by Derek—2006.05.09 @ 2118
A recent article in the Washington Post caught my eye and made me realize something I’ve been feeling for some time: It would be difficult to keep secrets from my wife. The article discusses a navy pilot who flew secret missions during the Cold War and was shot down. The wife never knew what he did from day-to-day and the news of his death was difficult to bear, especially since there could be no burial or service.
The squadron’s wives didn’t discuss their husbands’ work, my mother says, because none of them knew what their husbands did. She recalls once climbing around the inside of the P4M-1Q patrol plane during a base open house for the crews’ families. In the rear, black sheets covered what looked like small desks. My mother assumed that was secret surveillance equipment. Seeing the ribbons of ammunition hanging from the machine guns, she remembers thinking, “Why do they need real bullets?”
It must be very difficult (I would think) for people who work in the intelligence field to live with news and information they must keep to themselves, especially about what they are being asked to do on a daily basis. Now, it is one thing if I must keep important information “secret” just like I have done with jobs in the civilian world—trade secrets, cutbacks and layoffs, mergers, etc. But if you had to keep a secret what you do for a living every day, that would be hard. I think of spys and agents who live “double lives” and have to live with a spouse who believes and trusts you and how difficult and heart-wrentching it must be.
I trust my wife explicitly; she is my one best confidant. I am glad I can be honest with her about what I do every day and I hope I never have to work for somone where my integrity with my wife is compromised.
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