Reasons to Picket -
NAVY: Official - Hubbard's "record" *is* forged
Full coverage of Ron The War Hero http://www.ronthewarhero.org/
From: Chris Owen
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: NAVY: Official - Hubbard's "record" *is* forged
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 19:42:30 +0100
Message-ID:
--
A few months ago, Karin Spaink put on her website a scan of what
Scientology claims to be L. Ron Hubbard's Notice of Separation (US
Navy
form DD214). This document has been used as the basis of
Scientology's
claims that Hubbard "won 21 medals and palms" for his service in the
US
Navy during World War II. It can be found on Karin's website at
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/pix/lrhmedals.gif, with a covering note
by
Scientology at http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/pix/lrhmedexp.gif
This morning I received confirmation from the US Navy itself that the
DD214 distributed by Scientology is not authentic:
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard commanded the USS Mist. The USS Mist
was a motor launch converted during World War I into a guard boat.
She was returned to her owner in February 1919, when Hubbard was
only
eight years old. She did not serve in World War II.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard won two stars to his Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal. One of Hubbard's ships, the USS Algol, won two
stars
in the APAC theatre for 1 April-10 April 1945 and 10 July-3 August
1945. Only one star was awarded for each engagement; Hubbard would
have had to have been in both battles to have been awarded both
stars.
However, Hubbard had left the ship on 28 September 1944 and was
ineligible for the stars. The US Navy and Marine Corps Awards
Manual
and the relevant Ship's Movement Card shows that his other Pacific
vessel, the USS PC-815, took part in no engagements and was awarded
no
battle stars.
* The DD214 is purportedly signed by Lieutenant Commander Howard D.
Thompson, US Navy Reserve. No officer of this name is listed in the
1944 Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United
States Naval Reserve.
As the Naval Historical Center comment dryly in their letter, "several
inconsistencies exist between Mr. Hubbard's DD214 and the available
facts".
Other "inconsistencies" which I have independently confirmed:
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard commanded the USS Howland. No such
vessel exists in the US Naval Vessel Register.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "British Victory
Medal". No such medal exists, and the British Ministry of Defence
has
no record of having awarded a medal to Hubbard.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "Dutch Victory Medal".
No such medal exists.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "European Theater"
medal (probably the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal).
Hubbard never served in the EAME theatre of operations.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was at college for four years and held
a degree in Civil Engineering. In fact, he dropped out after two
years and held no academic qualifications.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded a Purple Heart with palm.
This is awarded only for combat injuries. No such injury is
recorded
in his medical reports, nor is he recorded as having being in combat
with the enemy at any time.
* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded a "Marine Medal" (there is
no medal of this name). His only service with the US Marine Corps
was
as a reservist in 1930-31, during which time his total period of
active service was five weeks (all training); he was discharged with
the instruction that he was not to be re-enlisted. He would not
have
been eligible for any USMC medals in World War II.
* Despite what the DD214 claims there is no record of Hubbard having
been awarded any commendations, stars (not palms) to the American
Campaign Medal, Rifle and Pistol Expert ribbons or the Distinguished
Marksman ribbon.
A final damning fact is that the DD214 distributed by Scientology is
very different to that in Hubbard's US Navy file - that one does fit
the
records of Hubbard's naval service.
The only possible conclusion is that Scientology's copy of the
document
is in fact an incompetently executed forgery. The only question
remaining is whodunnit. Does anyone know a graphologist? It would be
interesting to see if there were any similarities between L. Ron
Hubbard's signature and that of the fictitious Lt Cdr Thompson, which
I
suspect there are.
