Being the Veteran's Day account of the malingering liar and founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard.
His military service was marked by incompetence and ineptitude. His tall tales of military heroism have been debunked by his own Naval records. Ron may have been a visionary of sorts, but he never conceived of a Freedom of Information Act!
Back in the 50s, a man named Lafayette R. Hubbard (aka L. Ron Hubbard) got tired of writing cheap pulp fiction for a penny a word, and founded a religion. He called it Scientology. Along with this peculiar and secretive organization, he crafted himself a whole new history in which he was an explorer, an educator, a genius, a humanitarian, and a war hero.
Although he fancied himself as a visionary, he never conceived of an Internet or the Freedom of Information Act.
Naval records acquired under the Freedom of Information Act exposed him as an incompetent malingerer. In his excellent and well-researched treatise of Hubbard’s military service, Chris Owen states;
"...there is absolutely no doubt that Scientology has issued numerous inaccurate accounts of Hubbard’s military career. It has claimed that Hubbard fought on islands that he never visited; was awarded medals that he never won; commanded naval formations that never existed; and suffered injuries that he never sustained."
ALTHOUGH HUBBARD DIED IN 1986, THE MYTH OF "RON THE WAR HERO" CONTINUES TO THIS DAY, PROMOTED BY THE "CHURCH" OF SCIENTOLOGY
These lies are an insult to every Veteran who honorably served their country. Lafayette Ron Hubbard does not deserve to be seen as a war hero, and the Church of Scientology should cease promoting him as such.
Incompetent Leadership
In 1999, historian and researcher Chris Owen undertook the task of researching Hubbard’s war history. In one example of exemplary service, Hubbard in command of a sub chaser conducted a two-day battle off Cape Lookout, Oregon with a magnetic seabed clearly marked on charts of the area. Mr. Owen notes,
"The implication was obvious: the PC-815 had fought a two-day battle with a magnetic deposit. Hubbard never accepted this. He claimed (but was not awarded) two battle stars for his American Campaign Medal, and to this day the Church of Scientology claims that he sunk up to two enemy submarines".
Relieved of that post, Hubbard was ordered to San Diego. During an exercise at sea, he wound up shelling the Coronado Islands southwest of San Diego. He was ignorant of the fact that the Coronado Islands are Mexican territories and subsequently blamed his crew for the mistake. As commanding officer of the ship, it was solely his responsibility.
Rear Admiral Braisted noted in Hubbard’s fitness report after the incident,
"Consider this officer lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation."
Faked Forms, Faked Medals
Hubbard directed his Scientology staff in 1974 to write to the Navy to request the 27 medals that he claimed, to include the Purple Heart (with palm), Philippine Defense Medal (with 3 silver stars), European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal (with 1 bronze star) and the Bronze Star. Scientology backed their claim with a DD Form 214 that differed greatly from what the Navy had.
Consider that Hubbard’s Navy career never went beyond the coastal waters of North America and never saw combat. The Naval records only show four medals, the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and World War 2 Victory Medal.
Why do the two DD Form 214’s differ so much? Because the one Scientology presented is signed by someone who never shows up on any Navy rosters for that time period. In short, it is a phony. Scientology continues to use this phony document to deceive people even after it has been pointed out to them many times.
Hubbard's Private Navy
Having failed at achieving recognition and success in the real Navy, Hubbard did the next best thing; he founded his own. He bought a couple of old boats, and strutted around in an interesting array of nautical outfits, and called himself ‘Commodore.’
Called the ‘Sea Organization," or "Sea Org," it is considered to be the elite membership of the Scientology organization. Members dress in faux Navy uniforms, sign a billion year contract, and are subjected to harsh and punitive conditions.
Members are discouraged from having children, and women have been subject to forced abortions in order to maintain their status as Sea Org members.
Sea Org personnel are also subject to being thrown in the Rehabilitation Project Force, (RPF) a "retraining camp" for recalcitrant members. Victims of the RPF are subjected to horrific abuse, neglect, and working conditions.
Even minor children are recruited. They are forced to work long hours, get little education outside of Scientology training, receive poor medical treatment, and reports of sexual and other abuses are numerous. Parents play no role in bringing up these children, some as young as 13 years old.
RESOURCES
Of course, you should draw your own conclusions about Lafayette R. Hubbard and his military record. There are many excellent resources to draw from.
BOOKS
Russell Miller: Barefaced Messiah
Bent Corydon: Madman or Messiah
Jon Atack: A Piece of Blue Sky
John Duignan: The Complex
Jeff Hawkins: Counterfeit Dreams
Amy Scobee: Abuse at the Top
ON THE WEB
www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/warhero/
WWW.SCIENTOLOGY.ORG
Scientology’s official website
WWW.XENU.NET
Primary resource for critical material
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Sea Organization overview
WWW.EXSEAORG.COM
Ex-members speak out
www.whatisscientology.org/html/Part06/Chp26/
Scientology’s definition of the Sea Org