THE ORIGIN OF THE LUCIFER STORY
also known as
"How The Planet Venus Became The Devil"
By Elroy Willis -- © 2005
If you ask the average person on the street who Lucifer is, at least here in the United States, many or maybe even most people will tell you some story about Lucifer being a disobedient angel who was cast out of heaven because he wanted to take over heaven or some supposed "throne of God."
Interestingly, the Bible doesn't really say that, at least with regards to some actual Lucifer character being anything other than a shining planet or morning star that everyone can see with their own eyes if they know when and where to look.
The story involves a supposed "War in Heaven," which many people seem to believe in or take seriously, despite them not being able to point to some actual "Heaven" where the war is taking place, or took place, or even to some "Hell," where the supposed Lucifer character is currently chained up, after he was supposedly defeated by Jesus on the cross, or after Jesus was said to rise from the dead.
According to most Christians, Lucifer is still alive and well, which makes sense, since everyone can actually see the planet Venus/Lucifer shining in the sky.
Mom and Pop believe or believed that Lucifer was a fallen angel, and that Jesus defeated him by pretending to be dead for three days, and so does the local preacher, so why should anyone question the story or idea?
Well, there are plenty of reasons, actually, if you're the least bit inquisitive and curious about the origin of the story or fable.
If you do a Bible search, you'll find out that the word Lucifer is only found in the following passage, and interestingly enough, isn't found in the vast majority of Bible translations, but just a few, such as the KJV and the NKJV, which are both newcomers as far as Bible translations go.
Isaiah 14:12 (KJV)
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NKJV)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!"
Earlier versions of the Bible don't use the word Lucifer, but use "morning star" or "star of dawn" or something close to that instead.
Isaiah 14:12 (NIV)
"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NASB)
"How you have fallen from heaven, star of the morning, son of the dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NLT)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning!"
Isaiah 14:12 (RSV)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (YLT)
"How hast thou fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn!"
The original Hebrew, or what seems to be the earliest rendition of the story that I've come across, translates to "O Helel, son of Shahar."
Shahar was an ancient Persian god of the dawn, and Helel was his son, the morning star which we now call Venus. Shahar had a twin brother named Shalem, which was associated with dusk and perhaps with the evening appearance of Venus in several ancient legends. According to several dictionaries I've looked at, Jerusalem means "House of Shalem," which has ties to the worship of Shalem/Venus as a god or goddess and bringer of light.
Queen of Heaven
Below is a Bible verse which talks about people worshipping the planet Venus as the "Queen of Heaven." They were apparently quite happy and prosperous, and were unhappy that some priests were trying to get them to give up their Queen of Heaven beliefs.
Jeremiah 44:17 (NIV)
"We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm."
Some scholars say that the above is talking about worship of the moon and the goddess Artemis/Diana, who was worshipped by the Greeks and Romans and called the "Queen of Heaven" as well.
And there are others who claim that it's referring to Venus, Asherah, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or Isis, all of which seem to be some shiny star or planet in the sky or up in heaven.
The idea of "Go in peace" or "Peace be with you" originated from stories of Venus and the sun as well, since the two are always close together, going into the supposed underworld at night, and wishing them a safe journey through the imagined underworld of darkness. "Shalem" eventually turned into "Shalom" over time.
If the above verse about the Queen of Heaven is talking about the moon instead of the planet Venus, the same sentiments apply to it as well, since both the moon and Venus were considered fertility goddesses. I personally think it refers to the planet Venus, but others disagree, and think it refers to the moon. Others think it refers to the star Sirius, which was also a fertility goddess which became visible in the sky right before the Nile river in Egypt flooded each year.
Regardless, it seems to refer to some actual shiny heavenly object that everyone can see with their own eyes if they know when and where to look in the sky.
At certain times, Venus can be visible in the morning, yet not visible in the evening, or in a different position than it was in the morning, so many ancient cultures had two different names for Venus. One for the morning appearance, or morning star, and a different name for the evening appearance, or evening star. To the ancients, the planets were mystical sources of light, which moved around differently than actual stars, so they made up stories about them, gave them names, deified them even, and invented elaborate stories about them, such as the one about Venus being "cast out of the high heavens" because of some imagined battle in heaven which never really happened in reality.
Back to the Bible, looking at the rest of the Isaiah 14 verse, you can see how the imagery of Venus not being able to rise up to the heights of the clouds and among the "stars of God" comes into play through the poetry/taunt.