One other interesting thing which the Navy sent to me was a copy of
the
USS PC-815's Movements Card (a form recording the movements of a Navy
vessel), which provides a complete history of the PC-815. It seems to
have had a very quiet career before its unfortunate sinking in 1945:
Depart: 19 May 1943 from Portland, OR
(26 May 1943 directed to Seattle)
Arrive: (28?) May 1943 at Seattle, WA
(directed to San Diego)
Depart 29 May 1943
Arrive: 30 May 1943 at Almeda, CA
(ordered to escort MV CROATAN to San Diego)
Depart: 1 June 1943
Arrive: 1 June 1943 at San Diego, CA
(shakedown and training)
(Hubbard relieved of command on 7 July)
(ordered to escort MV TINOSA until 2nd darkness)
Depart: 7 November 1943
Arrive: 9 November 1943 at San Diego, CA
(There is now a jump forward to 1945; the PC-815 appears to have been
inactive through 1944 and no movements are recorded for that year)
(ordered to escort MV COD until 2nd darkness)
Depart: 28 February 1945 from San Diego, CA
Arrive: 2 March 1945 at San Diego, CA
On 2 November 1945, the PC-815 was assigned active duty with the
Pacific
Fleet. On 11 November, however, the ship collided with the destroyer
USS Laffey off San Diego and sank within two minutes. One man
(presumably from the PC-815) was recorded as missing and probably
drowned. Navy divers demolished the wreck in early November 1945.
Here's what the Navy said in their letter:
----------
Dear Mr. Owen:
This is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act request for
information on the veracity of the DD214 submitted by LaFayette Ronald
Hubbard which was forwarded to our office by the Navy Personnel
Command,
for separate reply.
I am enclosing brief histories of USS ALGOL and USS MIST from this
Center's Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships, as well as
extracts
from the Navy and Marine Corps Medals and Awards Manual, which list
ALGOL as receiving two engagement stars for 1 April-10 April 1945 and
10
July-3 August 1945 to be worn on the Asiatic/Pacific campaign medal.
However, USS MIST did not participate in World War II. The Ships'
Movement Card for USS PC-815 stated that it was on the west coast of
the
U.S. until it was sunk in September 1945 by a collision with USS
LAFFEY.
Neither MIST or PC-815 received engagement stars for World War II.
Thus
Lieutenant Hubbard could not have received all the engagement stars
claimed on the DD214. His official service records is held by the
Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis,
Missouri 63132-5100. Because of Privacy Act concerns the information
from these records is available to the veteran, or if deceased, to the
next of kin. I enclose this Center's information packet on the service
records which includes an order form.
I am also sending extracts from the 1944 Register of Commissioned and
Warrant Officers of the United States Naval Reserve which does not
have
a listing for a Howard D. Thompson. In July 1944, Lieutenant Lafayette
R. Hubbard is listed D-VS (Deck Officers, commissioned and warrant,
including boatswains and ships clerks, qualified for specialist
duties).
The schools he attended by July 1944 were Sound for Sonar, and
Subchaser
Training Center.
Several inconsistencies exist between Mr. Hubbard's DD214 and the
available facts. Your interest in naval history is appreciated and I
hope that this information will prove helpful.
Sincerely,
Kathleen M. Lloyd
for BERNARD F. CAVALCANTE
Head, Operational Archives Branch
--
| Chris Owen - chriso@lutefisk.demon.co.uk |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| WORLD'S BIGGEST SINCLAIR WEB ARCHIVE: |
| http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair |
| OFFLINE VERSION: http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/plansinc.zip |
From: armstrong@dowco.com (gerry armstrong)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Re: [forwarded] NAVY: Official - Hubbard's "record" *is* forged
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 22:11:16 GMT
Message-ID: <376eb58e.82400682@news.dowco.com>
[p & m]
chriso@lutefisk.demon.co.uk
On Thu, 17 Jun 1999 21:01:30 GMT, Wog_World@geocities.com (Just Wog)
wrote:
>Forwarded to sci.military.naval
>
>I thought you folks might enjoy reading about Hubbard's *real* USN
>record.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>From: Chris Owen
>Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
>Subject: NAVY: Official - Hubbard's "record" *is* forged
>Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 19:42:30 +0100
>Distribution: world
>Message-ID:
>NNTP-Posting-Host: lutefisk.demon.co.uk
>X-NNTP-Posting-Host: lutefisk.demon.co.uk:193.237.135.148
>X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 929645010 nnrp-10:7904 NO-IDENT
>lutefisk.demon.co.uk:193.237.135.148
>X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net
>Lines: 174
>--
>
>A few months ago, Karin Spaink put on her website a scan of what
>Scientology claims to be L. Ron Hubbard's Notice of Separation (US
>Navy
>form DD214). This document has been used as the basis of
>Scientology's
>claims that Hubbard "won 21 medals and palms" for his service in the
>US
>Navy during World War II. It can be found on Karin's website at
>http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/pix/lrhmedals.gif, with a covering note
>by
>Scientology at http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/pix/lrhmedexp.gif
>
>This morning I received confirmation from the US Navy itself that the
>DD214 distributed by Scientology is not authentic:
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard commanded the USS Mist. The USS Mist
> was a motor launch converted during World War I into a guard boat.
