Betty Hansen's Skunk Bracelet. The charms are a Skunk, a U-2 Aircraft and the SR-71 Blackbird.
In the possession of Margaret Hansen Boothby.
The topic for Week 4 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge is Witness to History. My grandmother, Betty Hansen (Margaret Elizabeth Hayes), was born in 1917 during World War 1, her husband fought in World War 2 and she worked in a civilian capacity at McClellan Airforce Base during the Korean War. When the Cold War was on there was a secret effort to build an airplane that would greatly improve intelligence gathering and that couldn't be shot down like Gary Powers' U-2 aircraft was in May of 1960. Grandma witnessed the birth of the SR-71 Blackbird program at Beale Airforce Base (Ca.), came to know many of the pilots, and was part of the civilian team at Beale from 1967 to her retirement in 1979. The SR-71s out of Beale flew reconnaissance during the Viet Nam War until 1975.
Grandma worked at McClellan Airforce Base in the North Highlands area of Sacramento during the Korean War. She commuted everyday from her home in Grass Valley, California leaving at 6 am in the morning and arriving home at 6 pm at night. Her position was not necessary after the war so she applied for a position at Beale Airforce Base, just outside of Marysville. The job was a secretarial position as opposed to her McClellan job which was duty as an airplane part "washer". Certainly the new job was easier, as was the commute!
While at Beale, Grandma was transferred to a job that required special security clearance and was Top Secret. She warned her family that the FBI might be calling as she needed a background check. She ended up working as a Civilian Supply Clerk to the SR-71 project in 1967.
The SR-71 was developed as a top secret project by Lockheed's Skunk Works division during the early 1960's. It was developed from the ground up in a mere 20 months as a result of a pressing Cold War-era need for a high speed, high altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The U-2 was simply too slow. From the U-2 evolved the A-12 and then into the final SR-71 Blackbird (named because of its dark color). It's existence wasn't revealed to the public until July of 1964. The first Blackbird to enter service was delivered to Beale Airforce Base on January 7, 1966. From Beale AFB the Blackbirds flew to the Kadena AFB in Okinawa where they then flew and performed strategic reconnaissance over North Vietnam and Laos for several years.
To this day, the titanium covered SR-71 holds the records for the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft and the fastest aircraft to be propelled by air-breathing engines. It could attain speeds of Mach-3 (over 2,000 mph) and cruise at altitudes of up to 85,000 feet. The SR-71 served for more than two decades before being retired in 1990. It was briefly reactivated between 1995 to 1998 and finally retired in 1998. This once top secret, legendary aircraft played a major role in the Cold War and also performed missions in the Middle East, Vietnam and North Korea.
Betty Hansen's retirement picture from Beale Airforce Base 1979 showing the U-2 and the SR-71 in flight.
The SR-71 was developed as a top secret project by Lockheed's Skunk Works division during the 1960's. The name Skunk Works was taken from the "Skonk Oil" factory in the comic strip Li'l Abner. After WWII a select team was brought together to develop a new aircraft; they had to operate in strict secrecy. Their operation was housed in a large army tent at what is now Burbank airport. In the same neighborhood was a plastics factory that produced a terrible odor that permeated the tent. In the comic strip Li'l Abner there was a running joke about a mysterious place deep in the forest called the "Skonk Works". There, a strong beverage was brewed from skunks, old shoes and other strange ingredients. The odor was so bad that everyone stayed away from the people that worked there. One day, the phone rang at the top secret site and was answered by a team engineer who was a fan of the comic strip. He answered "Skonk Works, inside man Culver speaking..." Soon the employees adopted the name for the mysterious division of Lockheed. The name eventually evolved into Skunk Works and is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Developmental Programs. The group was known for its unfailing sense of duty , its creativity in the face of technological challenges and its undaunted perseverance. https://generalaviationnews.com/2005/11/04/how-skunk-works-got-its-name/
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