[ctonious]

It was quite a big deal, he was written up in the papers, I've seen them myself. A week before he was to start, he received a telegram simply stating that his "services will no longer be needed."

I'm not denying that may have happened, but the aerospace industry is the most capricious "profession" I have ever seen. As an astronautical engineer I got my TS, and beyond TS clearances yadeyadeya...but when the Soviets up and gave up in '88 - the entire aerospace industry collectively said TS to their workers and went off to make toasters (actually true of one company that made inertial guidance systems for MX - a pretty funny story), credit checking systems and auto parts.

Be thankful, in a way, that your husband had the freedom to live and be free, because I'm glad I'm out of an industry where you can lose your clearance and thus your job because of a late Macy's bill (Almost happened to a fellow IBM'er who I worked with in high-clearance work). What BS.

[Hildy]

I didn't tell the tale for sympathy. Life worked out the way it was supposed to for my husband, I am sure of it. And who knows, we may never have met if it were otherwise. Just a peripheral story to the big one we're discussing!