On the Yale campus stands a statue of Nathan Hale.
Hale studied at Yale, became a teacher, joined the army during the American War of Independence and volunteered for a spying mission in 1776. It did not go particularly well. The British discovered him, and he was hanged on 22 September. He was twenty-one.
Today, Hale is regarded as one of the first American spies. Above all, he is remembered for his supposed last words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
Whether he said exactly that is uncertain. For a national hero, though, the words are very well suited.
Our student guide showed us the statue beside Connecticut Hall, where Hale once lived. He also told us that, for the face, the sculptor had used the best-looking student in that year’s Yale class as his model. That is probably a campus legend.
What is established is that no known portrait of Nathan Hale exists. The sculptor, Bela Lyon Pratt, therefore had to improvise. In any case, the statue is idealised enough to keep the rumour alive. Hale stands with his hands and feet bound, upright and resolute, immediately before his execution. The statue was installed in 1914 — almost 140 years after his death.
The story could end there. But it does not.
Outside the CIA’s main building in Langley stands a copy of the same statue. Installed in 1973, it reminds employees, according to the CIA, of an intelligence officer’s duties and sacrifices.
So the world’s largest intelligence service honours a man whose first spying mission ended very quickly in capture and execution. And does so with a copy of a statue whose face, in the absence of a portrait, probably belongs to another young man.
That is still not the whole story. Before overseas assignments, CIA employees leave coins at the foot of the statue. This is supposed to bring luck and ensure that Nathan Hale watches over them.
You could ask whether Nathan Hale, of all people, is the best choice for that. Or you could simply leave a coin. Better safe than sorry.