Gunman in Santa suit killed six, self in Texas: police

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?The question became, how do you hide an elephant?? a National Reconnaissance Office report stated at the time. It decided on a simple response: ?What elephant?? Employees were told to ignore any questions from the media, and never confirm the slightest detail about what they worked on. christian louboutin
But it was impossible to conceal the launches at Vandenberg Air Force base inCalifornia, and aviation magazines made several references to ?Big Bird.? In 1975, a ?60 Minutes? television piece on space reconnaissance described an ?Alicein Wonderland? world, where American and Soviet intelligence officials knew of each other?s ?eyes in the sky? ? and other nations did, too ? but no one confirmed the programs or spoke about them publicly. christian louboutins
For employees at Perkin-Elmer, the vow of secrecy was considered a mark of honor. christian louboutin shoes
?We were like the guys who worked on the first atom bomb,? said Oscar Berendsohn, 87, who helped design the optics system. ?It was more than a sworn oath. We had been entrusted with the security of the country. What greater trust is there?? christian louboutin wedding shoes
Even wives ? who couldn?t contact their husbands or know of their whereabouts when they were traveling ? for the most part accepted the secrecy. They knew the jobs were highly classified. They knew not to ask questions. christian louboutin boots
?We were born into the World War II generation,? says Linda Bronico, whose husband, Al, told her only that he was building test consoles and cables. ?We all knew the slogan ?loose lips sink ships.?? christian louboutin sale
And Perkin-Elmer was considered a prized place to work, with good salaries and benefits, golf and softball leagues, lavish summer picnics (the company would hire an entire amusement park for employees and their families) and dazzling children?s Christmas parties.
?We loved it,? Marra says. ?It was our life.?
For Marra and his former co-workers, sharing that life and their long-held secret has unleashed a jumble of emotions, from pride to nostalgia to relief ? and in some cases, grief.
The city?s mayor, Mark Boughton, only discovered that his father had worked on Hexagon when he was invited to speak at an October reunion ceremony on the grounds of the former plant. His father, Donald Boughton, also a former mayor, was too ill to attend and died a few days later. Gunman in Santa suit killed six, self in Texas: police