Matthew Gannon

Matthew Kevin Gannon (August 11, 1954 – December 21, 1988) was an American intelligence officer who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

Early life and family Gannon was one of ten children. He was raised in San Juan Capistrano, California and St. Michael's Preparatory School (Silverado, California). During high school, he worked at Mission San Juan Capistrano, among other jobs. He was an Arabist who spent much of his career serving in the Middle East. In 2000, Ted Gup included in a book that Gannon had been returning from an undercover mission in Beirut for the CIA. In May 2012, the CIA officially confirmed that Gannon had been a CIA officer. He was a close friend of future CIA Director William J. Burns. Gannon served with Burns in Amman in the early 1980s.

Diplomatic postings Yemen 1979 Jordan 1981 Syria 1984–1987 Lebanon 1988

Death and memorial Grave at Arlington National CemeteryDuring the aircraft bombing, he was seated in seat 14J. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and honored with a star on the CIA Memorial Wall.

In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing and was sentenced to life imprisonment; his co-accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, was acquitted.