Memories of Lockheed

* Re “As a Factory Falls, Memories of What It Means to Have a Job,” Sept. 10.

I too have many memories about Lockheed. Both of my parents and even one of my grandparents worked there. Two of my brothers and myself worked there as well, making us third-generation. My parents worked in the “Dark World,” as the Skunk Works was known. That was because anybody who worked there couldn’t talk about what they did. This was during the height of the Cold War and everybody was paranoid about the Russians.

As Mary Helen Ponce’s article points out, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Lockheed did take good care of its employees and their families. . . . But in the ‘80s everything changed. That was when Lockheed came under new management and decided to move to Georgia. My brothers and I got caught in the back-stabbing and turmoil that went on during this time. On the day our parents retired, we all received our layoff notices. While I only had five years at Lockheed, my brothers had 35 years between the two of them and families to feed. It was a sad time and changed my view of Lockheed forever.

So, I have mixed feelings about seeing Lockheed’s old A-1 plant get torn down. In one way, I’m sad to see a part of my childhood go, and in another I’m happy to see that Burbank is finally rid of a monster that decided to turn its back on those who had made it strong.

ALAN R. BYLER

Burbank