THE HORSE THIEVES AMONG US!

[Fat Man]

OK, what I'm about to say is probably way off topic. If so, then my apologies to the forum moderators in advance.

But read on, because this will get back on topic again.

So, let us begin.

We're now going to start here by going way way way back in time, back to about perhaps 120 to 150 years ago, back to the days of The Wild Wild West, back to the frontier days, back to the good ol' cowboy era.

Back in the day when they use to hang horse thieves!

Now, if you were a bank robber, or a stage coach robber (highway man), or a train robber, then most likely you would not get hanged. That is, not unless you shot and killed anyone during the robbery, then you would get hanged, but not for the robbery itself, but for killing someone. Otherwise, if caught, and you hadn't killed anyone during the robbery, then you would only go to prison.

But if you steal a man's horse, then you would hang!

Back then, a horse would probably cost about $10 to $20 dollars, or more if it was a good breed. The saddle sometimes would cost more than the horse itself.

Yeah, I remember a hearing an old song that goes "With a $10 dollar horse and a $20 dollar saddle, I'm gonna be punching Texas cattle" or some shit like that.

Anyway . . . . .

Now, doesn't it sound rather strange, that if you robbed a million dollars from a bank, you would only go to prison if caught (providing you didn't kill anyone) but you would hang for only stealing a $20 dollar horse?

You probably won't get hanged for only stealing a man's saddle, even though it might cost more than his horse. You'll only go to jail for that.

But you will hang for stealing his horse!

Now, you might ask, why is that?

Well, there is actually a perfectly good and logical reason why this was so. It makes perfect sense.

Imagine if you will, that you are a lone prospector way out in the middle the desert or some wilderness somewhere far far away from civilization, and the nearest town is over 30 miles away. You're all alone out in the desert, and your only companion is your horse.

Your horse is very important to you, because your horse is loaded with all of your supplies, your food and canteens of water, your tools, your extra guns, and your extra ammo for your guns, etc. etc. all that you will need to survive out there alone in the wilderness.

Now, imagine that while you're dismounted from your horse, and you are out there walking around prospecting for gold, when suddenly you hear your horse galloping away! You turn around to see what's happening, and you see that someone has stolen your horse with all of your supplies, and he's now way off in the distance.

And now, you are all alone with no food, only one canteen of water on your hip, your only gun on your other hip, and left with only six bullets in your gun and some bullets in your holster belt.

That would really suck! Oh yes indeed! The suck factor is now very high!

So, without your horse, you would have to try to hike back across the desert, and back to civilization. You might be able to go a few days without food, but out in the desert, you will not last very long without water.

Men have died out in the wilderness when their horses had been stolen from them.

That is why they use to hang horse thieves!

OK, now let us return back to the present time, back to the here and now, here today in the 21st Century, the year 2010 in the present.

Today, we no longer need to depend on horses for our survival. Today, we drive around in motor cars, or what people a hundred years ago would call horseless carriages. Yeah, we now travel about in chariots with nary a horse! . . . . . ("nary" an old 16th century word that means, none, or without.)

And of course, today, cars do get stolen by car thieves, but we don't execute car thieves, because you won't die just simply because your car has been stolen.

We now live in a very complex modern world, and these days, getting a good education is absolutely essential if you are to have any prospects for gainful employment.

OK, now we're getting back on topic again.

Without a decent education, you will probably be stuck in some low paying job, assuming if you're lucky enough to get any kind of job at all. Without a good education, you will most likely end up living in poverty, and being in poor health, which can sometimes be life threatening.

Of course, if you're strong and athletic, you could probably pursue a career in sports. For example: a football player can make a few million dollars a year just chasing a ball, and it doesn't take any brains to play football, or any sport.

But for those of us who are nonathletic, pursuing sports in not an option. You either have to study hard in school, and hit the books, or else, you may have to settle for some low paying menial job, or else, having to go on welfare or perhaps getting a disability pension which barely keeps you alive from one monthly check to the next. Really not much of a life at all.

Now, for me, sports was not an option.

When I was only 4 years old, I was in a car accident and my left knee was injured. It hurt most of time, and as a result, I was not able to run like the other children and I could only walk with a limp. *

So, when I was in school, I was lousy at sports and I did not do very well in my PE classes. But I did just fine in all of my academic classes. I made passing grades in reading, science, art, history, geography, etc. etc. I was only lousy in PE.

But I really didn't care for sports anyway, and even if I didn't have a crippled up left knee, I might have done better in my PE classes, but sports was not what I cared about.

I was more interested in science. Astronomy has always been my favorite subject, so I really enjoyed reading and studying science, instead of sports.

But because of my crippled left knee, sports was never an option, so the only way I was going to make it in this world would be to study hard and hit the books.

