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  NASA center director Kurt Debus' scars

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Author Topic:   NASA center director Kurt Debus' scars
drifting to the right
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Posts: 137
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Registered: Aug 2006

posted 01-10-2022 01:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for drifting to the right     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Kurt Debus, the first director of NASA's Launch Operations Center (later Kennedy Space Center), had prominent scars along his left lower face, which were of interesting origin.

Any takers as to etiology?

Jim Behling
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Posts: 1698
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 01-10-2022 01:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Fencing.

drifting to the right
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Posts: 137
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Registered: Aug 2006

posted 01-10-2022 02:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for drifting to the right     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Right on, Jim. Such scars were considered marks of high honor among the German college fencing fraternities. Most fighters were right-handed, thus the propensity of left facial and scalp scars.

Many German military officers bore these with pride. The practice has been around among German and Austrian college fraternities or "corps" since about 1600.

Mark Twain gives a detailed, if somewhat cringeworthy, description of such on a trip to Heidelberg University in his book, "A Tramp Abroad."

MCroft04
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Posts: 1759
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 01-11-2022 08:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MCroft04   Click Here to Email MCroft04     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My good friend Terry Terhune, a NASA engineer who worked most of his career on the Atlas but eventually shifted over to shuttle has many great stories about his time at NASA. One is included in Colin Burgess’s book "Friendship 7: The Epic Orbital flight of John Glenn, Jr." on pages 92-94. Some of his stories are not recommended for mixed company.

But he shared one with me when he received an award from Kurt Debus. When Terry’s name was called out, he walked up on the right side of the stage. Debus handed him the award, and Terry moved to Debus' left for the customary photo. Well Terry describes what happened next as a dance with Debus; he didn't know what was happening as Debus kept moving to the other side of Terry, eventually ending up Terry's left side. When Terry got off stage, he mentioned to a friend that he had no idea what has just taken place; his friend explained. Debus was very proud of that scar and would not allow photos to be taken unless if was front and center, which is why he moved over to Terry's left side.

Buel
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Posts: 800
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 01-11-2022 03:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wow. This is fascinating!!!

FFrench
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Posts: 3256
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 01-11-2022 05:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jim Hansen, author of "First Man," consulted on the movie of the same name. They had him play a cameo in the movie, and for a possible close-up went as far as makeup tests to replicate the duelling scars. But then, deciding there would be no closeup, they didn't do them for the actual shoot...

dss65
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Posts: 1276
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 01-12-2022 07:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dss65   Click Here to Email dss65     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You just never know what you're going to learn on this site... Thanks, guys!

MartinAir
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Posts: 139
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Registered: Oct 2020

posted 01-14-2022 09:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MartinAir   Click Here to Email MartinAir     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Noticed that most of these fraternities/Burschenschaften are considered far-right/nazi nowadays, at least in Austria...

Captain Apollo
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Posts: 293
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 01-17-2022 11:44 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Captain Apollo   Click Here to Email Captain Apollo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well, Debus was a member of the SA and the SS.

All times are CT (US)

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