Isaiah 14:13-15 (KJV)
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Personifying the planet Venus as a god or goddess or fallen angel, stories were made up to explain why it couldn't rise up into the "high heavens" where the sun and moon and outer planets appear in the sky. "Most High" was a description or title used to refer to the planet Zeus/Jupiter by several different ancient societies. Some societies also called Saturn the "Most High" as well, because it was considered the outermost planet at the time.
It's been suggested in several books and articles I've read that the name of God to many of the northern tribes of Israel was "El" and that it means "most EL-evated" or "most high," and that in fact such a title belonged to the planet Saturn at that time.
Journey Into The Underworld
According to many ancient mythologies, when the Sun and the Moon and the different planets disappear at night, or during different times of the year, they are supposed to travel into some mythical underworld of darkness, or into some grave where demons and evil spirits exist, which want to stop the Sun and the other immortal "Heavenly Objects" from rising up into the sky again the next day.
Such myths are based on actual observations of the heavenly objects, but the conclusions and stories which attempt to explain the causes are for the most part completely wrong, and quite superstitious at the core or center of the beliefs.
Venus, or the "Queen of Heaven," in all her forms/names, ends up victorious, and rises once again in the morning after disappearing for different periods of time throughout the year or during the day. Much of the poetry and stories written about Venus and its travels through the sky and into some pretended underworld are quite imaginative and filled with all kinds of imagery, which tends to hide the fact that the stories and songs and poetry are actually talking about a shiny planet and its movements and appearances in the sky.
Over time, and because of repeated mistranslations and intentional embellishments, a shiny planet and bringer of light has somehow turned into some evil devil character who lives in the dark.
The word Lucifer actually means "light-bringer," or "light-bearer," and so to call or consider the planet Venus as some "prince of darkness" like so many Christians seem to consider it, is completely backwards and wrong-headed.
If the ancient people knew the earth was a planet, and that the sun and planets don't actually go into some "underworld" or "grave" at night, then they never would have invented stories about the sun or the planets dying or being cast out of the high heavens, or being reborn when they reappear. They did the best they could to try to explain things, but they got quite a few things wrong, especially the parts about the planets and stars being actual "living beings" up in the sky.
Even though the myths surrounding the movements of the heavenly objects and their imaginary journey into some make-believe underworld are just fiction, the actual observations of those objects themselves serve a useful purpose in measuring the passage of time, and the changing of the seasons, and in the prediction of the arrival of floods and tides and so on.
Back to the Bible
Looking back to the Bible, and at the beginning of Isaiah 14, you can see that this passage is a taunt against the king of Babylon. The stories and myths about Venus or Lucifer being "cast out of heaven" are compared to the downfall of the king of Babylon.
Isaiah 14:3-4 (KJV)
"On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!"
The taunt basically says "You will be cut down to the ground just like the planet Venus, which is only visible near the horizon and goes into the grave every night, and can never rise high in the sky. The king of Babylon is defeated, just like Venus or Lucifer was supposedly defeated or "cast out of heaven" and left to roam low, to and fro, near the earth or horizon.
The writer of Revelation, whoever it was, claims that Jesus actually referred to himself as the "Morning Star," which presents a problem with the idea of Satan being some fallen angel named Lucifer or fallen "Morning Star," when Jesus is said to have also referred to himself as the "Morning Star."
Rev 22:16 (NIV)
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
Jesus calls himself the "Morning Star," just like Venus was a Morning Star and a goddess of love to the Romans, and Jesus is supposed to express the idea of unconditional love, just like Venus and many of its other ancient personifications expressed ideas of love and beauty and youth and brightness.
The "fallen angel" part of the Lucifer story is handed down and passed on out of ignorance for the most part. Some people actually believe it, and tell it to other people. The Mormons went a little crazy with the story, and got caught with their pants down, so to speak.
From:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtml
"So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah's original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed 'ancient record', he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon. Obviously he wasn't copying what Isaiah actually wrote. He was copying the King James Version of the Bible. Another book of LDS scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith's incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah."
Conclusions
The bottom line or conclusion is that Lucifer isn't actually some fallen angel, but merely a Latin name used to refer to the planet Venus, which can't be seen high in the sky, and so was considered a "fallen angel" by some of the ancient myth-makers and storytellers.