When I was going to school, I had plans for my future.

Now, I know I had mentioned this several times before, but here we go again!

My mother taught me how to read and write before I even started school. By the time I was only in the 3rd grade, I was already reading at the high school level and the adult level. When I was 13 years old I scored 150 points on a standard IQ test.

I remember when I read my first book on Astronomy. I was in the 2ed grade. I can even remember the title of the book. A True Book of The Sun, Moon, And Stars. It was one of many of The True Book series. There was one about airplanes, another book on dinosaurs, etc. etc. I also enjoyed reading books on dinosaurs, all kinds of books on science, and I liked maps. I collected maps. But Astronomy was my favorite subject.

After reading my first book on Astronomy, I was hooked. I wanted to read more.

Back then, I lived in a small town up in Minnesota and the elementary and high school were together in the same building. During my 1st, 2ed, and 3rd grade, I did have some good teachers who encouraged my interest in science. Our class would go to the library once each week, and eventually, when I was in the 3rd grade I had read most of the Astronomy books at the elementary level and my teacher let me check out Astronomy books at the high school level.

So, my first 3 years in school was OK. But it was during my 4th grade that things started going down hill for me. As I had mentioned before, the first time I got suspended from school was in the 4th grade because I had failed to climb a rope in the gymnasium. Never mind that I was doing well in my academic classes. Never mind that I had a crippled left knee. That was no excuse! I got suspend for failing PE.

My 4th grade PE coach had me suspended from school just because I failed to climb the rope.

He was my first horse thief!!!

You see, for me sports was not an option. I had to hit the books, and make good grades in science and math and my other academic subjects if I was to have any hope for my future.

Getting a decent education. That was my horse! That is what I needed to survive in the future.

When I was in the 5th grade, as I had mentioned so many times before in these forums, my 5th grade teacher who was really Gung Ho when it came to sports liked to humiliate me in front of the other students in the gym during PE class. We were playing basketball, and I dropped the ball during the game, and he picked up the ball and punched me in the stomach as hard as he could. I was doubled over in pain, and it seemed like an eternity before I could catch my breath again.

Then one day we went to the library, and while all the other students were allowed to check out any book they wanted, I was not! I saw this Astronomy book that I wanted to check out and he would not allow me to have it. We got into an argument. He then dragged me out into the hallway and pushed me back against the wall, bashing my head against the corner of the concrete block wall. I got really dizzy and nearly blacked out.

The following year, the teacher was fired and could not get a teaching job anywhere else, but the damage was already done. For years afterward I would have headaches and dizzy spells which gradually became less intense during my teenage years.

My 5th grade teacher was another horse thief! He stole my horsey!

When I was 13 years old our family moved down from Minnesota to a small town in New Mexico back in April of 1965. My mother had asthma and moving down to a warmer and dryer climate was much better for her. The cold winters were too much for her, and she would probably not have survived another winter. So, I like to think that my mother lived another 20 years longer than she would have if we had remained up north.

I was in the 7th grade. Again my troubles started in PE class. One day we learning wrestling, so the mats were set up on the floor of the gym. Before we even started our lessons this one guy who was much taller than I was, and much stronger came up behind me and jumped on me, knocking me down to the floor. He had both of my arms behind my back and refused to let go.

Then the coach said, "OK, he's had enough, you may let go of him now" and then the coach jumped on me. At the time I only weighed about 140 pounds and he weighed about 250 pounds. He was pinching the nerves in the back of my neck and I felt tingly all over. I was really scared. After he let go, I took off across the gym, and he told me to come back and I told him to go to Hell!!!

No way was I going to come back so that he could finish working me over again! Forget that!!!

He then ran across the gym after me, and dragged me to the principal's office. When I explained to the principal what had happened that I did not start the fight, at first he was going to have the other student suspended for a couple of days. But the coach sucked up for him saying that he was one of his best basketball players and track runners and pole vaulters. Yeah! An all around super jock, so I got suspended instead.

It was three years before I was allowed to go to school again!

So, the coach and the principal were a couple more horse thieves! They stole my horse!

The following year, we moved down from that rinky-dink two-bit little town to Las Cruces New Mexico. Before we moved down, my mother was advised by the school principal that I was in need of some kind of psychological counseling before I would be allowed back in school again, so when we moved to Las Cruces, I went for sessions at Dona Ana Mental Health, and then I had classes during the morning hours at a day care center. There were a couple of guys my age, but most were much younger. I was held back academically. The text books were at 3rd to 4th grade level and I was in the 7th grade before my three year suspension from school. It was like being back in Kindergarten again!

I kept asking them if they could provide text books at the 7th grade level but they refused. Also for the next three years I was being told that I was still not ready to return to school, that I had to continue going to the day canter. I was there for 3 hours every morning, then I would ride my bike home.

