[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] Re: ARC-5 production data

[William Donzelli]

> Almost nothing that was in the Navy archives from the very beginnings
> of Naval radio work up to the mid 1950s was saved.  They were bulk
> pulped in the mid 1990s because some little beaurocratic pinhead
> decided they weren't of any value and the National Archives
> wouldn't take them.  We have only what we can scrape together
> and the testimony of foggy and fast-disappearing memory.

Yes, this really is a disgrace. I suppose it is a bit like "use it or
loose it".

I have to really thanks those (Dave, you're one of them) that has made
real strides to save the information. Every little bit helps. Industrial
archaeology seems to get vague *really* fast, however, there is still a
lot out there to discover.

At least we are not yet near the point of "real" archaeology. When I talk
to my cousin (she has been on at least two Roman excavations), it becomes
apparent that the further back in time you go, the more history is a very
fragile web built on very little evidence.

William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org