> She was returned to her owner in February 1919, when Hubbard was
>only
> eight years old. She did not serve in World War II.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard won two stars to his Asiatic-Pacific
> Campaign Medal. One of Hubbard's ships, the USS Algol, won two
>stars
> in the APAC theatre for 1 April-10 April 1945 and 10 July-3 August
> 1945. Only one star was awarded for each engagement; Hubbard would
> have had to have been in both battles to have been awarded both
>stars.
> However, Hubbard had left the ship on 28 September 1944 and was
> ineligible for the stars. The US Navy and Marine Corps Awards
>Manual
> and the relevant Ship's Movement Card shows that his other Pacific
> vessel, the USS PC-815, took part in no engagements and was awarded
>no
> battle stars.
>
>* The DD214 is purportedly signed by Lieutenant Commander Howard D.
> Thompson, US Navy Reserve. No officer of this name is listed in the
>
> 1944 Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United
> States Naval Reserve.
>
>As the Naval Historical Center comment dryly in their letter, "several
>inconsistencies exist between Mr. Hubbard's DD214 and the available
>facts".
>
>Other "inconsistencies" which I have independently confirmed:
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard commanded the USS Howland. No such
> vessel exists in the US Naval Vessel Register.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "British Victory
> Medal". No such medal exists, and the British Ministry of Defence
>has
> no record of having awarded a medal to Hubbard.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "Dutch Victory Medal".
>
> No such medal exists.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded the "European Theater"
> medal (probably the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal).
>
> Hubbard never served in the EAME theatre of operations.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was at college for four years and held
>
> a degree in Civil Engineering. In fact, he dropped out after two
> years and held no academic qualifications.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded a Purple Heart with palm.
>
> This is awarded only for combat injuries. No such injury is
>recorded
> in his medical reports, nor is he recorded as having being in combat
>
> with the enemy at any time.
>
>* The DD214 claims that Hubbard was awarded a "Marine Medal" (there is
>
> no medal of this name). His only service with the US Marine Corps
>was
> as a reservist in 1930-31, during which time his total period of
> active service was five weeks (all training); he was discharged with
>
> the instruction that he was not to be re-enlisted. He would not
>have
> been eligible for any USMC medals in World War II.
>
>* Despite what the DD214 claims there is no record of Hubbard having
> been awarded any commendations, stars (not palms) to the American
> Campaign Medal, Rifle and Pistol Expert ribbons or the Distinguished
>
> Marksman ribbon.
>
>A final damning fact is that the DD214 distributed by Scientology is
>very different to that in Hubbard's US Navy file - that one does fit
>the
>records of Hubbard's naval service.
>
>The only possible conclusion is that Scientology's copy of the
>document
>is in fact an incompetently executed forgery. The only question
>remaining is whodunnit.
I recall very well the notice of separation and the Lieutenant
Commander Howard D.Thompson signature on it, and thought at the time,
on the basis of what I knew of Hubbard's actual record, the document
being in Hubbard's personal archive (as opposed to coming from the
navy by FOIA request, which also happened), and a comparison of the
"Thompson" signature with my knowledge of countless examples of
Hubbard's signature and writing, that Hubbard had himself filled in
and signed the document.
Omar Garrison and I had some laughs speculating whether the Commander
Thompson who signed what we were sure was an attempt by Hubbard to
fudge his record was the mysterious "Snake" Thompson of other Hubbard
hagiography.