I stayed in the house most of the day because at the ages of 14, 15, and 16 years old because I was ashamed of being out of school and didn't want to be seen in public. Then after about 4:00 PM in the afternoon when school was out for the "normal" children, then I would go out. *

One day about a couple of months after we moved down to Las Cruces, I took the initiative to go to the public library and I got my own library card. Then I would check out books from the library to take home. I even want to the library at NMSU, New Mexico State University and got a library card there as well. Since I wasn't a student there, I could only check out a maximum of three books on each subject, for example: three Astronomy books, or three physics books, or three books on math, etc. etc. Well, that was OK with me as long as I could check out books.

Ah! But when my councilors at Dona Ana Mental Health found out I was going to the public library and the University library to check out books to bring home, they got all pissed off about that, and my mother spoke out in my defense, because she had always encouraged me to read, and as long as bringing home library books made me happy that was fine with her. So she really told them off!

At the day center, they tried to shove sports down my throat. Just because I had misspelled one lousy word in a test I was no longer allowed to attend classes, and they handed me a basketball and told me to go outside and play. Also they were concerned about my weight because during those three years I went up from 150 pounds to about 230 pounds at the age of 16 years.

My counselors knew absolutely nothing about psychology. They were just a bunch of rich housewives who wanted something to do with their time so their husbands got them jobs as counselors at Dona Ana Mental Health, and of course, the shrinko prescribed tranquilizers to keep me more docile and submissive. It also made me more sensitive to the sun so I stayed indoors most of the time. Eventually I refused to take the tranks anymore.

So, for three years, I was denied a decent education. My counselors and the shrinkos at Dona Ana Mental Health were a gang or horse thieves who again stole my horsey!

Then finally, after three years I was informed that I was ready to go back to school again. There was a three year gap from the time I was in the 7th grade in Junior High School to being in the 10th grade as a sophomore in High School. During those three years I was held back at the 4th grade level, so most of my education was from reading library books checked out from the public library and the University library.

Well, my high school turned out to be just another glorified Kindergarten!

As I had mentioned many times before in these forums, my science teacher was also the schools football coach and during football season he was too busy coaching his team to be teaching in the classroom, so instead, he would set up the movie projector and walk out of the classroom leaving us all sitting in the dark to watch a bunch of cartoons! That was my science class! I wanted to learn science, DAMN IT!!!

In my literature class all we did was play Charades, another stupid childish game. I didn't learn jack shit in my high school.

The only thing I learned in high school was how to play Charades and how to fold paper footballs!

My science teacher, and most of my other teachers, they were horse thieves!

Then I was approached by a couple of guys peddling dope, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with the drug scene. They would not stop harassing me, so I asked my student councilor for advice, which was of course, to turn them in.

After that, I was harassed even more. One day as I entered my art class, the paintings I had been working on were destroyed and my life was even threatened, so I had to leave high school.

That was back in 1969 when I was 17 years old.

Soon afterward I had an emotional and mental breakdown and spent three weeks in a mental hospital where patients were often beaten including myself and one night I was raped by an older man.

When I came home I was in a deep depression, and when I was seeking some kind of psychological counseling none of the shrinks believed me. Back in the 1960s and 1970s nobody believed that a guy could get raped.

Since I never got a high school diploma I studied at home for my GED test, and then I spent 2 weeks living in a dormitory at the University at Roswell New Mexico to take my GED test, which I passed with flying colors! I was told that a GED certificate is just as good, if not better than a high school diploma.

I tried going back to school again and I took Astronomy and Physics classes at NMSU, New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. The DVR, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation covered the cost or my tuition.

Of course, since I didn't learn any math in high school because they didn't teach jack shit, I took two math class, Algebra Review and Geometry Review which were high school level courses, and I mad a B in both math classes. Then the following semester I took some Trigonometry courses and made a B in each one. I also made an A+ in both of my Astronomy classes, but I made I a D in physics because I didn't know Trigonometry, which I should have learned in high school, so I took Trigonometry the following semester. I love Trigonometry, it's actually a lot of fun.

I attended NMSU from September 1975 to May 1978 and took the summer semesters off because I needed a few months vacation to relax. But I never completed my degree. I was under a lot of emotional stress suffering from anxiety and depression.

Every time I tried going back to school again, I could not complete my courses.

For years afterward I had my usual mood swings, and being unable to cope with stress. But in recent years, I have been diagnosed with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

So I admit it! I'm all screwed up in my head. I have had to deal with mental health issues all of my life.

The quality of education has been steadily going down hill in our high schools.

The chart below shows how American Schools compare to schools overseas.



The next picture below depicts what I'm afraid the future holds for many high school graduates in the good ol' USA!



