Many St. Tammany residents were involved in the engineering and building of the rockets and other hardware used in the Apollo-Saturn V moon program. Their hard work and technical expertise helped make it possible.
One of the ways we know this is because of a book written by Herbert C. Sanders, a Boeing Company employee. He put together not just any book, but one heck of a book, a book that was specially printed and bound, and then delivered to the nation's tops archives and libraries for eternal preservation. It was distributed as a limited edition of only 1,817 copies. Here is the story of that book, and the people who brought it all together.
From the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper, May 6, 1971:
Click on the above picture to make it larger.
Local Man Compiles History of Apollo/Saturn V For Posterity
Herbert C. Sanders, Tchefuncta Club Estates resident and motivational manager for The Boeing Company, presented an unusual book to the nation's archives recently. The book, "The Apollo-Saturn V Roll of Honor," is a history of the company's role in making the moon landing possible and it honors over 5,000 employees' whose workmanship made significant contributions toward that goal.
Many of the employees are residents of St. Tammany and surrounding parishes who, due to this book, will now always be remembered in history.
Special presentation copies were received by the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and The Kress Library at Harvard University, and by Gov. Askew of Florida and his cabinet.
History As It Happened
The book was conceived by Sanders almost four years ago and was compiled under his direction. There are two unusual features in The Apollo-Saturn V Roll of Honor which, as far as is known, have not been done before in combination. First, history is normally written long after the event and by those disassociated with it. In this case, a history was written at the time and by those directly involved.
Second, those few privileged to have had a leading role in an event are given a place in history while the rank and file are forgotten. Not so here.--The job assignment itself was of no concern in selecting names to be entered into the volume.
Because of this the book is of particular interest to the Kress Library at Harvard, which is a collection of rare books dedicated to the preservation of manuscripts pertaining to the history of business and development of economic theory throughout the ages. This is one of three such collections in the world. The Library of Congress will also keep its copy in the rare book selection.
The presentation to Gov. Askew and his Cabinet took place March 9. The State of Florida plans to build a monument commemorating the moon flights and "The Apollo-Saturn V Roll of Honor" encased in an inconel metal shell will be placed within it so that years from now, it can be known how this momentous step was
achieved. Inconel is a rare and highly non-corrosive metal provided by Huntington Alloys, a division of International Nickel. Until completion of the monument, the book will be on display in the capitol building at Tallahassee.
Special Long-lasting Paper Used
With this in mind, the Cotton Fiber Manufacturers created a special paper which will last 1,000 years and all presentation copies of the book are printed on it.
The morning of April 14, Sanders had the pleasure. of presenting his book to the former astronaut and long standing acquaintance, Mike Collins. Collins was one of the three man crew of Apollo 11 which made the first moon landing. He was recently appointed director of The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The Library of Congress received their special presentation copy from Sanders April 14 in the Woodrow Wilson Room. The following day he flew to Cambridge, Mass. to take part in the ceremony in the Baker Library at Harvard.
The book is not for public sale, but copies are being presented to the states of Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, The City of New Orleans, and to selected dignitaries. Requests for copies have come from such unlikely places as Nigeria.
In his presentation speech, Sanders gave as his purpose for writing the book, "...to give earned recognition to outstanding Boeing employees, employees who participated in the Apollo program. Considering the historical significance of the Apollo mission and knowing that men of many ages yet unborn will be fascinated by this daring adventure, no better recognition could be given to these employees than to make their names famous in the after ages."
In his speech he also expressed, "the sincere gratitude of The Boeing Company to the thousands of people whose names are here preserved, for they gave freely of their time, skills, and energy to make possible mankind's greatest expedition--that of sending three men to the moon and returning them safely to earth."
History's Focus
He went on to say, "An examination of history points out the fact that immediately after many great adventures, there was a period of relative calm. And then, many years later discovery or adventure was more thoroughly understood. This understanding paved the way for greater things. A period of inactivity in exploiting the achievements of Apollo may be starting now because it, too, is not fully understood. But time has a way of changing things, or, put another way, through time new truths are unveiled about a single event.