My recollection is that there were two original navy forms "signed" by
Thompson, one 4 pages on yellow paper, the other the white separation
notice. My recollection is, and I was struck by this at the time, that
one of the signatures was in pencil. But that was a long time ago in
1980-81, and my recollection is uncertain. I don't recall if the
Commander Thompson-signed separation notice ever made it into the
record in $cientology v. Armstrong, or Christofferson v. $cientology,
although it is very possible.
Hubbard also had in his personal archive various blank pieces of US
Navy stationery or official forms, and this also weighed in my forming
the belief that he had set out to manufacture a false naval record for
himself.
You have done some valuable work here for us all, and helped me
personally and especially.
(c) Gerry Armstrong
> Does anyone know a graphologist? It would be
>interesting to see if there were any similarities between L. Ron
>Hubbard's signature and that of the fictitious Lt Cdr Thompson, which
>I
>suspect there are.
>
>One other interesting thing which the Navy sent to me was a copy of
>the
>USS PC-815's Movements Card (a form recording the movements of a Navy
>vessel), which provides a complete history of the PC-815. It seems to
>have had a very quiet career before its unfortunate sinking in 1945:
>
>Depart: 19 May 1943 from Portland, OR
>(26 May 1943 directed to Seattle)
>
>Arrive: (28?) May 1943 at Seattle, WA
>(directed to San Diego)
>Depart 29 May 1943
>
>Arrive: 30 May 1943 at Almeda, CA
>(ordered to escort MV CROATAN to San Diego)
>Depart: 1 June 1943
>
>Arrive: 1 June 1943 at San Diego, CA
>(shakedown and training)
>(Hubbard relieved of command on 7 July)
>(ordered to escort MV TINOSA until 2nd darkness)
>Depart: 7 November 1943
>
>Arrive: 9 November 1943 at San Diego, CA
>
>(There is now a jump forward to 1945; the PC-815 appears to have been
>inactive through 1944 and no movements are recorded for that year)
>
>(ordered to escort MV COD until 2nd darkness)
>Depart: 28 February 1945 from San Diego, CA
>
>Arrive: 2 March 1945 at San Diego, CA
>
>On 2 November 1945, the PC-815 was assigned active duty with the
>Pacific
>Fleet. On 11 November, however, the ship collided with the destroyer
>USS Laffey off San Diego and sank within two minutes. One man
>(presumably from the PC-815) was recorded as missing and probably
>drowned. Navy divers demolished the wreck in early November 1945.
>
>Here's what the Navy said in their letter:
>
>----------
>
>Dear Mr. Owen:
>
>This is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act request for
>information on the veracity of the DD214 submitted by LaFayette Ronald
>Hubbard which was forwarded to our office by the Navy Personnel
>Command,
>for separate reply.
>
>I am enclosing brief histories of USS ALGOL and USS MIST from this
>Center's Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships, as well as
>extracts
>from the Navy and Marine Corps Medals and Awards Manual, which list
>ALGOL as receiving two engagement stars for 1 April-10 April 1945 and
>10
>July-3 August 1945 to be worn on the Asiatic/Pacific campaign medal.
>However, USS MIST did not participate in World War II. The Ships'
>Movement Card for USS PC-815 stated that it was on the west coast of
>the
>U.S. until it was sunk in September 1945 by a collision with USS
>LAFFEY.
>Neither MIST or PC-815 received engagement stars for World War II.
>Thus
>Lieutenant Hubbard could not have received all the engagement stars
>claimed on the DD214. His official service records is held by the
>Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis,
>Missouri 63132-5100. Because of Privacy Act concerns the information
>from these records is available to the veteran, or if deceased, to the
>next of kin. I enclose this Center's information packet on the service
>records which includes an order form.
>
>I am also sending extracts from the 1944 Register of Commissioned and
>Warrant Officers of the United States Naval Reserve which does not
>have
>a listing for a Howard D. Thompson. In July 1944, Lieutenant Lafayette
>R. Hubbard is listed D-VS (Deck Officers, commissioned and warrant,
>including boatswains and ships clerks, qualified for specialist
>duties).
>The schools he attended by July 1944 were Sound for Sonar, and
>Subchaser
>Training Center.
