My ex-wife and I were sitting outside of the dinner theater we were about to attend, waiting for the feature to start and having a glass of wine when a nice couple came and sat at our table with us also having a drink. They were very conversational and interesting to talk to when all of the sudden the husband brought up an intriguing topic. Perhaps he had had more to drink than I’d seen, but the subject matter was bizarre and disturbing.

Rise of the Surveillance State

He was talking about the end of World War II and about the emergence of the security state in 1947. Nobody really knows exactly what caused the sudden increase in intelligence intensity and the need for surveillance, but there must have been a wakeup call over something. Some commentators have speculated that it was the Roswell Incident that brought the beginning of the NDAA into existence. Others theorize that it was the Russians developing the atomic bomb years before it was suspected that they would acquire the capability. In the event of being blindsided by another unforeseen global conflict, perhaps the rationale was that in order to prevent another massive conflict, intelligence gathering needed to be more thorough since it was acknowledged that the Soviets had penetrated the federal government even Los Alamos and had obtained atomic test data, the need had been established.

A mysterious father

Getting back to the stranger, an interesting man with a story to tell. As he explained, his father was a man who was known to get things done and he had friends in Washington DC. Being a successful rancher and businessman seemed only a cover for what his true capabilities were, and he apparently possessed ruthless means of getting things done, as the man explained. What he was about to tell me was pretty shocking. I was under the naïve impression that our government was not operating under the cold blooded gangster-like approach of the Soviets, the Nazis, or the Imperial Japanese, using assassinations to get rid of political opposition or simply military officers who seemed capable of participating in a coup d’état, so just execute them when it seems like an expedient form of preserving a regime.

Ominous rise to power

This story proved my thinking wrong as it is horrifying to consider. Was this man pulling my leg? I don’t think so. If anyone knows anything about the OSS in World War II then they know people like William “Wild Bill” Donovan and Allen Dulles, the two men who established the OSS, the precursor of the CIA, and their ruthless ways of handling problems would not be surprising. This story is in the same circa as this transitionary period in US history when the perceived need for national security outweighed the people’s Constitutional rights.

Dark clouds up ahead

The intelligence element on Capitol Hill was concerned that security in the Pentagon was lax. That the Soviets had penetrated the highest echelon of US Classified and Top Secret files seem to indicate that there were breeches in the supposed wall of military police, espionage operatives, and the personnel responsible for monitoring the whole federal government communications at the top. They had been urging the Pentagon to conduct a shake down and analyze who were responsible for the mysterious and unidentified leaks that had cost the US its advantage over the Communist Russians. Something had to be done. Perhaps something nefarious had to take place in order to get their attention.

Reaching out to the stranger’s father

Whoever in the intelligence community got hold of this stranger’s Dad to devise a ruthless way of getting the attention of the Pentagon who was apparently resting on its laurels after winning World War II was not mentioned. Yet, his father apparently had the credentials as a very capable operative to pull off a daring act that would grab the attention of the complacent Pentagon staff and alert them to the evils that awaited if they continued to conduct themselves status quo. What you will now read, I swear is the truth, a horrifying truth that I was shocked to know could happen in the US, and within our own government.

The death squad

In order to prove that Pentagon and Department of Defense security was dangerously vulnerable to being breeched, a commando type mission was formed. Whether the stranger’s Dad simply organized it, was involved directly in the operation, or planned the tactics that were used was not mentioned, but someone at Washington DC came to him knowing he had what it took to cause a shake-up on Capitol Hill. So, one night, a seemingly routine night, a horrid series of acts took place, undertaken by not foe but by supposedly friend.

The unsuspecting

Normally, the Pentagon was guarded by a contingent of military police. Crack law enforcement officers of the US Army who would defend their territory to the death. They were well armed, they were trained in martial arts, and they kept a wary vigil, but perhaps they had grown a little too complacent since it seemed unthinkable that anyone would dare attack an agency on Capitol Hill. The unthinkable did happen, and it was brutal to say the least!

Heavy hitters

Apparently, a crack commando team went in. They quickly dispatched the outer perimeter guards and penetrated into the offices. There they didn’t have much trouble subduing the surprised security force killing all of them with extreme prejudice. Several of the dead military police were intentionally decapitated and even drained of blood. Their heads were dumped into waste can buckets and filing cabinet drawers. Their blood was splattered all over classified documents and top secret files. This gruesome act was conducted in order to get the Pentagon to realize that if someone could get away with this then security was woefully ineffective and had to be revamped, but what a terrible way to send a wake-up call. It must have been true as the man’s wife was holding onto his arm and trying to cut off the conversation any further. Her expression was one of concern. She knew about this and perhaps considered his opening up about it to be potentially dangerous for the two of them. This incident coincides with the developments of 1947 when our government suddenly took a step in the totalitarian direction!

Conclusion

After that provocative chat we got separated from them having to take our seats for the movie feature. I really wished I'd gotten his business card or phone number. I'm sure I would have gotten more astonishing stories to file away for another day while learning more about the savage inner workings of secret agencies.