Beth Krambule
Upon reading details of the president’s recent visit to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., I was reminded of my first and only visit there, in 1972, when I was 11. Most kids grow up knowing what their father’s career is and visiting him at his workplace. Not me. Even though I knew my dad worked for the CIA, I could only say he worked for the government. I just knew that he was gone a lot, ranging from a week at a time to several months at a time.
The day my mom, brother and I visited was a big deal: We were going to see my father receive an award. I can still remember entering the lobby of the building, a large, open and stark space; my attention was immediately drawn to the stars on the wall. Wanting to know the significance of the stars, and my dad had explained they were for CIA employees killed while on duty. The stars were fewer in number than they are today.
I felt the weight of this immediately. Wanting to know who they were, I was told that there were no names as they served their country knowing that they would never receive acknowledgment for their work. As the years have gone by, I can still see that wall and still feel the gravity of the sacrifice made by these men, women and their families.
Now, in 2017, President Trump stood in front of the very same wall I looked upon as a child, without a word of acknowledgement for these heroes. Instead he spoke of his greatness, bragging about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. How is it that an 11-year-old child understood the symbolism of the Memorial Wall and our president did not?
I was not sure I would ever write about this. My dad would not want me to share with the world matters involving his work. Now, at 87 and many years away from his CIA career, he told me to go ahead.
After that visit in 1972, my dad went on to receive more awards for his service, including the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Of course, I never knew he received it until he retired. He was not able to bring the medal home until he retired. His granddaughter just this year learned he received the medal. CIA employees don’t serve for the attention or for the politics. They serve to protect us, silently.
CIA agents are trained to seek the truth beyond politics. When our president stated his disbelief in information regarding Russian influence in our 2016 election, I spoke with my father. He stated that he and his coworkers would never lie to the president.
The conviction with which my dad said this made an impact upon me. The CIA serves the president of the United States, and thus you and me also. These women and men deserve our respect and trust. And yet our president takes the word of a foreign leader over the former director of the CIA. I am baffled.
In my 56 years I have never felt fear being a US citizen. I do now.
Beth Krambule lives in Portland.
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