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Seven men set out at sunrise, 7 AM, on Tuesday, June 7, 1960 aboard the converted landing craft
MARIE from Santa Barbara Harbor. Their destination? The waters off Santa Cruz Island most likely around Smugglers Cove. Their mission? Testing
underwater classified infrared communication equipment as part of a U.S. defense industry contract. Those men and the
MARIE were never seen alive again.
More...
What
Happened?
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The
MARIE
Commemoration scheduled 4 – 6
June 2010
provides an
opportunity to: honor what was lost, celebrate those who strove to
make a difference, and rejoice because we have a 50 year perspective with lessons worth passing along.
Come and honor the men who are part of the origins of "communicating over a beam of light"
and advancing America's national security capabilities on
land, under-water, and in the heavens. For those with a pearl of information or a pearl of wisdom about the
MARIE, collecting your Oral Histories is important in building the entire story as remembered by family, friends and colleagues. More...
What's
Happening?
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Dr. Niel F. Beardsley
L. Dale Howell
Paul T. Lovette
Harold (Hal) H. Mackie, Jr.
H. James (Jim) McCaffrey
James (Jim) C. Russell
Diego (Jim) S. Terres, Jr.
If
you are a family member, friend, or colleague of any lost on the
MARIE, I
would like to extend my deepest sympathies to you for your loss…
Click for a letter to
the Families
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 “I
consider these men as being as worthy of hero stature as the pilot of the
U2
planes, because even though they did not know that their lives were in
danger, they did die while undertaking a project to help insure the safety
of the free world.” Markham Field MacLin, SB News Press 17
June 1960 |
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 “Man in his search for knowledge always has had to confront nature, in the air, on land or at sea. Since the
beginning of time this has been so. Only among the brave, the pioneers, will you find men who willingly meet nature in the quest for knowledge alone. The men aboard the
MARIE were dedicated to this purpose.”
Gordon Humphrey,
Raytheon Communicator,
Raytheon Santa Barbara Operations, July 1960 |
MARIE Commemoration, June 4-6, 2010