>
>Several inconsistencies exist between Mr. Hubbard's DD214 and the
>available facts. Your interest in naval history is appreciated and I
>hope that this information will prove helpful.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Kathleen M. Lloyd
>for BERNARD F. CAVALCANTE
>Head, Operational Archives Branch
>
>--
> | Chris Owen - chriso@lutefisk.demon.co.uk |
> |---------------------------------------------------------------|
> | WORLD'S BIGGEST SINCLAIR WEB ARCHIVE: |
> | http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair |
> | OFFLINE VERSION: http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/plansinc.zip |
>
From: "Dave VanHorn"
Newsgroups: fido7.military.navy,alt.religion.scientology
References: <929737747.774922@helium.cstone.net>
Subject: Re: [forwarded] NAVY: Official - Hubbard's "record" *is* forged
Message-ID:
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 20:54:37 GMT
In case you missed it, here's a summary
Coming soon to a website near you, the volume in the "Ron" series which
Scientology will never dare publish: "Ron The War Hero", a warts-and-all
account of Hubbard's military career. Highlights include:
* Hubbard's multiple rejections by the US Armed Forces
* The letters of commendation sent to the US Navy - written by Hubbard
himself
* Hubbard's forged service record
* Why Hubbard was pursued for debts and a missing Tommy gun
* Hubbard's non-existent career in "corvettes"
* The truth about the submarine battle that never was
* Hubbard's accidental attack on Mexico
* Hubbard's mysterious duodenal ulcer and his pleas for psychiatric
treatment
* L. Fletcher Prouty's claims disowned - by the man himself
* Previously unpublished photos of Hubbard's ships
* Scans of key documents from Hubbard's service record, plus
related background documents
Coming soon - look out for it! :-)
As a taster, here's one of the early chapters. I'm about 50% of the way
through the whole work by now; there will be around 22 sections plus
scans and background documents (I estimate about 4-5Mb of data; 2.27Mb
so far).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. L. RON HUBBARD: HIS STRUGGLE WITH TRUTH *
If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.
- The Joker, "Batman: The Killing Joke" (1989)
L. Ron Hubbard was commissioned into the Navy before the war ("A Brief
Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", 1960) or, alternatively, at its outbreak
as a lieutenant (junior grade) ("What Is Scientology?", 1992 ed). He
was ordered to the Philippines on the entry of the US into the war
("What Is Scientology?", 1978 edition). Alternatively, he was landed
from the USS Edsall on the north coast of Java on the same day as Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor. However, he was cut off near Surabaya by
invading Japanese forces in February 1942, and after a trek through the
jungle to the south coast, scrambled into a rubber raft and sailed
across the Timor Sea to within a hundred miles of the Australian coast
before being picked up by a friendly destroyer (Church of Scientology v.
Armstrong, 21 May 1984; also Dan Sherman, LRH Biographer, quoted in
Freedom magazine, Spring 1997).
As a further alternative, he first served in Australia where he
coordinated naval intelligence activities and was Senior Officer Present
Ashore ("L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle", 1990). He went to Java as a
counter-intelligence officer to organise relief for beleagured American
forces on Bataan ("Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996).
While escaping from the Japanese on Java, he suffered severe injuries
after being machine-gunned in the back (Church of Scientology v.
Armstrong, 21 May 1984). Alternatively, he fractured an ankle while
evading the Japanese ("Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996). He was flown home
in the Secretary of the Navy's private plane as the first US casualty
returned from the Far East ("A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", 1960;
also "Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996).
Another alternative states that during 1941-42 he served in Brisbane as
a mail officer manning the only anti-aircraft battery in Australia ("An
interview granted to the Australian Press on January 10th 1963 at Saint
Hill Manor ... by L. Ron Hubbard"). His posting ended when he was
relieved by fifteen officers of rank ("Mission into Time", 1973). As
yet another alternative, in 1941 he rewrote the Hydrographic Office
Publications for the US Navy (Hubbard, "Autobiographical notes for Peter
Tompkins", 6 June 1972).