Yes, the PE coaches and many of our teacher are horse thieves, stealing the future of our young people because of the ever-declining quality of education in our schools. The academic curriculum has been "dumbed down" to make it easier for jocks to get passing grades so that any monkey-boy who can only read at the second grade level can play football or basketball in college.

HORSE THIEVES ALL OF THEM! DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!!



We need to start hanging the horse thieves again . . . . .

. . . . . on a short rope with their toes just barely touching the ground!!!

----------------------------------------
* I did some re-editing on this topic. I'm NOT going to use the word "Kid" anymore. From now on, I'm going to say, "child" or "children" and NOT "kids" anymore. That's because "kids" are baby goats. Young humans are children. Parents are raising children, and NOT goats! We need to break out of our redneck culture, and I'm starting by re-editing ALL of my past forum posts.

[Earl]

This is one of those "Words fail me" situations. This post truly is one of your most eloquent. Indeed, perhaps your best. A nation that fails to cultivate the brightest minds among its children is a nation in decline, yet in this country children with the brightest intellects are often bullied and neglected. What a travesty! For the record, I've gotten to know Fat Man personally since I started posting at this website last year; and I consider him to be a close friend of mine. The events he has described in this post were not the only tragedies in his life. One of the reasons why I have no patience with those who see nothing wrong with the traditional approach to mandatory P.E. with its mindless emphasis upon sports and nothing but sports (in other words, no physical fitness programs for the nonathletic kids) is because the traditional approach has resulted in nothing less than CHILD ABUSE. The lives of children have been scarred or ruined, and for what end? Just ask Fat Man, greencom, i_like_1981, and other members of this forum. The claim that I often heard as a child that the purpose of mandatory P.E. was to promote fitness and health, especially for those who really were physically unfit, was always a HYPOCRITICAL LIE. It was NEVER about physical fitness. It was only about sports; but the nonathletic kids (many, if not most, of whom didn't even have an interest in sports) had this garbage forced down their throats anyway, even though it did them no good! AND TO WHAT END? Just so we could make sports fans happy (with a large dose of anti-intellectualism thrown in for good measure). If "Physical Education" (which should have been given the designation "Sports Propagation") had not been mandatory, none of this abuse would have happened. Fat Man would be an astronomer today (instead of an invalid living on disability) who probably wouldn't bother posting at this website. In fact, as the critics of this website should take note, very likely this website would not even exist.

[Fat Man]

This is one of those "Words fail me" situations. This post truly is one of your most eloquent. Indeed, perhaps your best. A nation that fails to cultivate the brightest minds among its children is a nation in decline, yet in this country children with the brightest intellects are often bullied and neglected. What a travesty! For the record, I've gotten to know Fat Man personally since I started posting at this website last year; and I consider him to be a close friend of mine. The events he has described in this post were not the only tragedies in his life. One of the reasons why I have no patience with those who see nothing wrong with the traditional approach to mandatory P.E. with its mindless emphasis upon sports and nothing but sports (in other words, no physical fitness programs for the nonathletic kids) is because the traditional approach has resulted in nothing less than CHILD ABUSE. The lives of children have been scarred or ruined, and for what end? Just ask Fat Man, greencom, i_like_1981, and other members of this forum. The claim that I often heard as a child that the purpose of mandatory P.E. was to promote fitness and health, especially for those who really were physically unfit, was always a HYPOCRITICAL LIE. It was NEVER about physical fitness. It was only about sports; but the nonathletic kids (many, if not most, of whom didn't even have an interest in sports) had this garbage forced down their throats anyway, even though it did them no good! AND TO WHAT END? Just so we could make sports fans happy (with a large dose of anti-intellectualism thrown in for good measure). If "Physical Education" (which should have been given the designation "Sports Propagation") had not been mandatory, none of this abuse would have happened. Fat Man would be an astronomer today (instead of an invalid living on disability) who probably wouldn't bother posting at this website. In fact, as the critics of this website should take note, very likely this website would not even exist.

Good evening Earl.

I remember back in the early 1960s when I was in the 4th and 5th grades when President Kennedy during one of his speeches he had announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and bring him safely back again before the end of the decade.

Well, we did! We went to the moon!

I remember back in July of 1969 when the Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Niel Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon.

Back in the early 1960s, when President Kennedy made that announcement about going to the moon, you would think that it would cause our schools across the country to place an increased emphasis on science and math, and to encourage young people to become more interested in science.

But no!

I remember about a year or so later, hearing about the President's Council on Physical Fitness when President Kennedy just had to shoot off his big mouth about Americans being out of shape and suggesting people go on 50 mile hikes.

http://www.fitness.gov/about_history.htm

Administration: John F. Kennedy
Date: 1961-63

Chair:
Charles (Bud) Wilkinson,
Consultant to the President on Physical Fitness,
1961-63.

