The Sacred Timeline/1938 - 1942

This part is all somewhat true.

   Now some would argue that Superman was the not the first Superhero. (I was a fan of the Phantom as a kid, so it’s OK with me if you want to say Superman wasn’t the first.) But you’ve got to admit that Superman took the idea and ramped it up a notch or two.

And that is mostly irrelevant to this story anyway.

Slightly more relevant to the story, in 1938, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later The March of Dimes) , leading to the development of polio vaccines. This was motivated by his own paralysis, which probably wasn’t caused by polio at all, but you can’t blame the doctors of the 1920’s for not spotting that one.

And even more relevant still, 1938 was the year Ronald Reagan first pretended to be a soldier in a movie. He starred in *Sergeant Murphy*, a comedy (apparently) that no one could be bothered writing anything much about on Wikipedia.

1938 is also the year that anti-semitic car maker and rich prick Henry Ford was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle by Adolf Hitler (well, Hitler’s diplomats, but it’s the same thing), proving himself an overachiever in the field of profiteering from both sides of a war (hint he didn’t stop selling shit to Germany after war was declared).

War is a racket, we will return to this theme often.

### 1939

This story really starts in 1939.

Because in 1939, two really significant things happened.

1. Hitler finally started the war he’d been itching for since WW1 ended (WW2).
2. Albert Einstein co-wrote a letter that led to the creation of the Manhattan Project and the first atomic bomb.

Now, it’s important to remember that Einstein was a pacifist, who played no role in the Manhattan Project itself, although he possibly would have except he was refused security clearance because he had previously said that war is stupid (or words to that effect).

Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer, on the other hand, didn’t think much at all about the moral implications of the most devastating weapon ever invented until after he had finished inventing it. So if you want to go throwing blame around, Oppie is probably more at fault that Einie.

Einstein’s problem was that he overestimated the abilities of German scientists, for which he can be forgiven, given that he himself was a German scientist, and quite a good one. The entire rationalization of the atomic bomb project was *“we have to, because if they get one first, it will be bad”*. This line of propaganda continues to drive US military funding decisions to this day, and it’s surprising that more people have worked out the flaw in this logic.

War is a racket.

### 1940

The USA continued to pretend that they weren’t preparing for war, while American industry continued to profit from both sides (I’m looking at you Henry Ford).

Nothing more to see here.

---OR IS THERE?---

### 1941

The year starts with the discovery of plutonium (Feb), and ends with the the authorisation to develop a nuclear bomb (Oct), so that was quick. Top work FDR.

If you’re reading this, and you’re thinking “hang on, if it wasn’t for the A-Bomb, WW2 would have taken much longer and lots more people would have died”, we’re getting to that. Or an alternate universe version of that, very soon.

Also top work was the way in which FDR pretended to know nothing about the upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

Now, it’s important to note that this is a book about conspiracy theories, and more specifically, it’s a book in which many, many conspiracy theories are “true” in the fictional sense of the word. So whether or not FDR actually knew about Japanese plans to bomb Pearl Harbor is largely irrelevant. It’s a much better story if we assume the conspiracy theory is true, so that’s what we’re doing.

Also worth noting: “Let’s build an atomic bomb” preceded “we’re officially at war” by 2 months. Could be a coincidence, but definitely suggests some sort of “let’s get in on this war” talk was happening before Pearl Harbor.

Hitler declared war on the USA four days later which was dumb (but not as dumb as invading Russia) and America was officially at war, much to the approval of people who were about to make a shit ton more money supplying boats and planes and tanks and stuff.

War is a racket.

#### Captain America

War is also good for comic book sales, especially if your comic book includes a cover of an American superhero punching Hitler. Captain America #1 was published in March of 1941 by Timely Comics.

   I never fully understood why Cap, having gotten close enough to Hitler to punch him, and having super strength, didn’t take him prisoner. Or kill him.

But it doesn’t really matter because he doesn’t actually punch Hitler in pages of the comic, so I assume the cover is a metaphor, and that Cap is punching Hitler in a figurative sense, by taking on large chunks of his army single-handedly.

But the cover definitely suggests that Cap got to Hitler, then let him go. Which seems not very heroic.

Nonetheless, he was still fighting the good fight against Hitler in Captain America #2.

   An encounter from which, apparently, Hitler also escaped. But by issue #3, the focus was well and truly on the Red Skull, because if you are going to send a fictional superhero into an actual war, you need a fictional supervillain to keep him busy or else people are going to start wondering why the war isn’t won yet.

#### Stanley Lieber

Issue #3 is the important one here, because Stan Lee gets a writing credit on this one.

Issue #1 & #2 were written by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, issue #3 was Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. He didn't write the Captain America story, but still, he wrote *for* Captain America, which is close enough for our purposes.

Kirby and Simon left Timely comics in late 1941, and Stanley Lieber (aka Stan Lee) became the interim editor. This is very relevant to the story.

#### Ronald Reagan

Also relevant to the story, in 1941 Ronald Reagan starred in *International Squadron* in which he plays a daredevil fighter pilot who volunteers to fight with the Royal Air Force, because the US Air Force isn’t involved in the war yet.

This is ironic because in real life, Reagan spent most of WW2 acting in propaganda and training films (see 1942 below).

### 1942

The Manhattan Engineering District is established for the purpose of creating an atomic bomb. This would later be called the "Manhattan Project."

