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My hero is Wernher von Braun. He is a great example of perseverance because at one time he could not do any thing or say anything for fear of the Gestapo arresting him. During WW2 he was a scientist for the Nazi government building A-4 rockets more commonly known as the V-2. He commonly referred to the treatment of the concentration camp prisoners as inhuman but could do nothing about it. At one point he was even arrested for speaking out against it.
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Near the end of the war Wernher and his team had a serious discussion over who to surrender to. They decided that the Americans were the best choice because they where guided by the Bible. After the surrender Wernher was allowed to work for the USA. First he worked as a missile designer for the Army, and then as a rocket designer for NASA at Marshal Space Flight Center. At last his dream came true. He was putting people in space. In the years that he worked for NASA he helped design the Apollo Landers, the Saturn V rockets and the Space Shuttle.
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In all, his entire dream was finally accomplished. He had persevered and at last succeeded - he had put man in space. After years of being forced to make rockets as weapons he finally was using them for peace. He lived to be sixty-five and died of pancreatic cancer. He was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. His life on earth was over but his life in heaven had just begun.
Page created on 9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM
On surrendering with his rocket team to the Americans in 1945: "We knew that we had created a new means of warfare, and the question as to what nation, to what victorious nation we were willing to entrust this brainchild of ours was a moral decision more than anything else. We wanted to see the world spared another conflict such as Germany had just been through, and we felt that only by surrendering such a weapon to people who are guided by the Bible could such an assurance to the world be best secured.";
"All of man's scientific and engineering efforts will be in vain unless they are performed and utilized within a framework of ethical standards commensurate with the magnitude of the scope of the technological revolution. The more technology advances, the more fateful will be its impact on humanity.";
"You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering".;
"If the world's ethical standards fail to rise with the advances of our technological revolution, the world will go to hell. Let us remember that in the horse-and-buggy days nobody got hurt if the coachman had a drink too many. In our times of high-powered automobiles, however, that same drink may be fatal...; On Adolf Hitler: "I began to see the shape of the man – his brilliance, the tremendous force of personality. It gripped you somehow. But also you could see his flaw — he was wholly without scruples, a godless man who thought himself the only god, the only authority he needed."; "Science and religion are not antagonists. On the contrary, they are sisters. While science tries to learn more about the creation, religion tries to better understand the Creator. While through science man tries to harness the forces of nature around him, through religion he tries to harness the force of nature within him."; "Everything in space obeys the laws of physics. If you know these laws, and obey them, space will treat you kindly. And don't tell me man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go - and he'll do plenty well when he gets there." "Basic research is when I'm doing what I don't know what I'm doing." "There is just one thing I can promise you about the outer-space program - your tax-dollar will go further." "My experiences with science led me to God. They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun?"
From Wikipedia. "Wernher von Braun." [Online] Available en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun. 26 July 2011 .
