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In Regard to 9/11 Truth, a Remembrance of My Friend Hank Joerger

by David R. Kimball
With the passing of E.H. “Hank” Joerger on March 1st in West Sacramento, the 9/11 Truth Movement has lost one of its most stalwart proponents and sustainers. He would have been 93 on the 16th. It was his courageous stance for truth in the face of adversity in recent years that revealed the grandeur of the man.
800_hank_joerger_6-11-10.jpg
With the passing of E.H. “Hank” Joerger on March 1st in West Sacramento, the 9/11 Truth Movement has lost one of its most stalwart proponents and sustainers. He would have been 93 on the 16th.

I miss his friendship; Hank was just an all-around good guy. I can’t think of a single person that knew him that didn’t both like and respect him, but it was his courageous stance for truth in the face of adversity in recent years that revealed the grandeur of the man.

Hank was part of the “World War II generation” – those who, as adults, had lived through that terrible war – and within that generation, Hank was one of the men that had gone into combat. The U.S. did not assign women to combat roles in WW2.

Hank Joerger had fought the Nazis, and like many who directly experience war, he didn’t talk much about it. He had survived the Battle of the Bulge – December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945 – the largest and bloodiest battle that the U.S. was involved in during that war. [1] In that battle, he and his buddies had defended a vital road junction against the advance of German panzer tanks. Later in 1945 and 1946, Hank held officer’s rank in guarding the war crimes tribunal at Nuremberg where some of the most notorious Nazis were brought to justice. [2]

Nazi fascist ideology was totalitarian, where “the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, and the individual is subordinated to the state” [3] and their goal was to enslave the entire world.

Hank’s generation knew that in fighting the Axis powers in World War II they were fighting for the very continued existence of the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Witnessing totalitarians in power inside many countries in those years, they also knew how tenuous freedom within a nation can become. They had a special appreciation for liberty borne of their active struggle to preserve it.

In 2001 and at 80 years of age, Hank was an astute political observer when the events of September 11th were broadcast on national television to a terrified public. The media’s version just didn’t add up, and Hank, like many others, began to do his own research. And, as he had done in World War II, Hank rose to this new occasion to defend his country – this time, from internal enemies. On May 9, 2009, Hank’s hand-written text for a 9/11 Truth brochure was sent out as an email to many of his friends in the movement. It was entitled, “The Case for 9/11 as an Inside Bush-Cheney Job.” Excerpts:
_____

The biggest lie of Bush was that Bin Laden and 19 Arabs accomplished destroying and collapsing the towers on 9/11… Since 2006 the FBI has said it has no evidence that Bin Laden was involved in 9/11. There is scant evidence that the Arabs were on the planes. The evidence that all 3 towers in NYC were collapsed by explosives is overwhelming:
(1) testimony by 117 firefighters that there were hundreds of explosions,
(2) the collapses all exhibited the 11 common characteristics of imploded buildings,
(3) in the 120 year history of steel-frame buildings, not one has come down because of fire…
_____

In the years after 9/11, Hank also saw how the Bush administration began to use the fear generated by 9/11 as a pretext to dismantle the Constitution that Hank and so many others during World War II had fought so hard to defend. Again, he researched beyond what the media was dispensing to the public and identified the neocon source of Bush-Cheney doctrine in an article he prepared entitled “Leo Strauss: Philosophical Captain of Sinking USS America.” [4] This article was published by the Idaho Observer in their October, 2008 issue. Here are excerpts:
_____

It seems certain that the neoconservatives of the G.W. Bush administration got their ideas of government from Leo Strauss (1899-1973), the University of Chicago philosopher who taught several neocons…

Following are some of the theories and principles that he advocated:

• There is only one natural right, the right of the superior to rule over the inferior.
• The wise-elite must govern by way of secrecy, deception and the imperative of a broad external threat to inspire the vulgar many.
• The wise-elite’s ends justifies their means which may include deception, secrecy, violence and abrogation of international law.
• Perpetual war is necessary, so there must always be external threats, even if manufactured. Only perpetual war can overturn the modern project with its emphasis on self-preservation and creature comforts.
• America’s unparalleled strength allows it to do what it pleases with impunity. It can act unilaterally with no regard to international law or world opinion.
• The combination of religion and nationalism is the elixir that turns natural, relaxed, hedonistic men into devout nationalists willing to fight for God and country.
• Religion is absolutely necessary for imposing moral law on the masses, but it should be reserved for the masses. The ruling elite need not be bound to it, since the truths proclaimed by religion are a pious fraud.

Shadia Drury, Professor of Political Theory at Canada’s University of Regina and author of "Leo Strauss and the American Right" says that the deceptions, manipulations and secrecies of the Bush administration flow directly from the Straussian Philosophy that these should be the normal processes in government.

