Dear Fellow COMARA Members:
I wish to inform you about a new initiative related to the preservation of the COMSAT legacy and to solicit your interest and assistance. The first element of assistance would be for you to relay this notice to all appropriate people in your E-mail address book! Please do so; a few clicks by you can save me an enormous amount of work.
Some months ago the COMARA Board asked me to look into acquiring and preserving the COMSAT records and artifacts currently held by Lockheed-Martin and this has given birth to the COMSAT Legacy Project. This activity is separate from but in cooperation with COMARA and is exclusively devoted to preserving COMSAT history, a history that means so much to so many of us. An Advisory Board has been formed to advise and assist me. It consists of Joseph Charyk, Chairman, David Acheson, Luke Battle, Jerry Breslow, John Evans, John Johnson, John McLucas, Sid Metzger and Carl Reber. We are all unpaid volunteers and earnestly solicit help from those of you who wish to participate on the same basis.
Getting going immediately is an urgent requirement since Lockheed- Martin is in the final stages of disposing of COMSAT assets and all of the COMSAT materials which they are not required legally to preserve. I have, over recent weeks, been reviewing the COMSAT materials at the Bethesda and Clarksburg locations to identify what should be preserved. Possible permanent arrangements currently envisioned include the placement of COMSAT publications and similar materials into a cooperating library for access by COMSAT veterans and others as well as archiving historical records for research purposes. Eventually, a web site will be created for storage of photos and other graphic materials.
These arrangements will take more time than available prior to Lockheed-Martin action so that these memorabilia must be placed in temporary storage while making such permanent arrangements. Transportation and temporary storage of materials generates the only near term requirement for cash expenditures.
The extent to which this project succeeds will depend, in large measure, by the extent to which COMSAT veterans like yourselves participate. Please, therefore, give me your comments, the type of assistance you wish to offer, and/or, a cash donation. If you choose to make a donation, and, no donation is too small, please make the check out to "COMSAT Legacy Fund" and mail to me at:
Edward J. Martin
Executive Secretary
7122 Plantation Lane
Rockville, MD 20852
Telephone: (301) 770-0984
Fax: (301) 881-5726
E-mail:
edmartin752@aol.com