Best 73, and good DXing!
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definitely not true that the reason for these discreditation was because I
"failed to supply information" requested by the Committee.
(6) The new regulation, stated in the Committee's publication following the
Directors' Meeting, is a good one, and backs up the wishes of the Directors,
that future operations be documented. However, the Committee has now made
this new regulation retroactive to my past operations!
Regarding the past, I have a letter from Bob White telling me it is strictly
up to the individual on whether or not he documented DX operations. The
annoying thing is that, in the history of DXCC, I am the only DX operator
who has ever been asked, retroactively, to supply such documents as ships'
papers,and the first to have an operation questioned on the basis of whether
I had a right to be in a particular place at a particular time. Never before
has any DX operation been discredited on this basis. Therefore, the thought
that these "rules" are being applied to all DXpeditions, is a mere fantasy!
In fact, an operation from Tibet was unquestioned by the Committee after ARRL
President Hoover told the Directors that entry into that country without pass-
port validation was strictly illegal and after I gave Mr. Huntoon the Original
of a letter from the State Department backing this up; Operations from XE4,
AC4, PY0, and several from Africa and the Caribbean areas, even when the
operators had admitted violations and asked that these be discredited, were
ignored; Ours, however, continued to be discredited, against the wishes of
the Directors, without consulting me, and by ignoring whatever evidence I was
able to present, even retroactively.
For these reasons, the ARRL Matter is now being handled by my attorney and
suit will be filed if necessary; this was done only as a last resort and after
all else failed and the Directors' decisions reversed and the agreement broken.
B. Particular South American DXer, particular Editor, Etc., Claiming certain operations
were illegal, Etc. Hardly worth mentioning; passport shows, quite clearly,
entry and exit into and out of areas, operating licenses and permits have been
available upon request for many months; What really upsets me is that some of
these operations involved a great deal of work by Chuck Swain and Ted Thorpe,
who gave their lives needlessly for such ungrateful individuals. Please
consider the source.
15. This should bring you up to date with the FACTS. There remain a total of five possible DX
operations from the Indian Ocean area and four en route back to the USA.
Two will most definitely qualify as new countries for DXCC; a third may also.
Another four are also in the "top ten" most wanted DX countries. We are here,
with adequate gear and transportation, but cannot continue further without your
help and support. Believe me, it has been quite a struggle all the way through,
and I would hate to call it quits without visiting these remaining countries.
Please return the enclosed envelope as soon as possible; give us your ideas
and suggestions and whatever support you can - with adequate donations we will
continue; otherwise, it's 73. In a few weeks we'll let you know the outcome and
decision.
Best 73, and good DXing!
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