Von Braun in Purgatory

[Richard Romeo]

Here is the full-text from Noble Savage, #2. pp.5-6. 1960:

"Werner Von Braun, Director, Development Operations Division, Army Ballistic 
Agency, has written an article for This Week, which the Sunday supplement 
called "one of the most inspiring articles on the subject you will ever 
read."  The subject was 'Why Should America Conquer Space?' and the 
conclusion is that knowledge is uplifting to the spirit, potentially 
profitable, and provides one of the frontiers at which we meet the Chinese 
and the Russians.  Among the insights with which Mr. von Braun inspired his 
readers was a local color joke about how 'space is a pretty big place--they 
say it is even bigger than Texas and Alaska.'  And he quoted Winston 
Churchill on the space challenge:  'All he could offer them was blood, 
sweat, and tears,' remarking that this remark got remarked 'during the last 
war, when I was on the other side.'
It is tempting to exhibit more of the quality of his inspiring words, such 
as:  'Dark clouds are rapidly moving up.  I fear it is later than we think.  
I am profoundly worried as to what has happended to the American frontier 
spirit.'
Along the way of making his argument, Mr. von Braun also recalled the days 
when he was head of the Nazi rocket program, still regaling his readers with 
an account of 'what I thought was a ringing appeal for a determined U.S. 
space program,' which 'got a big hand.'

'During the ensuing question-and-answer period someone got up and demanded:  
"Why are you telling us all that?  Weren't you connected with the 
development of the Nazi V-2 rockets that fell on London during the last 
war?"  All I could answer was that having survivied one dictatorship I 
didn't want my own American-born children nor anyone else's to live under 
another.  Maybe I should have said it seems that you must have passed 
through purgatory to appreciate heaven.'

The logic here seems to sputter on its launching pad.  Just who was in 
purgatory when Mr. von Braun was devising his V-2 rockets?  Werner von Braun 
or the people of London?  Mr. von Braun suavely identifies the slaughtered 
victim with the executioner; this makes for bad symbolic drama and provides, 
from the mouth of an expert, another insult to the dead, who are perhaps 
accustomed to insult. The living might take notice, however, of who is 
speaking for "the American frontier spirit...where people laugh and enjoy 
God's world more than anywhere else."

Rich



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