Additionally, there isn't and never was some actual war going on in some invisible heaven that nobody can actually see. The war was just made up by ancient storytellers attempting to explain the things they saw going on up in the actual night sky, and sometimes the day sky, during events such as eclipses.
If the church you go to teaches that Lucifer is really some fallen angel who was cast out of the high heavens in some act caused by his pride or defiance of some invisible god, then you should print this out and give it to your pastor or preacher or church leader, and teach them something they don't already know.
The Atlantis Encyclopedia
the atlantis encyclopediaMost books about the lost continent of Atlantis are largely theoretical. However, The Atlantis Encyclopedia is more fact oriented, focusing on areas such as geology, oceanography, and astronomy, as well as the numerous folk traditions around the world which preserve memories of a great flood. The exhaustive information presented in this book is the result of more than two decades of continuous study and international travel by the author. From Morocco's underground shrine to Britain's Stonehenge, seldom seen solar monuments in Japan's remote forests to a cannibal temple in Polynesia, Frank Joseph takes novice readers, specialists, and skeptics alike on an intensive journey through Atlantean civilization.
The Atlantis Encyclopedia-written in an alphabetic, encyclopedic format-also offers comprehensive information about the Pacific counterpart to Atlantis: the lost kingdom of Mu, also known as Lemuria. A few of the topics covered in this book:
* Viracocha, the early Inca culture-hero who "rose" from the depths of Lake Titicaca
* Balor, the king of the giant Sea People in Irish folklore
* Island of Jewels, the paradisiacal realm in Hindu myth. At the center of this island hidden by misty akasha, was a magnificent palace where all wishes were granted.
* Enki, the sea-god of Sumerian myth who was a pre-flood culture-bearer from Atlantis
* Numinor, J.R.R. Tolkien's version of Atlantis in Lord of the Rings. Tolkien claimed to have been plagued since childhood by nightmares he believed were past-life memories of the Atlantean catastrophe-nightmares also shared by his son. (Numinor was also known as Ele'na and Westernesse).
* Ragnarok, the Norse "Twilight of the Gods"
* Pleiades, also known as Atlantides, means "Daughter of Atlas". Greek scholar Diodoras Siculus wrote that the Pleiades were not originally mythic figures, but real women who married Atlantean culture bearers. Long after their deaths, they were regarded as divine, and commemorated as a star cluster.
* Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote about Atlantis in a 1928 serialization by The Saturday Evening Post called The Maracot Deep.
At 312-pages, this reference book also features 16 full-color photographs and images, as well as black-and-white photos interspersed throughout the text. Questions addressed in this book include:
* Where was it located?
* How long ago did it flourish?
* How was it destroyed?
* What became of its survivors?
* Have any remains of Atlantis ever been found?
* Will Atlantis ever be found?
* Did Atlantis have any impact on America?
The Atlantis Encyclopedia is a unique and valuable resource that doesn't aim to prove that the sunken capital actually existed. Yet, with all the evidence mustered on its behalf, even skeptics may conclude that there is SOMETHING factual behind this enduring, global legend.
Obama nation Globalist wins Peace Prize and Attacks and Bombs the moon the same day
Will NASA's 10/9 Moon Bombing Trigger A Conflict With ETs?
Three probes confirm water’s presence on moon
Orbiter sees tentative signs of water on moon
Save the moon? Experts try to ease fears
How the Nobel Peace Prize started Reality is Stranger than FictionChemist Alfred Nobel invented the explosive nitroglycerin which was
unstable and often went off by accident killing people using it.
He then invented Dynamite a safer version that was much more stable
and saved lives.
Then his invention dynamite was used in early wars being thrown like
hand grenades and this upset Nobel who started the yearly Nobel peace
Prize.
Raw Video: NASA Probe Slams Into the Moon
OBAMA: 'SURPRISED AND DEEPLY HUMBLED'...
WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE...
MIXED REVIEWS; 'EMBARRASSING JOKE'...
PAPER: This makes mockery of peace prize...
White House Aide: 'It's Not April 1st, Is It?'...
Carter: 'Bold statement'...
Lech Walesa: 'Too early. He has no contribution so far'...
Oslo 'political endorsement'...
