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Campus "Unrest" demonstrations and consequences, 1970-1971

1971-11-12 American Report: Review of Religion and American Power Page 30

6, AMERICAN REPORT, November 12, 1971

The C-5A: Henry Durham Speaks Out -- Part II

Part II 

In the Nov. 5 issue, American  Report began an interview with Henry Durham, former general department manager over production control on the flight line of Lockheed Georgia. Durham publicly testified before the Joint Economic Committee of congress concerning Lockheed's alleged mismanagement in the production of the C-5A Galaxy supertransport. The interview concludes in this issue. 

Do you think the Government is interested in such an investigation?
One of the things that concerns me so much about this is that when you go to Washington and talk to the people there, you realize that the Government covers up that stuff too.

The Government? At what level?
The Air Force. I don't know what level, but it's just high level; higher than I thought it was. Being just an average citizen, working hard all your life, trying to get to be company vice president - when you see something like this you think its localized but that's not the case 
For example, right after my story appeared in The Washington Post of July 18, I received a call from a Lieut. Col. Tyce, who is deputy Air Force plant representative at Lockheed. He was all excited and said it needed to be investigated and would I be willing to talk to Dr. Seaman's Secretary of the Air Force. 
I said, of course. He said "O.K, I'll call you right back." I never heard from him again. 
Then when a date as set, and I was first going to testify before Proxmire's committee Aug. 4, the colonel in charge at Lockheed - the chief Air Force representative - called me and asked me if I would talk to him. After reflecting on it, I told him I would talk to him after I testified. 
After I testified, a man named Sither, of O.S.I. - Office of Special Investigation in Washington - called me, said he was very concerned about the matter, and wanted to come down and talk to me about it, I said "Fine, be glad to help you in any way" After that I got to thinking. I decided I'd better call somebody and get advice on this.. 
I found out that I should not talk to him by myself, that I should talk to him with a witness. So I called him back and told him that I wanted to talk to him in front of a witness. He said no, he didn't see any need to talk in front of witnesses, but he would call me back . 
A couple of days later Sither called me and said he had read the testimony two or three times and felt that at this time there was no need to talk to me If he ever needed me, he would get back in touch. 
It would seem to me that the O.S.I would be alarmed about a situation like this and want to lay all the cards out on the table. But according to certain people in Washington, they are engaged in covering up this type of thing all the time. 
They're supposed to look after this sort of thing - not to hide it. Why would they want to hide it unless they are part and parcel of the whole thing?
This bothers me a great deal; this covering up, this hiding. They're supposed to be representing the people. They're charged with a high office, carrying out duties and responsibilities to the nation.

What was the response of your superiors in Lockheed when you gave them your documented reports of large numbers of missing parts on the C-5A's?
Well, this was in October, 1969. I was told by my immediate superior to shut up and hide the reports. You see, I had released one of the reports to a man in charge of the flight-line production area. I wanted him to correct the problem at his end. Well, the fact that a copy of that report could get out must have frightened them very much, because I got a call from my boss telling me to get that report back and get it fast, you know. The guy didn't want to give it back. The next morning, O got a call from his boss. He said "Look, if you can't do anything else, get a stamp and mark it 'confidential material'"

That was a typical reaction. The divisional level management people - people more or less on my own level - would stop me and look down their noses and ask me, "What the hell do you think you're doing writing about missing parts; why don't you be quiet; why don't you mind your own business, etc," But that really just made me more determined. I went to all levels of management. I wasn't afraid of any of them, and I took it to their boss. 
Finally, I attempted to make an appointment with Mr. Fuhrman president of Lockheed-Georgia. I called one day, and got the secretary, and left my name and number. Within a few minutes, my boss was on the phone wanting to know what in the hell I was doing trying to contact Fuhrman. 
The next day I had to go talk to him, and he told me a long story about how good the company was, how everything was going to be all right, and that kind of stuff. When he was through, I said, "All that's fine but I still want to see Fuhrman. 
I was told I'd have to talk to W.P. French first; he's director of manufacturing. I agreed and was able to see him after about a week. But it was very unsatisfactory. He ignored a report I gave him when I first walked into his office; it had the data on it, and I practically has to force him to read it. He talked about everything else except what I wanted to talk about. 
Finally I got the problem across to him, I thought, so I decided to wait a couple of weeks. But nothing happened. So I called Fuhrman late one afternoon in his office and caught him. We made an appointment. I met him and we talked about an hour and a half. I gave him very much the same material I presented in testimony, a lot of it, dealing with mismanagement, waste, throwing away of parts, and all the other things. He listened but that's about all He never did anything about it that  know of. After that my job was abolished . I was pushed in a corner, ostracised

How was your job eliminated? How were you pushed out of Lockheed? 
This was in April or May, 1970. I remember my boss said, "I know this doesn't sound right, but you're the only one who cab run the refurbishing program." which was a remodeling or updating of some aircraft. This was a downgrade, a reduction in pay, to a department manager's job. And I knew they were more or less starting the trail of getting rid of me. They didn't want to let me go at that time, I don't think, because they didn't know what I would do. 
You know, a big corporation has fantastic power. If you stay with  a company, for, say, 19 years, you're not trained in anything else. That's all you can do. You've worked your way up from the bottom. they have the power of life and death over you in many ways. They control your family, your destiny, your children's education, the whole thing. And that's why people don't come forward. 
By the time you reach my age, it's not easy to find another position. But I was determined that I was going to go through with this anyway. It's time that type of thing stopped. 

