Enemies turned friends. Former undercover spies travel the Upstate debunking myths and teaching history

GREENWOOD, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a spy? Two former intelligence agents, once enemies but now friends, are traveling across the south telling their story. Today they stopped at Lander University, then down the street at Good Times Brewery.

We spoke with the former agents about how they did the job and why their methods of getting information might not be what you expect.

Two spies walk into a bar, it’s not a joke, it’s actually the start of a friendship.

“I thought for a moment he might actually assassinate me,” said Jack Barsky.

“We rapidly realized we had more in common than we do differences,” said Keith Mahoney.

Barsky and Mahoney come from the same world, but different sides. Decades ago, both were recruited to join different government intelligence agencies, working undercover.

“I was an intelligence operations specialist working on behalf of the U.S. government. and Jack, what did you call yourself?” asked Mahoney. “I was a scout for peace” answered Barsky as they both laughed.

Mahoney worked for the U.S. government, and Barsky worked undercover in the U.S. for the Soviet KGB.

“I never had an inkling that I wanted to be a spy,” said Barsky.

The things they had in common?

“Jack and I are good at a couple of things. We know how to lie, we know how to manipulate, we know how to cheat, steal and sadly that was a big part of our character” said Mahoney.

But all that’s in the past. The former 007′s now share their story together on the road.

giving Cold war history lessons, telling the stories of their undercover missions and debunking the misconceptions.

“There is no violence this hand has never touched a weapon. There is no weapons training. My weapon was supposed to be my brain” said Barsky.

The former agents say they gathered intelligence by asking the right questions and making the right friends.

“You can gather intelligence just by having a conversation,” Barsky said.

Before retiring to go on the road, Barsky switched sides and became a source for the U.S. He did that for 10 years. Mahoney now works in cyber security.

While these two might be out of the espionage game…are there really still spies among us?

“Yup, absolutely” said Mahoney.

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