WASHINGTON — On this Memorial Day, the nation honors the sacrifices of brave men and women in uniform, especially those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another group also deserves a salute — the 87 Americans who have lost their lives while serving as clandestine agents and employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.

A week ago in a little-noticed ceremony, CIA employees gathered in the agency’s headquarters lobby before the Memorial Wall, where 87 stars are carved in marble. Four of the stars were added this spring.

The 87th star was engraved in memory of Rachel Dean of Stanardsville, Va. She joined the CIA in 2005 as a support officer, and died last September in a car accident while on temporary duty in Kazakhstan. She had volunteered to help move the U.S. Embassy there.

“Rachel stepped forward as she always did when someone needed a hand,” CIA Director Michael Hayden said at the ceremony.

A graduate of Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Dean majored in international studies and lived abroad while her father served in the Navy, Mr. Hayden said. Her first assignment was in Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous, central Asian country that was once part of the Soviet Union and that the CIA director called “a difficult, unfamiliar place.”

Dean “was an adventurer, though, and tackled the job with trademark enthusiasm. She quickly became known as a support officer who got things done, no small praise in a country where modern conveniences are hard to find,” Mr. Hayden said.

“Rachel embraced the challenge; she worked hard — but always with a smile. Everyone in the tight-knit embassy community loved her. Simply put, she was a joy to be around.”

Of the 87 who have died in CIA service, the names of 33 have not been made public by the agency. One of stars added to the Memorial Wall this year commemorates an employee whose identity will remain secret, at least for now.

The CIA refuses to disclose the names behind these “silent stars.”