Speaking of lunar impacts: While we await the science data from the LCROSS mission impact earlier this morning, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team has released this image of another impact on the Moon 38 years ago . The crater in the center of this image was formed by Apollo 14's Saturn IVB booster. The booster was intentionally impacted into the lunar surface on Feb. 4, 1971. The impact caused a minor "moonquake" that scientists used to learn about the moon's interior structure. Seismometers placed on the surface by the Apollo 12 astronauts returned data on the tremor.
Click to continue… Filed under: Moon | 1 Comm
Top 30 Tweets about Obama winning Nobel Prize
Email this storyNot a Parody
World Government Plan: Aliens to Police USA
http://www.worldservice.org/index2.html
In every issue of the World Citizen News there is an enlightening cartoon from Mark Douglas-Hughes. Choose a topic from the following list to see one of eight cartoons selected for the World Citizen Web. The issue of WCN that the cartoon came from is listed in italics.
- Past to Future: The World Government Syntegrity(R) Project - Volume 7, number 5
- Syntegrity in Action - Volume 7, number 7
- The Innefective UN Tribunal - Volume 7, number 10
- World Service Authority Documents - Volume 8, number 2
- Communications and the Internet - Volume 8, number 4
- Responsible Use of Energy - Volume 8, number 5
- World Currency - Volume 9, number 2
- The United Nations Smokescreen - Volume 9, number 4
- World Peace and Personal Health - Volume 9, number 5
- We Belong to the Earth - Volume 9, number 6
- The Quest For a Peaceful World
- Soldiers or Terrorists?
- Water, Our Common Heritage
- The Obsolesence of NATO
- God On Our Side! - Volume 10, number 1
- Taiwan's Independence - Volume 10, number 2
- Children - The World's Future - Volume 10, number 3
- The Value of Our Forests - Volume 10, number 4
- The American Dream - Volume 10, number 5
- Looking Back from the Future - Volume 10, number 6
- The World Citizen Chronicles - Volume 11, number 1
- The First Step Towards World Government - Volume 11, number 1
The United Nations or similarly sinister institutions aspiring to global dominance play the starring role in quite a few conspiracy theories, the basic premisse of which is that there is a secret plot to abolish the national sovereignty of all the world’s countries and install some sort of world government. One variant of that theory, discussed in #286, shows a world dominated by a small number of states, among which an expanded USA, within the framework of a New World Order.
This secret map here, stencilled for added clandestinity, shows another option: a world where expanded spheres of influence have been replaced by total interdependence, with national armies policing places far away from home. Only in North America are the ‘peacekeeping’ armies clearly labelled:
- Canada would be policed by Mongolian, German and Russian troops.
- The Irish army would be stationed in the Pacific states of the US.
- The Midwest would be patrolled by the Belgian army.
- The Russians would police the South of the US
- Colombian and Venezuelan troops would patrol the Northeast of the US.
- Mongolian troops would be stationed in Mexico.
There’s a bit of explanation on how this would work, under the title: WORLD GOVERNMENT PLAN – ALIENS TO POLICE U. S. A.
“World Government” 2005
"Mapping the Laboratory Planet" at Transmediale
http://www.transmediale.de
in "End of Secrecy" by Bureau d'études
http://www.laboratoryplanet.org
This map, adopted in 1952 in London by the World Association of Parlementarians for World Government, shows what alien troops would occupy and police the six regions into which the United States and Canada would be divided.
The ruling body or World Parliament would consist only of appointed members. It would reflect population-strengths; so Asia would dominate it.
There would be a World Director, 8 zone directors and 51 regional directors. None of the zone or regional directors would ever serve in their own countries. So an alien (i.e. a non-national, not an actual extraterrestrial, ed.) would command troops stationed in the U.S. and through them enforce World Government Law, and prevent Americans from “sheltering behind national allegiance”.
On the side of the map, a note further explains:
This is the world troop map. Don’t let it scare you. It is presented here to show that the planning has been extensive, and of long-standing, to place the U.S.A. under a world army-police system. By stopping the funding to the United Nations and cancelling the “United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (and amendments) we could literally “pull the plug” on the whole world government apparatus. Public law 87-297 should also be repealed which is the cause of our bases being closed and our armed forces being merged with the Russian and Chinese armies.
It’s a bit puzzling that a plot so sinister, the planning for which has been so extensive, could be stopped simply by repealing a few laws, and by ending US funding of the UN. Another weakness of the conspiracy theory is that there doesn’t seem to be or ever have been a World Association of Parliamentarians for World Government.