The philosophy under which the Bush/Cheney administration has been operating since 9/11 is described exactly by the 14 neoconservative Straussian principles listed above. [7 are excerpted here.]
_____

When the Bush administration began to use the “opportunity” that 9/11 provided to wage aggressive warfare against the sovereign oil-rich nation of Iraq, Hank easily saw through this scam. Hadn’t the Nazis that Hank had fought against also waged aggressive warfare following their pretext incident, the Reichstag Fire? Hank wrote, in excerpts from the two articles referenced above:
_____

Right on cue comes 9/11. This crime was greeted by Bush, Rumsfeld, and C. Rice as a great opportunity to re-arrange the New World Order to fit the the long-held PNAC [Project For a New American Century] plans.

Since the birth of PNAC in 1992, the U.S. subservient media has failed to inform Americans that their nation is being led by the warped minds of perhaps only 20 neoconservative warmongers bent on global domination from perpetual war.
_____

In more recent years, Hank could easily see through the false “Change” promised by the Obama administration. He knew that Obama has not restored the Constitution but continued to dismantle it, and that many of Obama’s policies differ little from those of his predecessors.

As can be seen from these above excerpts, Hank was a patriot in the sense summed up by Mark Twain:

“Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government when it deserves it.” [5]

In addition to writing articles and letters to the editor, Hank helped fund the efforts of others in the 9/11 Truth Movement in getting the facts to the public. For example, he contributed to help enable the Teach Peace Foundation bring Lt. Col. Robert M. Bowman, PhD to Sacramento’s Marriott Courtyard on June 8, 2007 to deliver an important address. [6][7] Like Hank, Robert Bowman was both an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and an advocate for a real investigation of 9/11.

For some years, and until the newspaper stopped publication in September of 2011, Hank paid out of his own pocket to have 100-issue bundles of the Rock Creek Free Press sent to a number of people, including myself, who helped distribute this newspaper for free to as much of the public as possible. The Rock Creek Free Press, published in Washington, DC, was one of the very few U.S. newspapers that published fact-filled informative articles about 9/11 and many other topics that go regularly unreported by the mainstream and most of the “alternative” media. [8]

Following the threats from within that the 9/11 event made obvious, Hank Joerger helped lead the way in exposing the probable culprits, informing his fellow Americans, and supporting the efforts of others to do the same. [9] I am proud to have stood alongside Hank in this struggle. If only there were more were like him!

On October 24, 2009, an event was held in Davis in honor of Hank called “Hank’s Family Affair.” Both Hank’s large family and many of his 9/11 Truth friends were invited. A PowerPoint presentation was created, and a number of speakers presented factual material about what really had happened on 9/11. At the conclusion of this occasion, everyone joined in singing to Hank loudly and with enthusiasm, “For he’s a jolly good fellow, that nobody can deny! ” Hank’s smile at that moment could have brightened the entire nation.

Ref:

[1] Battle of the Bulge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

[2] Elmer Henry “Hank” Joerger – Obituary – Sacramento Bee 3-9-14
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=170043900
Hank Joerger – Obituary – Davis Enterprise 3-9-14
http://www.davisenterprise.com/obits/elmer-henry-joerger-jr/

[3] Definition: totalitarian
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/totalitarian

[4] Leo Strauss: Philosophical captain of sinking USS America, prepared by Hank Joerger – Idaho Observer, October 2008
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20081008.htm

[5] Mark Twain quote
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

[6] Robert Bowman to Speak in Sacramento – June 8, 2007
http://sac911truth.blogspot.com/search?q=Robert+Bowman

[7] The Patriots – Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Chairman
http://www.thepatriots.us/

[8] Rock Creek Free Press – A Fiercely Independent Newspaper
http://www.rockcreekfreepress.com/

[9] Sustaining Donors Interview with Hank Joerger - ae911truth.org 6-22-09
http://www.ae911truth.org/en/news-section/41-articles/194-sustaining-donors-interview.html

Patriots Question 9/11
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by kim stroman (hanks daughter
hello fellow peaceful beings. my name is kim. i'm hank's daughter (middle of nine).

i'm not sure who wrote the above. Believe dave Kimball. much to say. so appreciate your words.

so grateful to have him as my dad esp the days and decade following 911. my best buddy he was.
I remember the day i introduced him to "Freedom From War" now "Teach Peace' and some 911 truthers there in Davis. He was fired up-happy as a lark (as we are when we meet like minded beings) He said "met his people ...big score...we'll get those bastards.." ... the rest history so to speak.

Thank you all for your love and appreciation for my dad. How grateful i am.

and as i told him yrs ago "..not in your life time dad yet we shall (as a nation a country a force of patriotism for our good country and all living beings ) continue to demand the truth here in our United States of America regarding that fatal day. twasnt the first bs we the people of the USA have been fed by our govn. Yet too big to sweep under any rug. If we are to thrive as a nation we must come clean with a full honest investigation regarding September 11 2001.

gosh i miss my dad. Please continue your great deligence for the Beauty and honor of our great country and all those who fought so to keep us a free - er democracy. ,As you know great nations build and they fall. Tis we the people who carry on.,, My favorite saying of dads ",carry, on,".,,,,,,he'd say

Walk in Beauty and carry on my fellow peaceful beings
kim
by David R. Kimball
Yes, I did write this Remembrance, Kim.

Sincerely,

David R. Kimball
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