Pete Buttigieg Revealed the Contents of His Military "Just in Case" Letter

Serving in the military is both a burden and an honor. Those who pledge to lay their lives on the line often find themselves grappling with their mortality and concepts of eternal right and wrong, all while expected to obey their oaths and commanding officers.

Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg certainly grappled with such topics when he served as a Navy intelligence officer.

In an appearance on Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh podcast, Pete opened up about what he wrote in his "just in case" letter that members of the military are encouraged to write for their loved ones if the worst should happen. Here's what we know about his letter.

Pete is considered friendly, knowledgeable, and likable. He left his role as mayor a popular politician and played well on the national stage. So it may be somewhat of a surprise to know that he once served in the military, despite his laid-back and affable nature.

While being interviewed on Flagrant by host Andrew Cameron Schulz, Pete dove into that morbid but necessary letter that all military members are encouraged to write, "just in case."

He explained, "When you get deployed, they tell you to write a letter." It says "just in case," and includes everything you want your loved ones to know.

Pete explains that it includes everything from Netflix passwords to life aspirations and dreams.

When he was deployed, Pete was serving as the Mayor of South Bend. He describes going on leave as mayor and serving as a lieutenant.

Pete says he had a "good life," and that's part of what he wrote about. He added, "In the back of my head, I'm thinking, 'I'm a grown-ass man, and I don't actually know what it's like to be in love."

He knew that if he got back, he wanted to change things and was ready to deal with the "implications" of coming out as gay. "I'd rather deal with that than once again contemplate the idea that I could go to my grave not knowing what it's like to be in love."

After he came back from serving in Afghanistan, Pete came out as gay in 2015 and later fell in love with his husband, Chasten.

Pete is known for his personality and public service, but not many people know the details of his military service.

The Hill took a deep dive into Pete's certificate of release from active duty and a counseling report, detailing the impressive military service he engaged in.

According to the outlet, the documents they looked at detailed Pete's "work to disrupt the flow of money among terrorist organizations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the war on terrorism launched by former President George W. Bush after 9/11."

He served in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul. The ATFC "identifies and disrupts Taliban, Al-Qaida and other insurgent financial support networks in Afghanistan."

The outlet adds that, in his book Shortest Way Home, Pete once wrote that he expected to spend his time in service "behind a sophisticated computer terminal in a secure area.”

His service, however, appears to have been at least slightly more active than that.

While the outlet reports that it does not seem as though he saw active duty, he was in very dangerous situations from time to time and walked away with lessons learned.