Richard Swider,
Council Administrator

Event/Program:

President Kennedy changes the name to the President's Council on Physical Fitness to address all age groups. The President amended the Executive Order by one objective - enlisting the aid of citizens, civic groups, etc. With the aid of the Advertising Council, Inc., a nationwide public service advertising campaign was launched. President Kennedy 'walks the talk' taking the 50 mile hikes. State demonstration centers were designed in 1961 to showcase model elementary and secondary schools. In that same year, President Kennedy speaks at the Conference on Physical Fitness of Youth. Regional clinics and educational films are initiated.

And here's some more!

http://knol.google.com/k/the-50-mile-hike-phenomenon#

The 50-Mile Hike Phenomenon
A Look Back at the New Frontier of Fitness

In 1963, during the end of the Kennedy administration, a strange fad quickly grabbed the nation's attention. Based partly on a genuine concern for the public's fitness and partly on a dare, the nation briefly took to the streets in record numbers. Most walked like they never had before and would never do again.

Most of us learn to live comfortably within our limits but occasionally we like to test where our boundaries lie. When presented with a difficult physical challenge, we might assume that only someone with extraordinary motivation and self-confidence could pull it off. However, there are situations where, conditions being right, a small spark can ignite a huge fire. Given the right set of circumstances, even average people can reach well beyond their limits and achieve something they never thought possible.



Such was a moment 45 years ago, when John F. Kennedy (JFK) announced that an endurance test of walking 50 miles be performed by U.S. servicemen to prove they were in ready military condition. To everyone's amazement, a willing public took up the challenge and extreme walking quickly became a national obsession. This is the tale of what happened as a challenge-hungry country, for a time, took physical fitness somewhat seriously.

Yeah! Too fucking bad that the USA didn't take education in science and math more seriously!

Kennedy just had to shoot of his big mouth about physical fitness and 50 mile hikes, and right away, all the PE coaches in our schools thought that it was their patriotic duty to whip the students into shape, buy humiliating and beating up anyone in the gymnasiums who were no good at sports.

That is when the quality of education in our schools started going down into the crapper.

Too fucking bad that low-life scum-bag mutha fucker, President Kennedy, didn't get shot before he shot off his big mouth about physical fitness and 50 mile hikes!

Yeah! With my crippled up left knee, like, I was suppose to go out on a 50 mile hike, limping all the way!

YEAH RIGHT! Like, that was going to happen!!!

Then one day, back in the 1980s while I was watching the NEWS on TV, I heard about a German rocket engineer named Arthur Rudolph who was involved in the development of the Saturn V booster rocket for the Apollo moon missions, and that he was a Nazi war criminal!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rudolph

Arthur Rudolph
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (November 9, 1906 â?? January 1, 1996) was a German rocket engineer who helped develop and produce the V-2 rocket. After World War II he was brought into the United States and worked for the U.S. Army and NASA where he managed the development of several important systems including the Pershing missile and the Saturn V Moon rocket. In 1984 he was investigated for possible war crimes and was forced to renounce his United States citizenship.



Early life

Rudolph was born in Stepfershausen, Meiningen, Germany in 1906. His family were farmers, with a long tradition in the area. His father Gustav died in 1915 while serving during World War I and Arthur and his younger brother Walter were raised by their mother, Ida. When Ida noted that young Arthur had a mechanical gift, she decided that he should attend technical training, while Walter inherited the family farm.

From 1921 on, Rudolph attended the technical school in Schmalkalden for three years. In 1924 he found employment at a factory for silver goods in Bremen. In August 1927 he accepted a job at Stock & Co. in Berlin. After a few months, he became a toolmaker at Fritz Werner in Berlin. In 1928 he attended the Technical College of Berlin (now the Technical University of Berlin), graduating in 1930 with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.

Berlin

On May 1, 1930, Rudolph began working for the Heylandt Works in Berlin where he met rocketry pioneer Max Valier. Valier had use of the factory grounds for his experiments in rocketry and Rudolph became interested, working with Valier in his spare time along with Walter Riedel. Rudolph already had some interest in rocketry, having read Wege zur Raumschiffahrt (Ways to Spaceflight) by Hermann Oberth and having seen the film Woman in the Moon.

On May 27, an experimental engine exploded and killed Valier. Dr. Paulus Heylandt forbade further rocket research, but Rudolph continued secretly with Riedel and Alfons Pietsch. Rudolph then developed an improved and safer version of Valier's engine while Pietsch designed a rocket car. Dr. Heylandt conceded to back the project, and the "Heylandt Rocket Car" was born and was exhibited at Tempelhof Aerodrome. While it was a technical success, the fuel costs were greater than the admissions received and performances were discontinued. Rudolph joined the Nazi Party in 1931, then later the SA Reserve for a short period.