But the Pugwash Movement, mentioned in the first text box, does seem to exist, and does seem to be concerned with worldwide disarmament; their website does not mention the arrest, trial and execution of anyone resisting disarmament. But then they wouldn’t be that stupid, would they?
Former White House Speechwriter Suggests Military Coup Could Oust Obama
Perry says trampling of Constitution may force officers to conduct "intervention"
Video: Super 8 Police State – life under Obama’s Civilian National Security Force
Super 8 Police State & The Draft of Future’s Past is a commercial for the Civilian National Security Force. The Department of Homeland Security encourages everyone ages 18-25 to suit up in their future faceless uniforms and get involved with their community.
Matt Dayton
October 7, 2009
Help us rid the streets of all the domestic terrorists plotting and scheming to destroy our freedoms. Don’t Break the Law. Become it! Enslave today!
Note: This video is a parody based on real life news items
Bizarre Cloud Filmed Over Moscow. Filmed October 6, 2009
Campaign for Liberty FEMA Training Camp Field Trip Schedule
Meet At Gary's at 5:45am
Depart at 6:00am
Monthly Meeting
Tad DeHaven of the CATO Institute
Seymour High School Auditorium
1350 West 2nd St.
Seymour, IN
9:00 A.M.
Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Policy Scholars
Muscatatuck, open house from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. Admission is free.
Tour Jennings county searching for FEMA Trailers at Airport
Depart for Home....
Stop in Beach Grove and checkout Amtrax Station AKA FEMA Camp.
The public is invited to take a look at Muscatatuck, a place that could boost southeastern Indiana's economy, at an open house from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. Admission is free.
Military and political officials call Muscatatuck "the premier training facility in the country." When fully operational within three years, it is expected that 40,000 active and reserve soldiers will be trained there each year in a setting that is like no other. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been quoted projecting future employment at the facility at double the number of employees at Greensburg's Honda plant.
http://www.mutc.in.ng.mil/PUBLICAFFAIRS/MUTCLatestNews/tabid/817/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/127/MUTC-to-Celebrate-Open-House.aspx
--- On Tue, 10/6/09, neverknwo wrote:
From: neverknwo
Subject: Re: [ronpaul-412] Real FEMA Camp Field Trip Sat?
To: ronpaul-412@meetup.com
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 8:17 AM
I was also wanting to make a visit on the way down and drive by Beachgrove, IN's Amtrax Station in what has been dubed a FEMA camp too. Which was gonna be a surprise until now.
'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-hvPJPTi4
ICE and FEMA and DHS have been field testing the mass arrest techniques for years now at Muscatatuck ...
It may not be the dreaded FEMA Detention Centers everyone is worried about but it still makes it a FEMA Training Camp. What are the odds that they even have a Detention Faucilty on site for training?
There is a strategy for mass arrests and detentions at FEMA Camps.
I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp
Add to that Endgame uses tactics similar to the ethnic cleansing we saw in the Balkans during the 1990s -- lightning raids, mass arrests, packed detention centers, and mass deportations -- ICE has quietly removed documents about operation Endgame from its website, ice.gov.
http://www.aclum.org/issues/ice_doc_gallery.php
neverknwo
--- On Tue, 10/6/09, Jim and Sandy Martindale
From: Jim and Sandy Martindale
Subject: Re: [ronpaul-412] Real FEMA Camp Field Trip Sat?
To: ronpaul-412@meetup.com
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 7:32 AM
From: Rachel
To: ronpaul-412@meetup.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 7:03:27 PM
Subject: Re: [ronpaul-412] Real FEMA Camp Field Trip Sat?
www.rachel4congress.info
www.retakecongress.com
-----Original Message-----
From: neverknwo
To: ronpaul-412@meetup.com
Sent: Mon, Oct 5, 2009 7:17 pm
Subject: [ronpaul-412] Real FEMA Camp Field Trip Sat?