Why haven't other employees, particularly those who have been laid off, come forward and report about the company?
Because of fear! IN the first place, most of those who are laid off have recall rights with the company to get back to work. But it's literally fear of people in the community. A guy called me one day and offered to bring me -then he changed that to send me in the mail, anonymously - some material to take with me to Washington that was of vital importance. I said I'd be glad to have it. 
A few days went by and I called hi. He said, "You know I'm living out here among a lot of Lockheed people, I've got a swimming pool and have put a lot of money in this house and I don't want garbage thrown in my swimming pool and all. I've decided the best thing to do is not send it."
Another guy came by and gave me a written statement. He went back to work the next day. he called me up and just begged me, "Please don't put that statement in the evidence." He was afraid for his job. So I didn't use it. I didn't want to jeopardize anybody. You see he went out to the plant and heard the management talking and saw the "Kill Durham" signs in the rest rooms. They even had my name and address and phone number on the bulletin board. And several people called me saying, "Kill Durham" 

You have been threatened physically? 
Oh, I was threatened in every way possible. Not recently. It sort of died once Lockheed got the Government loan guarantee. But people are still very unfriendly. 
My wife wrote Billy Graham because she became upset at the lack of reception at the church. She has taught Sunday School for years; we have raised our children in the church. We got a response back from a person who called himself a spiritual counselor. He just said they would pray for us. Which as fine with us, you know. But he did mention that he couldn't get into the political aspect of it. Politics? It's a matter of what is right and what is wrong. 

Do you still go to church ?
My wife doesn't now. My daughter still goes. But even the reception of my son in his Sunday School class hasn't been the best in the world. You can tell there is some animosity there. There was always a rule that we went to church but now we don't have that rule. I don't think I should subject them to anything unpleasant at the moment. 

Do you think that within the plant itself - when people face the question of right and wrong - they just put it aside?
I think so. There are thousands of workers who come to work every day, good people, do their job, shuffling papers, file clerks, workers.. They don't know all of this is going on. They just see a very small corner of the business. So they feel very insecure. 
[Continued p. 7, col. 1]

Saving...

