Dick Holm, also known as Richard L. Holm, is an American CIA Operations Officer who served under 13 CIA directors and was awarded with the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA’s highest award. Holm joined the CIA in 1961, and in his first assignment served in the CIA's secret war in Laos against the communists in the lead-up to the Vietnam War. Holm was then posted to the Congo and suffered near-fatal burns over 35% of his body from a plane crash. His horrific burns were treated by local tribesmen with a black paste made of snake oil and tree bark. He remained in their care for 10 days until he was finally rescued and quickly sent back to America for medical care.