| Who wants to Go? neverknwo URBAN WARRIORS Muscatatuck training center offers public an up-close view Pat Whitney Courier Staff Writer By the end of this year, 40,000 active and reserve troops from all branches of the military, Special Forces, State Department, top allied military forces, and civilian police, fire and first-responder groups will have undergone training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center. The public is invited to take a look at Muscatatuck, a place that could boost southeastern Indiana's economy, at an open house from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. Admission is free. Military and political officials call Muscatatuck "the premier training facility in the country." When fully operational within three years, it is expected that 40,000 active and reserve soldiers will be trained there each year in a setting that is like no other. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been quoted projecting future employment at the facility at double the number of employees at Greensburg's Honda plant. "The trajectory for this place keeps getting steeper and steeper with its potential," Daniels said during a community meeting at the site in May where he praised Muscatatuck for its direct contribution to the security of the United States. "...In itself, (it's) enough for the people of Indiana with the way this state feels about people in uniform. To also have it become an infusion of jobs and dollars in this part of the state is a double plus." Driving tours will leave from the chapel on the Muscatatuck grounds at the top of each hour and walking tours will depart at the bottom of each hour during the open house. Muscatatuck staff members will be on hand to answer questions and show displays that explain the vehicles, weapons systems and training techniques used at the site. Visitors can tour buildings, and enjoy hands-on displays, historical stories, games for the children, and food and drinks. "We want the people of the local area to see what we have built and why we have built it ... (and) get a feel for why we're here," said Lt. Col. Chris Kelsey, the Muscatatuck commander. Located on U.S. 250 two miles east of North Vernon near Butlerville, the site contains 70 existing buildings with more being constructed, two lakes, a water tower, power plant and tunnels conn ecting the buildings underground. The 1,000-acre tract houses a realistic Middle Eastern village, a high-tech video network center, perimeter security, bombed-out buildings perfect for search-and-rescue dog training, watch towers and an overpass. Muscatatuck is being transformed to replicate a city environment in which units of all sizes can prepare for operations in urban settings. Visitors will see several Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings constructed on the site from 1935 to 1950, which have been preserved and maintained by the military. Through Section 106 of the federal National Historic Preservation Act, several steps have been taken to document the history of Muscatatuck. Karsti n Carmany, the cultural resource manager for Muscatatuck, said nothi ng will be done to change the outward look of the historic buildings due to an agreement between the state and the military. Also on the grounds are a mock cemetery, an embassy, a gas station and radio station, and mock religious buildings, pipelines and oilfields. Muscatatuck is also the site of the Patriot Academy, a program where young men and women without a high school diploma can join the Army and study for their GED while getting a jump-start into military training. Realistic training prepares soldiers Some building interiors have been updated and additional structures have been built on the grounds by local contractors. The Army has gone to great lengths to replicate the environment and situations trainees bound for the Middle East might encounter. During training, soldiers dressed in fatigues leap from a military truck or rappel from helicopters and towers. They dart from building to building, shop to shop, dealing with looters or looking for insurgents - always on guard in an environment where the enemy is indistinguishable from civilians. Iraqi music blares on the marketplace street with its busy bazaar and boisterous barrage of shouting in Farsi. All the while, soldiers listen for the quietest movement within structures they attempt to secure, each a sinuous snake pit of rooms, closets and small spaces to hide a lurking enemy . Not even a burqa-shrouded woman is beyond suspicion. Role players in Middle-Eastern garb make the scene a real as it can get. Even nearby businesses get in on the act during training exercises. "Insurgent and irregular warfare, unfortunately, seems here to stay," said Sgt. Bradley Staggs, Muscatatuck public affairs. "The enemy is no longer easily identified. As the need to protect troops adapts and diplomacy evolves, MUTC could well position itself to be utilized for decades." Muscatatuck also retrains veteran combat soldiers who have returned from the Middle East, training them to move from warfare mentality to urban rescue mode after a terrorist attack or other homeland disaster. < /SPAN> The Indiana National Guard took control of the facility in July 2005 after the closing of Muscatatuck State Developmental Center. The facility first opened as the Indiana Farm Colony, a work farm and residential facility that only accepted developmentally disabled men over the age of 16. In 1925, with the transfer of the colony's administrative authority to the School for Feebleminded Youth at Fort Wayne, the site became Epileptic Village, where the focus was less on work and more on education. In 1941, the colony became the Muscatatuck State School and began to accept women. Before deciding to hand over the site to the Army, the state had considered giving the entire tract to Purdue University for a tree farm. The cost of demolition was estimated at $60 million, with no prospe ct of developing jobs. Purdue continues to do research growing corn and soybeans on adjoining land. neverknwo http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=178&SubSectionID=287&ArticleID=53259 |
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