Arriving back in the US in March 1942, the shortage of skilled officers
was such that he was ordered at once to the command of the former
British corvette, the Mist. He saw service for the remainder of that
year with British and American anti-submarine vessels in the North
Atlantic ("A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", 1960). He rose to
command the Fourth British Corvette Squadron ("A Short Biography of L.
Ron Hubbard", The Auditor magazine, issue 63).
In 1943, he was transferred to the North Pacific where he was made
Commodore of Corvette Squadrons ("Facts About L. Ron Hubbard - Things
You Should Know", Flag Divisional Directive 69RA of 8 March 1974,
revised 7 April 1974). He fought and sunk one or, alternatively, two
enemy submarines off the Oregon coast in May 1943 ("L. Ron Hubbard - A
Chronicle", 1990; "Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996; "L. Ron Hubbard as a
Naval Officer", factsheet circulated by Church of Scientology of unknown
but recent date).
The following years, 1944-45, he worked as an instructor at the Small
Craft Training Center in San Pedro, California ("L. Ron Hubbard - A
Chronicle", 1990). He subsequently served with amphibious forces ("A
Report to Members of Parliament on Scientology", 1968) as Navigation
Officer aboard the USS Algol ("L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle", 1990).
Some of his adventures aboard the USS Algol were later made into a
Hollywood film, Mr Roberts, by his screenwriter friends ("A Brief
Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", 1960; also Hubbard, "Autobiographical
notes for Peter Tompkins", 6 June 1972). He later attended Princeton
University as a post-graduate ("A Report to Members of Parliament on
Scientology", 1968) or, alternatively, attended the US Navy's School of
Government at Princeton as a student ("Who's Who in the South and
Southwest", ca. 1963 - entry on Hubbard; also "L. Ron Hubbard - A
Chronicle", 1990). As a further alternative, he saw action aboard a
destroyer in the Aleutians in late 1944 (Jack Williamson, Wonder's
Child: My Life in Science Fiction, 1984).
Hubbard ended the war (in 1944 or, alternatively, 1945) crippled and
blinded after an unexploded shell, which had landed on the deck of his
ship and which he was throwing overboard, exploded in his face (letter
to Hubbard family, quoted by L. Ron Hubbard Jr in letter of 26 January
1973). Alternatively, he had suffered flash-burn injuries to his eyes
while serving as Gunnery Officer aboard the USS Edsall earlier in the
war, resulting in him being declared "legally blind" (Church of
Scientology v. Armstrong, 21 May 1984; also "Ron - Letters and
Journals", 1997). Yet another alternative is that he had been left lame
by shrapnel fragments in hip and back ("Ron - Letters and Journals",
1997). He was taken to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in California where he
was treated for injured optic nerves and physical injuries to his hip
and back. He was assessed as having "no neurotic or psychotic
tendencies of any kind whatsoever" (Hubbard, "The Story of Dianetics &
Scientology", taped lecture of 1958).
Hubbard's long and heroic service took him to all five theatres of World
War II, for which he was rewarded with 21 medals and palms ("Facts About
L. Ron Hubbard - Things You Should Know", 1974). By applying his own
revolutionary mental therapies, which later became the basis of
Scientology, he recovered so fully that he was reclassified for full
combat duty. He spent a full year in Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in
California and was fully recovered by 1947 ("Research & Discovery
Series" vol. 1, 1980). Alternatively, his final post in the US Navy was
as Provost Marshall in Korea in 1945 ("A Report to Members of Parliament
on Scientology", 1968).
Hubbard was not a man who enjoyed war and had seen enough killing to
last him a lifetime ("What Is Scientology?", 1992 ed). He resigned his
commission rather than assist government research projects and instead
published, in 1948, his "original thesis" on his discoveries about the
mind (FSM magazine, vol. 1 no. 1, 1968).
----------------------------------------------------------
Confused? The Church of Scientology certainly is. This improbable and
contradictory account was assembled from no less than twenty-one
different sources, nineteen of which were published by the Church of
Scientology itself. Scientology's own websites present no fewer than
three different versions of Hubbard's service career. 1
As this shows, Scientology has been chronically unable to present a
coherent picture of exactly what Hubbard did in the war. This is
remarkable, since every account credits Hubbard's experiences in the war
as being the catalyst for the development of his "science of the mind".