Rudolph first met Wernher von Braun when he visited a meeting of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR, the "Spaceflight Society"). In May 1932 Rudolph was laid off and looking for work when he encountered Pietsch. After forming a partnership Rudolph began design on a new engine, while Pietsch looked for a backer. Pietsch met with Walter Dornberger, who had been tasked by the German Ordnance Department to develop a rocket weapons system and had become interested in the VfR.

After demonstrating the new engine to Dornberger, Rudolph moved to the proving grounds at Kummersdorf along with Riedel, and began working under von Braun. Rudolph's engine was used in the Aggregate series of rockets. In December 1934, the von Braun team successfully launched two A-2 rockets from the island of Borkum. Arthur Rudolph married Martha Therese Kohls (b. July 5, 1905) on October 3, 1935 in Berlin. Static testing on the A-3 engines began in Kummersdorf in late 1936 and were observed by General Werner von Fritsch, the commander-in chief of the German Army High Command.

V-2

The Kummersdorf facilities were inadequate for continued operations, so the von Braun team was moved to Peenemünde in May 1937 where Rudolph was tasked with the building of the A-3 test stand. The Rudolphs lived in nearby Zinnowitz, where their daughter, Marianne Erika, was born on November 26, 1937. The A-3 series was plagued with guidance problems and never proved successful. In early 1938, Dornberger put Rudolph in charge of the design for the new production plant to be built at Peenemünde for the A-4 series, which was later named the V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2 or Reprisal Weapon 2). In August 1943â?? as Rudolph was ready to begin production of the V-2â?? the British bombed Peenemünde. Martha and Marianne Rudolph were evacuated and went to live with Ida Rudolph in Stepfershausen.

The V-2 production facility was moved to the Mittelwerk facility near Nordhausen. Mittelwerk was originally a gypsum mine that was being used as a storage facility and was being excavated for production facilities. The labor force consisted of prisoners who were eventually housed at the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Rudolph was in charge of moving the equipment from Peenemünde to Mittelwerk, working under Albin Sawatzki. After the plant was in place, Rudolph was placed in charge of the V-2 production. Sawatzki decreed that fifty V-2 rockets were to be produced in December. Given the labor and parts issues, Rudolph was barely able to produce four rockets that were later returned from Peenemünde as defective. In 1944, Himmler convinced Hitler to put the V-2 project directly under SS control, and in August replaced Dornberger with SS General Hans Kammler as its director. In January 1945 the SS ordered all of the civilians and prisoners, including Rudolph and his team, to attend a public hanging of several prisoners accused of sabotage. By March 1945, production had stopped due to a lack of parts and Rudolph and his staff were moved to Oberammergau where they met von Braun and others from Peenemünde. They finally surrendered to the U.S. Army and were transported to Garmisch.

U.S. Army

From July to October 1945, Rudolph was transferred to the British to participate in Operation Backfire. He was then transferred back to the Americans. The U.S. Army picked up Martha and Marianne Rudolph from Stepfershausen before it was occupied by the Red Army and the Rudolphs were reunited at Camp Overcast near Landshut. In November 1945, Operation Overcast brought Rudolph, von Braun and the rest of the V-2 team temporarily to the US for six months. After President Truman approved Operation Paperclip in August 1946 most of the group stayed permanently.

After a brief interrogation at Fort Strong, the team was sent to White Sands Proving Grounds to work on further V-2 engineering in January 1946. In January 1947 Rudolph was moved to the Ordnance Research and Development Division at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, where his family finally joined him in April. Since he had been brought into the US without a visa, he and others were sent to Juárez, Mexico where he obtained a visa and officially immigrated to the U.S. on April 14, 1949. During his time at Fort Bliss, he acted as a liaison to the Solar Aircraft Company, and spent much of 1947 and 1949 in San Diego, California.


German Rocket Team at Fort Bliss,
Texas, August 1946; Rudolph is in
the front row, fourth from the left

During a 1949 inquiry by the FBI, Rudolph made the following statement on his participation in the Nazi party:

"Until 1930 I sympathized with the social democratic party, voted for it and was a member of a socialdemocratic union (Bund Techn. Agst. u. Beamt.) After 1930 the economical situation became so serious that it appeared to me to be headed for catastrophe. (I really became unemployed in 1932.) The great amount of unemployment caused expansion of nationalsoc. and communistic parties. Frightened that the latter one would become the government I Joined the NSDAP (a legally reg. entity) to help, I believed in the preservation of the western culture."

