Customer Reviews

Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990

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Having read many books and articles about the U.S. government's secret recruitment of Nazi scientists and war criminals, I can state - without hesitation - that Linda Hunt's "Secret Agenda" is unusually accurate, painstakingly objective, and well documented. Although her revelations about the creation of NASA by Nazi recruits and documented war criminals may be painful for some individuals who are devoted to, and highly supportive, of our federally funded space agency; the information contained in Secret Agenda should nevertheless be made widely known. Only by learning the truth about the secretive sins of our government's employees and leaders, can we - as citizens - work to ensure that such sins are not repeated in the future.

I am a patriot and have gone to war for my country. I would do it again all the while thanking God for the good people that work so diligently, as Linda Hunt has, to keep our government honest and out in the open. This is an intriguing book and there is much evidence that things of this nature are still taking place.

WHO ARE YOU KIDDING CARVER??

Von Braun was the opportunist NOT Linda Hunt! He didn't care who he built his rockets for as long as he got well paid for doing so.

To even suggest otherwise smacks of the same type of disinformation U.S. authorities have foisted upon American citizens and the world since the end of WWII.

Carver, are you sure you're not being paid to say silly things like "von Braun was an apolitical rocket engineer and manager and he was never a goose-stepping Nazi"?

Unless other books are examined, it would not be possible for the average reader to assess this book from a historical context. It would also be helpful to look at German language books about this subject. Although the author rightly points out atrocities committed by some in the German rocket program, it is difficult, in some cases, to know all of the details. Even after all this time, what might be called "fair and balanced" accounts might be difficult for some to believe.

Putting the author's own bias aside, the book chronicles a project led by men in the US Intelligence and aviation communities with purely practical goals in mind. The fact that it continued after its official closure shows how critical these former Nazis were to the United States. As a side note, I should mention that the Russians got their share of rocket scientists as well. Many people are unaware of how many worked in Peenemunde during the war.

In 1950, a two volume set of books was published titled German Aviation Medicine under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force. It should be pointed out that a title like, Aviation Medicine would have been descriptive enough. Its authors were some of the same Germans that worked for NASA.

The author also covers the effect of former Nazi technicians arriving in Argentina and other South American countries to continue their work there. The following chapter paints a disturbing picture of Paperclip scientists being involved in experiments in the United States with dangerous and mind altering substances. She also reveals that Austrian scientists were being recruited.

The book closes with chapters devoted to ferreting out information about any criminal wrongdoing by members of the rocket team during the war and the implication that America was too influenced by Nazi ideas and thinking. This is a very dubious claim. The British stated at the end of the war that the V-1 and V-2 were necessary for their very survival. Indeed, this technology was not just about getting to the moon but was the genesis of ICBMs and current cruise missiles. There was no time wasted between the Americans and Russians; everyone grabbed whatever they could, nailed down or not. And everyone raced to arm for the next possible conflict.

Though the author condemns those in charge of bringing Nazis to the United States in violation of the law and moral norms, the fact of the matter was that the Russians still had their armies in Eastern Europe and fears of an early conflict were quite real. The Russians had added captured German jet fighters and bombers to their inventory. They also had captured V-1s and V-2s. Estimates regarding the development of the first Russian atomic bomb were being drawn up.

I have to agree with Robert Carver that at least some of the information in this book is inaccurate. Whether Hunt is an opportunist or not, I cannot say, and that is beside the point. Motives and intentions are matters of speculation; however, I do know for a fact that least some of the information in this book is inaccurate. I do not question Kathleen Sullivan's perspective that this book is objective (though perhaps not "painstakingly" so) nor do I disagree with the position that this should all be brought to light; however, in the tremdendous volume of data processed in writing this book, I do know for a fact that some things, surely without malice, were inaccruately portrayed. Since the reputations of individuals are at stake, I find this unfortunate indeed. Being someone who is going into teaching as a second career, I have been made aware of the importance of telling students to always question the validity of what they read even in history textbooks from school. Before giving credence to what you read in, or cite from this book, please do corroborate the information (especially if it has to do with any one of a very large number of individuals listed by name).

Hunt's book unfairly malign's Wernher von Braun and the German Rocket Team that came to America to develop our embryonic booster program. She lumps von Braun in with ardent Nazis and the historical record shows that von Braun was an apolitical rocket engineer and manager and he was never a goose-stepping Nazi. Neufeld's book, "The Rocket and the Reich" is well-researched but suffers from the author's need to find blame without any evidence. The attack on von Braun and his team by Hunt, Neufeld and others has little to do with accurate history but is rather an opportunistic vendetta to garner attention, fame and book sales. Lost in this smear campaign is the great work done by von Braun and his team for our nation during the Cold War that culminated in landing on the moon. Shame on you Linda Hunt.