Hey, I Was Just Following Orders!

In Memoriam: Joe Paterno—1926–2012

About 10 years ago, I had a discussion with my favorite Aunt about her lifelong college and the Joe Paterno statue. I could not understand why any University would allow a statue of a man that is still living and is still working at the place where the statue of his likeness resides. She went to that University from the time I was born to the time that she received her Doctorate Degree in Education at Penn State University. She bleeds “White and Blue.” Her argument was that the school did not pay for the statue and him and his supporters can put up a statue dedicated to him if they wish. After all, Joe did a lot of good for that university.

I have been a student of Germany’s First Reich (Charlemagne), Second Reich (King Fredrick William), Third Reich (Hitler), and Fourth Reich (Admiral Karl Dönitz) since Jr. High. If you learn about these people like I did, you will learn why people cannot give “God hood” to living individuals. You would have learned to uncover people who appear to be the greatest people on Earth just to fall from grace like so many other humans have done.

For example, Hitler did a lot of good for Germany. He brought the German economy out of the Great Depression. He built the German highway system and over seen the largest scientific expansion of any nation up to that time. If he would have died in 1938, he probably would have gone down in history as the greatest German leader ever. But if you look at the things that he did in secret from the end of World War I to the end of April 1945, he is justified as the greatest evilest person ever in Europe. He is responsible for over 57 million dead and all of Europe wasted financially as well as the destruction of most families across Europe. He killed about 24,000 African Germans, over 6 Million Jews as well as Catholics, Polish men and woman, and eastern Europeans just to name a few.  

While I was arguing the logic behind the statue, we both did not know that Joe Paterno and his bosses was hiding the crimes done by a friend and fellow financial contributor, former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. His crimes, sexual assaults against small children and teenagers. This man was using school locations for his crimes against children. The economies of Centre County as well as the surrounding counties depended on Penn State and its football program to keep them going year after year. The Penn State area is financially dead except for football season. Football season is like Christmas time in any other part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is when many businesses make their money for the year. 

Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA

This situation gave Joe and his click power and prestige beyond belief. It was enough power and prestige to stop any criminal investigation of any sort from being carried out. This was a situation that is just as evil as the Reich’s of Germany. 

People will do anything for money and feed their families. A janitor witnessed one of the crimes and told his fellow workers. None would go to the police or school officials about it. Why? Because they feared that they would be fired and they were probably right. The mother of one of the victims went to police and school officials but nothing happened. It was not until the mother of the boy in question, traveled to Harrisburg, Pa. , the state capital that a Grand Jury investigation was launched. The fact that it took a State Grand Jury to look into allegations of a sex crime tells you of the political nature of the people being investigated.     

    

In the end, the facts came out that Joe Paterno was one of the people covering up crimes for years against children for the sake of the school and his friend Jerry Sandusky. Yes, Joe did great things for PSU and Centre County. But he also enabled a friend to carry out sex crimes for years against children. He allowed it to be done on school property where Jerry could be protected from authorities. Joe had the power to do something about it but did not. Just like Hitler, Joe started out as a great man but in the end, he supported crimes.

Nittany Mountain

I am sure that Joe supporters will say that they are supporters of Joe and PSU no matter what! I can understand that because I met people who supported Hitler and NAZI Germany knowing what crimes they committed. They could not understand why the average German was punished for Hitler’s crimes. Hey, they were only following orders. Yes, and no one questions orders so let crimes go undetected and unpunished. Then be surprised when someone shuts down the criminal culture and the punishment causes everyone to suffer, even the innocent.