"OPERATION PAPERCLIP" was a top-secret program of the US Government where ~1,600 German scientists (most of them Nazis) were brought to the US after World War II mainly to defeat the Soviets in the Cold War & Space Race.
It was authorized by Harry Truman 🇺🇸 in 1946.
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Harry Truman 🇺🇸 forbade anyone who was "a member of the Nazi party and more than a nominal participant in its activities, or an active supporter of Nazism" to participate in the program.
To this effect, background checks on the scientists were ordered but...
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...against Truman's 🇺🇸 orders the scientists' Nazi backgrounds were scrubbed
After the Nuremberg Trials word got out, so the Army did damage control by distributing "wholesome" pictures of the men w/families & pre-approving all media content related to the scientists
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Public outcry against the project included former #FLOTUS Eleanor Roosevelt 🇺🇸 & Albert Einstein (who alerted Truman of the dangers of using Nazis)
In 1947, due to the protests, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower 🇺🇸 ordered a briefing on the matter but ultimately approved it
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A scientist of note was Wernher von Braun (SS member & Nazi rocket program head), whose design of the Saturn Launch System made JFK's 🇺🇸 moon mission a reality
Gerald Ford 🇺🇸 almost(!) gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom!
A moon crater is even named for him!
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Another Nazi, Kurt Debus (here with VP Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy 🇺🇸) became a NASA director
Recognition for his contributions include, but not limited to, membership in the National Space Hall of Fame
A crater on the moon is also named for him!
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What do we do with things like this?
Do the ends justify the means?
Please discuss below - please be kind to one another as you discuss - Thanks!
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