On June 25, 1950 Rudolph was transferred to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, and his group was re-designated as the Ordnance Guided Missile Center. He was naturalized as an American citizen on November 11, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1950 Rudolph was appointed as the technical director for the Redstone missile project. Rudolph was assigned as the project manager for the Pershing missile project in 1956. He specifically selected The Martin Company as the prime contractor for the program. He also chose the Eclipse-Pioneer division of Bendix to develop the guidance system after he personally inspected the plant in Teterboro, New Jersey.

Rudolph received an honorary doctorate of science degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida on February 23, 1959. He received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award, the highest Army award for civilians, for his work on Pershing.

NASA

Although von Braun and his team had been transferred to NASA in 1960, Rudolph stayed with ABMA to continue critical work on Pershing. In 1961 he finally moved to NASA, once again working for von Braun. He became the assistant director of systems engineering, serving as liaison between vehicle development at Marshall Space Flight Center and the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. He later became the project director of the Saturn V rocket program in August 1963. He developed the requirements for the rocket system and the mission plan for the Apollo program. The first Saturn V launch lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and performed flawlessly on November 9, 1967, Rudolph's birthday. He was then assigned as the special assistant to the director of MSFC in May 1968 and then retired from NASA on January 1, 1969. During his tenure he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V launched Apollo 11, putting man on the Moon.


The first Saturn V,
AS-501, before the
launch of Apollo 4

OSI investigation and controversy

The Rudolphs retired to San Jose, California to be near their daughter. Soon after moving, he had a heart attack and a triple bypass. In September 1982, he received a letter requesting an interview by the Office of Special Investigations (OSI). Rudolph believed this was one of the series of interrogations he had gone through since his arrival in the U.S. The first of three interviews, it centered on his attitudes on racial superiority, his early participation in the Nazi Party and a possible role in the treatment of prisoners at Mittelwerk. On November 28, 1983, Rudolph, purportedly under duress and fearful for the welfare of his wife and daughter, signed an agreement with the OSI stating that he would leave the United States and renounce his United States citizenship. Under the agreement, Rudolph would not be prosecuted, the citizenship of his wife and daughter was not in danger of revocation and Rudolph's retirement and Social Security benefits were left intact. In March 1984 Arthur and Martha Rudolph departed for Germany where Rudolph renounced his citizenship as agreed. Germany protested to the United States Department of State, as Rudolph now had no citizenship in any country. In July, Germany requested documentation from the OSI to determine if Rudolph should be prosecuted or granted citizenship. The World Jewish Congress placed articles in newspapers in January 1985 on behalf of the Department of Justice, searching for survivors of the Mittelwerk.

After receiving documentation in April 1985, the case was investigated by Harald Duhn, the Attorney General of Hamburg. In March 1987, the investigation concluded after questioning a number of witnesses and determining no basis for prosecution. Rudolph was then granted German citizenship.

Meanwhile, a great deal of controversy occurred back in the U.S. Rudolph had not told his friends of the investigation, but the OSI made a news release after his departure. Several groups and individuals were calling for an investigation into the OSI's activities regarding Rudolph. These included retired Major General John Medaris (former commander of ABMA), officials of the city of Huntsville, the American Legion and former associates at NASA. Thomas Franklin interviewed Rudolph and wrote a series of articles in the Huntsville News that questioned the OSI investigationâ?? these were later used as the basis for An American in Exile: The Story of Arthur Rudolph.

In 1985, Representative Bill Green of New York introduced a bill to strip Rudolph of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) and re-introduced it in 1987. Rudolph applied for a visa in 1989 to attend a 20th anniversary celebration of the first Moon landing, but was denied by the State Department. In May 1990, the United States House of Representatives ordered hearings to determine whether the OSI was negligent in not pursuing the prosecution, or if it had violated the rights of Arthur Rudolph. In July the Rudolphs entered Canada for a reunion with their daughter. Since the OSI had placed Rudolph on a watch list, he was detained and left Canada of his own accord. Neo-Nazi Ernst Zündel and Paul Fromm attempted to support Rudolph with demonstrations. After Rudolph left, an immigration hearing was held in his absence; he was represented by Barbara Kulaszka, but Canadian authorities ruled that he could not return to Canada. Rudolph sued to regain his U.S. citizenship, but the case was dismissed in 1993.

Arthur Rudolph died in Hamburg on January 1, 1996 from heart failure. In November, Martha Rudolph wrote to Henry Hyde, then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. She stated that her husband had signed the agreement after coercion and duress by the OSI and that she was dismayed by the House resolutions to strip her husband of the DSM. Rudolph continued to be defended by Pat Buchanan, Lyndon LaRouche and Friedwardt Winterberg.