Considering the fundamental importance of this period to Scientology's
origins, it is most peculiar that the organisation has been unable to
settle on a consistent account.
It is not clear whether Hubbard actually wrote all of these biographical
accounts - the only ones indisputably attributable to him are "The Story
of Dianetics & Scientology" lecture, his "Autobiographical notes for
Peter Tompkins" and the "Interview granted to the Australian Press",
plus also probably the accounts cited by Thomas Moulton in Church of
Scientology v. Armstrong, 21 May 1984 and Jack Williamson in Wonder's
Child. The latter two have never been disowned (indeed, Moulton was
acting as a witness for Scientology). Although the Scientology books
and publications quoted are in most cases copyrighted to Hubbard, this
was standard practice in Scientology, even where someone else was
credited as the author.
There can, however, be little doubt that Hubbard approved most if not
all of them. All were published by the Church of Scientology. The
draconian penalties imposed for publishing unauthorised ("squirrel")
material on Scientology would have ensured that executives at the
highest levels would have had to approve their publication, probably
clearing them via Hubbard himself. He was certainly the original source
of the information. There was, quite simply, no other source - the US
Navy did not release his service record until the 1980s. The claim that
he received 21 medals definitely came from him, as shown by a letter
sent on his behalf in May 1974.
As the compilation of accounts above shows, Scientology (which means
Hubbard himself) was careless about consistency in published
biographical accounts. That did not really matter so long as people
could not access his service records, which the US Navy guarded
zealously from all enquirers. Without the benefit of those files,
Scandal of Scientology author Paulette Cooper, for instance, found
herself writing in 1971 that "he was severely injured in the war (and in
fact was in a lifeboat for many days, badly injuring his body and his
eyes in the hot Pacific sun)." She simply did not have any better
information.
The passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 1973 (for which,
ironically, Scientology had campaigned) began to open the floodgates.
Although Hubbard's personnel record remained sealed until his death in
1986, other documents - such as his ships' log books and previously
classified Action Reports - became publicly available. An amateur
researcher, Michael Shannon, had by 1979 amassed "a mountain of material
which included some files that no one else had bothered to get copies of
- for example, the log books of the Navy ships that Hubbard had served
on, and his father's Navy service file". Copies of Shannon's documents
reached official Scientology archivist Gerry Armstrong.
The rosy picture of Hubbard's heroic wartime service ultimately was
shattered in the US courts. Gerry Armstrong had by this time been
declared "Suppressive" and expelled by Scientology for his insistence
that Hubbard's life story had been grossly misrepresented over the
years. He took with him a large number of highly sensitive documents,
including material from Hubbard's Navy and Veterans' Administration
files. He was subsequently taken to court by Scientology in a case that
came to trial in May 1984. A keystone of Armstrong's defence was his
contention that he was right about the incorrectness Hubbard's of
publicised life story. In defence, Scientology put Hubbard's sometime
second-in-command, former Lt. Thomas Moulton, in the witness stand to
testify on Hubbard's war years. The subsequent cross-examination proved
devastating for Scientology, which lost the case. Moulton's testimony
is reproduced in full elsewhere in this website.
The death of Hubbard in January 1986 finally enabled the public release
of his service record. British author Russell Miller apparently was the
first to obtain the full record and published a withering account of
Hubbard's naval career in his 1987 book, Bare-Faced Messiah. Another
British author, Jon Atack, published a slightly expanded account in A
Piece of Blue Sky (1992). This website aims to be the definitive
account, bringing together an online copy of the US Navy and Veterans'
Administration files plus a detailed analysis of Hubbard's career, his
subsequent claims, and related aspects.
----------
* Title is with apologies to Gitta Sereny.
1 See "L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle" (http://www.lronhubbard.org/asi/ch
rono.htm); "Ron The Poet/Lyricist" (http://www.ronthepoet.org/p_jpg/thew
ar1.htm); and biographical sketches from "What Is Scientology?", 1992
edition (http://www.aboutlronhubbard.org/eng/wis3_1r.htm).
--
| Chris Owen - chriso@lutefisk.demon.co.uk |
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