My knowledge of the actual Manhattan project is relatively limited, but that doesn’t matter, because I watched both seasons of MANH(A)TTAN which taught me four important things relating to our story:

1. The Manhattan project was not based in Manhattan (at least not for long), the heavy engineering work was done in a top secret facility in New Mexico;
2. The scientists involved were not allowed to tell their wives what they were working on, which caused some degree of marital strain;
3. Everyone was fucking everyone, all the time. The whole place was a hornets nest of horniness.
4. FDR approved a bottomless bucket of money for this project.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

In 1942, presumably it was just Oppenheimer and a handful of über-nerds in a lab somewhere in Manhattan doing physics stuff.

##### Stanley Lieber

Stanley Lieber joined the Army after hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and after a brief stint, possibly fixing telegraph poles (details are sketchy), he was transferred to the Training Film Division, because he was apparently a much better writer than he was an electrician...

> *Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served within the US as a member of the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment. **He was later transferred to the Training Film Division, where he worked writing manuals, training films, slogans, and occasionally cartooning**. His military classification, he said, was "playwright"; he added that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title. In the Army, Lee's division included many famous or soon-to-be famous people, including three-time Academy Award-winning director Frank Capra, New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams, **and children's book writer and illustrator Theodor Geisel, later known to the world as "Dr. Seuss."***  (emphasis added)
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And this...

> *Lee enlisted in the army in 1942 during the height of World War II and was set to deploy overseas when his brief history in comics totally changed his wartime course at the last minute. "I was practically waiting at the pier for the ship to take me overseas when I got a tap on the shoulder, and some colonel said, **'You worked in comics?' Yes. 'We have a job for you,'**" Lee told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. The job, it turned out, was to serve in the Army's Training Film Division, where he would write scripts, manuals, and other instructional material for the military. Instead of going overseas to fight in the war, Lee instead was deployed to Astoria, Queens, where he could put his real skills to work. Incidentally, **this division was also home to Theodor Seuss Geisel, the man who would one day become Dr. Seuss.***  (emphasis added)
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He continued writing for Timely Comics while in the Army...

> *While in the Army, Lee received letters every week on Friday from the editors at Timely, detailing what they needed written and by when. Lee would write stories, then send them back on Monday. One week, the mail clerk overlooked his letter, explaining that nothing was in Lee's mailbox. The next day, Lee went by the closed mailroom and saw an envelope with the return address of Timely Comics in his mailbox. Not willing to miss a deadline, Lee asked the officer in charge to open the mailroom, but the latter refused. So Lee took a screwdriver and unscrewed the mailbox hinges, retrieving the envelope containing his assignment. **The mailroom officer saw what he did and turned him into the base captain, who did not like Lee. He faced tampering charges and could have been sent to Leavenworth Prison.** The colonel in charge of the Finance Department intervened and saved Lee from disciplinary action.* (emphasis added)
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Stan probably wrote Captain America comics during this time. Captain America #16 lists Stan Lee as the sole writer.

#### Dr Suess

I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out that Stan Lee and Dr Suess possibly collaborated on training films during the war.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Again.

#### Ronald Reagan

Meanwhile, Ronald Reagan also joined the military in ‘42.

> *On April 18, 1942, Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time. **Due to his poor eyesight, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas.** His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the approval of the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the cavalry to the AAF on May 15, 1942, **and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit) at Culver City, California**.* (emphasis added)
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It has been suggested in some quarters that Reagan was a coward who used his contacts in the film industry and in government to avoid active service and got a cushy gig making war training films. It is definitely true that he served in the 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit) at Culver City, California. It’s also true that his poor eyesight was the reason he was deemed unsuitable for active service. I’m not saying that he faked his eye test, I’m just saying that if I had the choice between being shot at, or pretending to be shot at, I’d probably take the latter option.

I’m also saying that his military service as an actor in training films is very relevant to this story.

## FICTIONAL HISTORY

It's quite likely that the story will take some liberties with actual historical events from this period.

When that happens, the details will be added here.

## REFERENCES

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action\_Comics\_1
2. ↑ https://www.cbr.com/super-heroes-predate-superman-before/
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin\_D.\_Roosevelt
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralytic\_illness\_of\_Franklin\_D.\_Roosevelt
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March\_of\_Dimes
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant\_Murphy
7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_International\_Jew
8. ↑ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/
9. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
10. ↑ https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/einstein-szilard-letter-1939
11. ↑ There is no evidence that these nicknames were ever used by anyone
12. ↑ https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/albert-einstein *He later regretted signing the letter to Roosevelt, saying in a Newsweek interview that "had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing."*
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 https://www.thoughtco.com/the-manhattan-project-timeline-4051979
14. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl\_Harbor\_advance-knowledge\_conspiracy\_theory
15. ↑ He knew: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl\_Harbor\_advance-knowledge\_conspiracy\_theory#Further\_reading
16. ↑ https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/7849/captain\_america\_comics\_1941\_1
17. ↑ https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/7860/captain\_america\_comics\_1941\_2
18. ↑ https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/7871/captain\_america\_comics\_1941\_3
19. ↑ https://screenrant.com/stan-lee-dr-seuss-ww2-team-true-story/ *“Stan Lee got his start in comics in 1939, working as an assistant at Timely Comics. Two years later, in 1941, he'd get his first big break writing a two-page short for Captain America Comics #3.”*
20. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International\_Squadron\_(film)
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald\_Reagan#Military\_service
22. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan\_(TV\_series)
23. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan\_Lee#Early\_career
24. ↑ https://screenrant.com/stan-lee-dr-seuss-ww2-team-true-story/
25. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan\_Lee#Early\_career
26. ↑ https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/7856/captain\_america\_comics\_1941\_16
**NEXT:** The Sacred Timeline/A note on the Multiverse