Retired Adm. William McRaven, who had operational control of the SEAL Team 6 mission to get Osama bin Laden, was honored by the FBI Agents Association on Wednesday.

Retired Adm. William McRaven, who had operational control of the SEAL Team 6 mission to get Osama bin Laden, was honored by the FBI Agents Association on Wednesday.

Charles Dharapak/AP

The FBI Agents Association honored fallen colleagues and the former head of U.S. Special Operations in a star-studded charity gala in Washington on Wednesday.

The second-annual awards dinner generated money to help provide scholarships for children of FBI workers and funds that offer "special assistance" to agents and their families.

Reynaldo Tariche, president of the group, told NPR that he was moved to honor two members of the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team. The men died in a training accident in coastal Virginia a year after they recovered a young boy seized and held in an underground bunker in Alabama in 2013. Families of those men were among those who attended the event.

"We are honoring the great work of the FBI HRT, honoring the fallen and raising money for our memorial scholarship fund," Tariche said.

Retired Adm. William McRaven, who was integral in planning and carrying out the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, won the association's award for distinguished service.

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