6, AMERICAN REPORT, November 12, 1971 The C-5A: Henry Durham Speaks Out -- Part II Part II In the Nov. 5 issue, American Report began an interview with Henry Durham, former general department manager over production control on the flight line of Lockheed Georgia. Durham publicly testified before the Joint Economic Committee of congress concerning Lockheed's alleged mismanagement in the production of the C-5A Galaxy supertransport. The interview concludes in this issue. Do you think the Government is interested in such an investigation? One of the things that concerns me so much about this is that when you go to Washington and talk to the people there, you realize that the Government covers up that stuff too. The Government? At what level? The Air Force. I don't know what level, but it's just high level; higher than I thought it was. Being just an average citizen, working hard all your life, trying to get to be company vice president - when you see something like this you think its localized but that's not the case For example, right after my story appeared in The Washington Post of July 18, I received a call from a Lieut. Col. Tyce, who is deputy Air Force plant representative at Lockheed. He was all excited and said it needed to be investigated and would I be willing to talk to Dr. Seaman's Secretary of the Air Force. I said, of course. He said "O.K, I'll call you right back." I never heard from him again. Then when a date as set, and I was first going to testify before Proxmire's committee Aug. 4, the colonel in charge at Lockheed - the chief Air Force representative - called me and asked me if I would talk to him. After reflecting on it, I told him I would talk to him after I testified. After I testified, a man named Sither, of O.S.I. - Office of Special Investigation in Washington - called me, said he was very concerned about the matter, and wanted to come down and talk to me about it, I said "Fine, be glad to help you in any way" After that I got to thinking. I decided I'd better call somebody and get advice on this.. I found out that I should not talk to him by myself, that I should talk to him with a witness. So I called him back and told him that I wanted to talk to him in front of a witness. He said no, he didn't see any need to talk in front of witnesses, but he would call me back . A couple of days later Sither called me and said he had read the testimony two or three times and felt that at this time there was no need to talk to me If he ever needed me, he would get back in touch. It would seem to me that the O.S.I would be alarmed about a situation like this and want to lay all the cards out on the table. But according to certain people in Washington, they are engaged in covering up this type of thing all the time. They're supposed to look after this sort of thing - not to hide it. Why would they want to hide it unless they are part and parcel of the whole thing? This bothers me a great deal; this covering up, this hiding. They're supposed to be representing the people. They're charged with a high office, carrying out duties and responsibilities to the nation. What was the response of your superiors in Lockheed when you gave them your documented reports of large numbers of missing parts on the C-5A's? Well, this was in October, 1969. I was told by my immediate superior to shut up and hide the reports. You see, I had released one of the reports to a man in charge of the flight-line production area. I wanted him to correct the problem at his end. Well, the fact that a copy of that report could get out must have frightened them very much, because I got a call from my boss telling me to get that report back and get it fast, you know. The guy didn't want to give it back. The next morning, O got a call from his boss. He said "Look, if you can't do anything else, get a stamp and mark it 'confidential material'" That was a typical reaction. The divisional level management people - people more or less on my own level - would stop me and look down their noses and ask me, "What the hell do you think you're doing writing about missing parts; why don't you be quiet; why don't you mind your own business, etc," But that really just made me more determined. I went to all levels of management. I wasn't afraid of any of them, and I took it to their boss. Finally, I attempted to make an appointment with Mr. Fuhrman president of Lockheed-Georgia. I called one day, and got the secretary, and left my name and number. Within a few minutes, my boss was on the phone wanting to know what in the hell I was doing trying to contact Fuhrman. The next day I had to go talk to him, and he told me a long story about how good the company was, how everything was going to be all right, and that kind of stuff. When he was through, I said, "All that's fine but I still want to see Fuhrman. I was told I'd have to talk to W.P. French first; he's director of manufacturing. I agreed and was able to see him after about a week. But it was very unsatisfactory. He ignored a report I gave him when I first walked into his office; it had the data on it, and I practically has to force him to read it. He talked about everything else except what I wanted to talk about. Finally I got the problem across to him, I thought, so I decided to wait a couple of weeks. But nothing happened. So I called Fuhrman late one afternoon in his office and caught him. We made an appointment. I met him and we talked about an hour and a half. I gave him very much the same material I presented in testimony, a lot of it, dealing with mismanagement, waste, throwing away of parts, and all the other things. He listened but that's about all He never did anything about it that know of. After that my job was abolished . I was pushed in a corner, ostracised How was your job eliminated? How were you pushed out of Lockheed? This was in April or May, 1970. I remember my boss said, "I know this doesn't sound right, but you're the only one who cab run the refurbishing program." which was a remodeling or updating of some aircraft. This was a downgrade, a reduction in pay, to a department manager's job. And I knew they were more or less starting the trail of getting rid of me. They didn't want to let me go at that time, I don't think, because they didn't know what I would do. You know, a big corporation has fantastic power. If you stay with a company, for, say, 19 years, you're not trained in anything else. That's all you can do. You've worked your way up from the bottom. they have the power of life and death over you in many ways. They control your family, your destiny, your children's education, the whole thing. And that's why people don't come forward. By the time you reach my age, it's not easy to find another position. But I was determined that I was going to go through with this anyway. It's time that type of thing stopped. Why haven't other employees, particularly those who have been laid off, come forward and report about the company? Because of fear! IN the first place, most of those who are laid off have recall rights with the company to get back to work. But it's literally fear of people in the community. A guy called me one day and offered to bring me -then he changed that to send me in the mail, anonymously - some material to take with me to Washington that was of vital importance. I said I'd be glad to have it. A few days went by and I called hi. He said, "You know I'm living out here among a lot of Lockheed people, I've got a swimming pool and have put a lot of money in this house and I don't want garbage thrown in my swimming pool and all. I've decided the best thing to do is not send it." Another guy came by and gave me a written statement. He went back to work the next day. he called me up and just begged me, "Please don't put that statement in the evidence." He was afraid for his job. So I didn't use it. I didn't want to jeopardize anybody. You see he went out to the plant and heard the management talking and saw the "Kill Durham" signs in the rest rooms. They even had my name and address and phone number on the bulletin board. And several people called me saying, "Kill Durham" You have been threatened physically? Oh, I was threatened in every way possible. Not recently. It sort of died once Lockheed got the Government loan guarantee. But people are still very unfriendly. My wife wrote Billy Graham because she became upset at the lack of reception at the church. She has taught Sunday School for years; we have raised our children in the church. We got a response back from a person who called himself a spiritual counselor. He just said they would pray for us. Which as fine with us, you know. But he did mention that he couldn't get into the political aspect of it. Politics? It's a matter of what is right and what is wrong. Do you still go to church ? My wife doesn't now. My daughter still goes. But even the reception of my son in his Sunday School class hasn't been the best in the world. You can tell there is some animosity there. There was always a rule that we went to church but now we don't have that rule. I don't think I should subject them to anything unpleasant at the moment. Do you think that within the plant itself - when people face the question of right and wrong - they just put it aside? I think so. There are thousands of workers who come to work every day, good people, do their job, shuffling papers, file clerks, workers.. They don't know all of this is going on. They just see a very small corner of the business. So they feel very insecure. [Continued p. 7, col. 1]