References in popular culture

The character of Hans Udet in the novel Voyage by Stephen Baxter is based on Rudolph. Udet is described as a senior member of von Braun's V-2 team at the Mittelwerk and as the director of the Saturn V project. Near the end of the novel Udet faces charges on war crimes, renounces his citizenship and returns to Germany.

The character of Franz Bettmann in the film The Good German, described as the chief production engineer of the V2, is in part based on Rudolph.

Rudolph was portrayed by Christopher Shaw in the stage play Apollo, written by Nancy Keystone. Apollo premiered at Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon on January 13, 2009.

Rudolph's name is linked to several conspiracy theories, particularly UFOs and Area 51.

Yeah! Now, I just love this!

Back in the 1960s, this Fascist Nazi scum-bag piece of dog shit, this misbegotten bastard spawn of a sewer slug, Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph was working on the Saturn V booster for the Apollo moon rocket.

I was once proud that we went to the moon, but after hearing, back in 1984, about how one of the rocket engineers who worked on the Saturn V booster was a scum-bag Nazi war criminal, I was sadly disappointed and very angry! I was so pissed off that I fell to the living room floor, pounding my fist on the carpet and screaming out DAMN US ALL TO HELL! DAMN US ALL TO HELL! Then I broke down and cried as my mother tried to comfort me.

I wished that I were rich enough to buy a plane ticket, track down that Nazi piece of shit, Arthur Rudolph, cut his head off and put it in a great big jar of formaldehyde, pack it in a box, and mail it back to the top officials in NASA!

I mean, like, REALLY!!!

Why in the fucking Hell can't we Americans better educate our own children in science and math so they can become rocket engineers instead of having to import Nazi scum?

And so, during the 1960s, this low-life piece of human garbage, Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph was working on the Saturn V booster.

Meanwhile, in a small town up in Northern Minnesota, an innocent 11 year old boy (myself) was getting his head bashed against the corner of a concrete block wall by a 5th grade teacher who did not want him to check out an Astronomy book from the school library.

Yeah! A piece of human garbage like Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph can work on a moon rocket for NASA, but I was not even allowed to read about science and Astronomy!

Back in the 1950s and the 1960s, the USA decided that we didn't need to educate our school children in science and math, that it was too expensive to supply a chemistry, physics, or biology labs with new equipment, that it was much cheaper to put up some new basketball hoops and buy new football helmets and jerseys and teach our children sports, because we can always import more rocket scientists from Nazi Land!

Thanks to President Kennedy, that traitorous dog, with his recommendations of 50 mile hikes, the USA decided that PE and sports was more important, that athletics were more important than academics.

Then in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the USA decided that it was cheaper to import techno-geeks from overseas to keep the wheels of our modern complex technological society turning.

Oh! How I wish that President Kennedy had got his shit-for-brains blown away before he opened his big mouth about the 50 mile hikes!

The Kennedy family is morally corrupt. I'll bet you all dollars to donuts that the Chappaquiddick incident back in 1969 in which Mary Jo Kopechne drowned when the car driven by Edward "Ted" Kennedy went off the bridge was no accident! He probably raped her and beat her unconscious and then he pushed his car off the bridge so she would drown and there would be no witness against him.

The Kennedys should have their children taken away to be raised by foster parents with much higher moral values and all of the adult members of that whole rotten Kennedy clan should be put on trial for high treason, and if found guilty in a court of law they should all get the firing squad!

BANG! BANG!

No blindfold and no last cigarette!

The only reason why the USA beat the former Soviet Union to the moon was because we had . . . . . . .

THE REICH STUFF!!!

----------------------------------------
* I did some re-editing on this topic. I'm NOT going to use the word "Kid" anymore. From now on, I'm going to say, "child" or "children" and NOT "kids" anymore. That's because "kids" are baby goats. Young humans are children. Parents are raising children, and NOT goats! We need to break out of our redneck culture, and I'm starting by re-editing ALL of my past forum posts.

[THEBAWSMAN]

COOL STORY FAT FAGGOT

[Fat Man]

COOL STORY FAT FAGGOT

Why, thank you!

Glad you liked it!

Stick around little boy while Papa tells you some more really cool stories!

[THEBAWSMAN]

COOL STORY FAT FAGGOT

Why, thank you!

Glad you liked it!

Stick around little boy while Papa tells you some more really cool stories!

Sure is fat pedophile in here

[Fat Man]

COOL STORY FAT FAGGOT

Why, thank you!

Glad you liked it!

Stick around little boy while Papa tells you some more really cool stories!

Sure is fat pedophile in here

Look who's talking!

We all know that you sports fans get all turned on by seeing football players running around in tight pants or seeing basketball players in baggy shorts!

By the way, sports was invented over 2,500 years ago by rich old men who liked to butt-bang little boys and athletic young men.

That's why the ancient Greek culture went into decline.