"There may be a considerable time lapse before the true meaning of Apollo is grasped by mankind. In this deteriorate, to be thrown away, lost or destroyed. To counter this tendency an effort was undertaken to document the significant contributions made by The Boeing Co. and the outstanding participants therein relative to the Apollo program.
"These hallowed national archives are a most fitting place to preserve for future ages this story of a magnificent human endeavor."
Of special interest is the quality of material in the presentation copies. Sanders explained, "The content of the paper which makes up this book is unique. The
Cotton Fiber Paper Manufacturers created a paper produced from 100 per cent new rag cuttings with a minimum amount of chemical materials. In this respect, it is virtually identical with the handmade papers of olden times, which have endured for many centuries in such usages as the Gutenberg Bible, the first folio edition of Shakespeare, the drawings of master artists of the Rennaisance, and in an endless array of historic documents, public records and proclamations of state.
Local Bookbinders
These volumes were bound by the Salesian Brothers in New Orleans. The covering is of goat skin. The gold lettering was hand tooled. The emblems are Bodoni inlay-gold suspended in a clear enamel."
The Roll of Honor book contains over 340 pages 11 x 14 inches in size, approximately 900,000 words, and is divided into three sections.
Revealing the Organizational Complexity
Section I depicts the story of The Boeing Company contribution from an organizational point of view. This section is divided according to geographical
locations--New Orleans, Huntsville, Ala.; Houston, Tex.; Washington, D.C.; and Cape Kennedy, Fla. Each of these divisions contain many functional organizations which are divided into smaller elements. It would be very difficult for future generations to understand how all these constantly changing organizational elements worked together to create and launch such a large and powerful rocket were it not for this book.
Section II contains the names of over 5,000 employees with an individual description of their contribution, place of birth, social security number, and a reference to the organization depicted in Section I, of which he was a part.
Over 4,000 associate contractors through the United States supplied many vital parts and services necessary for The Boeing Company to meet its obligation. Of these, 282 have been honored in Section II.
Section III of the book is an alphabetized index or locater . This section is designed to enable the reader to quickly find an employee's name in Section II.
Photos Included
The book is filled with pictures covering most aspects of life and work as it existed during the time of Apollo's construction. Sanders, a native Southerner, was born and reared in Amite, where his is an old and well-known family name. He finished public schools there and attended Southeastern at Hammond a year before entering the University of Mississippi, where he received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering.
He entered the US Army in 1941 as a second lieutenant and was honorably discharged in 1946 with rank of captain. He joined The Boeing Co. in Seattle, Wash. in 1954 and was transferred to the New Orleans operation in 1962, where he serves as motivation manager, heads the department on utilization of new technology and is chief of the cost reduction department.
End of Apollo Book article
The front cover of the book
Some inside pages
The distribution notation
Sanders gave community talks on the moonshot connections, including programs where tickets were sold to benefit the St. Tammany Humane Society
A Saturn V launch
Sanders went on to provide a variety of surveying and civil engineering services
Herbert Carl Sanders died on Monday, May 16, 2011, at the age of 92 in Bellevue, WA. According to his obituary, he was born and raised in Amite, LA, attained Eagle Scout as a teenager, graduated from Ole' Miss in 1941 with a degree in Engineering and many fond memories of playing in the band there.
"A member of the ROTC, he went on to become a Captain in the US Army Quartermaster Gas Supply Company while serving in WWII. He spent many years in Washington State as an employee of the Boeing Company. While with the Boeing Company, he was instrumental in the Apollo/ Saturn V Roll of Honor.
"As a Civil Engineer, Herb worked for the Port of New Orleans as well as having his own business as a land surveyor in Covington, LA where he lived in the Tchefuncta Club Estates. "
