by John Van A.
It’s interesting to note that the history of Lockheed Martin began just
a few years before 1920, the year in which I was born. I enjoyed an exciting
career helping to develop the Titan I, II and III on four test stands, even
before their activation. I helped mainly on D, where we performed the original
tests. Then I went on to vertical tests for quality inspection and Titan II
retest and tooling for tooling layouts. The special event was on Pad 41 in
Florida, when the first Titan III was tested with success. I enjoyed 16 years
of continuing excitement, and seldom was there a dull day. Probably as a result
of my love for aerospace, my son has been a pilot for United Airlines for nearly
27 years. May your success continue for many future years!
