first appearance, Gregg was knocked slightly off balance by the justices and their rapid-fire questions, Wenzel said.
“He goes a second time, and I said, that’s my son?” Wenzel laughs. “He was incredibly sharp. He’s a fast learner, and he decided he wasn’t going to let that happen to him again.”
After September 11, Gregg joined the CIA without consulting with his parents, Wenzel said. He graduated in the first clandestine service training class after the terrorist attack.
Wenzel remembers gently chiding his son about seeking out such a dangerous assignment.
“I said, couldn’t you just be a lawyer for the CIA?” Wenzel said. “He said that’s not how he wanted to serve.”
Gregg was always popular, and always a leader. Dubbed “the mayor” by law school classmates, he was long remembered by his CIA classmates for his strength and humor.
Years after Gregg’s death, a former CIA classmate told Wenzel how his son cracked everyone up on the first day with a reference to the other “CIA” — the Culinary Institute of America.
“They had just put their bags down and Gregg said, ‘Well, if this is supposed to be the CIA, when are they going to feed us?’” Wenzel said.
Gregg also earned a reputation for toughness. After injuring both arms in a parachute jump, he made a successful second jump wearing bandages and a splint, his CIA colleagues recall.
“He was kind, funny, intelligent,” one friend recounted on the CIA tribute page. “But most importantly, he had the deepest strength of will I have ever seen in another person.”
In July 2002, Gregg was assigned his first overseas tour as an operations officer in Africa. Wenzel said Gregg, like many clandestine service officers, posed as a U.S. State Department employee.
Gregg’s mission was hunting down Osama Bin Laden and terrorist networks, Wenzel said.
In a few short months, Gregg was racking up “initial operational successes,” according to the CIA.
“He provided insights into a variety of critical targets, ranging from countries hostile to the U.S. to extremists spreading messages of intolerance and hate,” the tribute reads. “By all accounts, Gregg was a strong operations officer with hustle, character and, combined with his excellent training, he cast a wide net in the Horn of Africa.”
Because he was working under cover, Gregg’s sacrifice could only be commemorated after his death by an anonymous “Star 81” carved into the Memorial Wall in CIA Headquarters.
Six years later, with much prodding by the family, Gregg’s name was finally added to the CIA’s “Book of Honor.” Former CIA Director Leon Panetta paid tribute.
“During months of rigorous training, Gregg stood out as a leader, for his talent and for his intellect, but also for his great sense of humor and a great penchant for fun,” Panetta said. “We find some measure of solace in knowing that Gregg achieved what he set out to do: He lived for a purpose greater than himself.”
Gregg was posthumously awarded the agency’s Intelligence Commendation Medal and Exceptional Service Medallion. And in a rare tribute, Congress named the post office in Gregg’s hometown, Monroe, N.Y., after him. The legislation was approved December 16, 2014.
“According to the U.S. Postal Service website, since 1967 more than 1,500 postal facilities have been named in honor of individuals: Gregg is the first CIA officer to be afforded this distinction,” according to the CIA.
Former President Barack Obama followed up the ceremony with a letter to the Wenzel family.
“His brave service exceeded all measures of selflessness and devotion to his country,” the letter states. “We honor him not only as a guardian of our liberty, but also as a true embodiment of America’s spirit of service to a cause greater than ourselves.. . . Our nation will not forget his sacrifice.”
