(Tom Lehrer playing
"Wernher von Braun" on piano)
♪ Gather round while I sing you
of Wernher von Braun ♪
♪ A man whose allegiance
is ruled by expedience ♪
♪ Call him a Nazi,
he won't even frown ♪
♪ "Nazi-shmazi,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪
(piano continues)
♪ Don't say
that he's hypocritical ♪
(plays flourish on piano)
♪ Say, rather,
that he's apolitical ♪
(in German accent):
♪ "Once the rockets are up ♪
♪ "Who cares
where they come down? ♪
(audience laughs)
♪ That's not my department,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪
(audience laughs)
(in regular accent):
♪ Some have harsh words
for this man of renown ♪
♪ But some think our attitude
should be one of gratitude ♪
♪ Like the widows and cripples
in old London Town ♪
♪ Who owe their large pensions
to Wernher von Braun ♪
♪ You, too, may be a big hero ♪
♪ Once you've learned
to count backwards to zero ♪
(in German accent):
♪ "In German oder Englisch,
I know how to count down ♪
♪ And I'm learning Chinese,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪
(plays final chord,
audience applauds)
♪ ♪
NEIL ARMSTRONG:
That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
(speaking German)
(speaking German)
ED BUCKBEE:
All those years, we had very,
very few inquiries
about von Braun's past.
We never really had
any questions about what, what
are all these Germans doing,
you know,
involved in this program?
That never came up.
He was kind of untouchable.
He was the rocket man,
and he was taking us
to the moon.
Then when things
began to change,
he handled it quite well.
(audience applauding,
"Up, Up, and Away" playing)
I believe you were forced
to join the Nazi party,
as I understand it.
No, this isn't quite right.
Oh.
Um...
(audience laughs)
I was trying to make it sound...
I got a letter
one fine day
which said, "We understand you
would like to join the party,
and here is a form,
an application form."
But the circumstances
were such that...
the message would have
been very loud and clear,
you know,
had you not sent it in.
GEORGE ALEXANDER:
He disavowed any loyalty
to Hitler
or to the German cause.
He acknowledged
the regime's crimes.
He tried to avoid discussing
the politics of World War II.
♪ ♪
Do you have a statement...
Dr. von Braun, were you--
were you aware
that there was a slave camp
near the plant you worked
in Germany?
Well, you are misinformed.
The slave camp was about
400 miles from where I worked,
because I was in charge of the
development of the V-2 rocket,
which took place
in Peenemünde on the Baltic,
and this slave camp was
in Central Germany
in the Harz Mountains...
Were you aware
that there were
any atrocities
taking place there?
I learned later on
that there were
atrocities taking place there,
but I was not involved
in this whole operation.
ALEXANDER:
He had to have known
that all those people he saw
pushing heavy equipment
were horribly abused.
He would have had to have been
blind, deaf, and mute
not to have known that.
Do you feel that it will
hinder your reputation at all?
Well, that remains
to be seen.
As I say, I think
this record is for inspection.
And... I have nothing to hide,
I had nothing to hide,
and... I told the court
what I knew.
I was here as a witness;
I'm not implicated.
Remember that.
(crowd applauding)
RICHARD NIXON:
Only a few short weeks ago,
we shared the glory of
man's first sight of the world
as God sees it,
as a single sphere
reflecting light
in the darkness.
As the Apollo astronauts
flew over the moon's
gray surface on Christmas Eve...
(protesters' chants grow louder)
NIXON:
They spoke to us of the beauty
of Earth.
(rockets firing, exploding)
(protesters clamoring)
Get lost!
(clamoring continues)
ROGER LAUNIUS:
In the time that they
were focused 
on going to the moon,
the world had changed.
Society had changed
in pretty fundamental ways.
FRANK BORMAN:
After Apollo 8,
President Nixon sent me around
to make talks on
the different college campuses.
(crowd talking indistinctly)
Everywhere I went,
I met with antagonism
and even hatred.
I think I represented,
to these people,
the establishment.
At one of the places,
I had to go in by helicopter
because they'd barricaded
the entrance to the college.
(siren blaring)
And at Columbia,
I was run off the stage
by a guy in a gorilla suit.
They threw marshmallows at me.
It was unbelievable.
(crowd clamoring)
When we went to Cornell,
it was like going
into an enemy camp.
I couldn't believe
I was in America.
And I must say, when you
continually point your finger
at the establishment
and big business,
I'd like to just shoot it back
at you a little bit.
Many of us think
one of the greatest problems
we have in the environment
of the future
is the current crop of
irresponsible college radicals.
(audience groans)
BORMAN:
The difference
between the reaction
on the American campuses
and overseas
was like night and day.
REPORTER:
To the people of this planet,
what is the meaning
of this stupendous venture?
(crowd applauding)
BORMAN:
They were excited,
they were happy,
they were very congratulatory,
they were wonderful.
Everywhere.
(chuckling):
Except on the American campus.
Even in Russia,
they were very, very friendly.
I was there in 1969,
my family and I.
This was before
the lunar landing.
We spent two weeks
over there,
going all over the country.
They couldn't have been
more nice to us.
REPORTER:
Another warm welcome for
the traveling American astronaut
who came far out of his way,
all the way to central Siberia,
to pay tribute
to Soviet science.
Colonel Borman,
you've seen something
of the world of Soviet science--
how does it impress you?
Oh, very much.
They certainly have
a fine institute here.
(speaking Russian)
BORMAN:
The intellectuals there
understood their system
was corrupt and couldn't last,
but they were afraid
to talk about it
unless you got them off
by themselves.
It was that kind of a society.
And I like to think
that the Apollo program
had a lot to do with
the subsequent dismantling
of the Soviet Union.
Have you had any feeling
from the cosmonauts
of their view toward the pending
moon landing and Apollo 11?
Well, I think they feel
the same way about that
as we do about theirs--
they wish us all success,
as we've done on
every one of their flights.
