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. The former launched a worldwide movement to expose the vicious and criminal abuses of the organization he created. The latter exposed him as a fraud, a liar, and a charlatan.

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."

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."

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.

Of course, you should draw your own conclusions about Lafayette R. Hubbard and his military record. There are many excellent resources to draw from.

Russell Miller: Barefaced Messiah
Bent Corydon: Madman or Messiah
Jon Atack: A Piece of Blue Sky

Primary resource for critical material: WWW.XENU.NET

Chris Owen’s definitive history: WWW.RONTHEWARHERO.ORG

Scientology’s version of Hubbard’s military record: WWW.WHATISSCIENTOLOGY.ORG/TO/PART01/CHP03/PG0118.HTML

See Hubbard’s actual 600 page Navy file http://www.lermanet2.com/L_Ron_Hubbard

"scientology fooled me for ten years, don’t let them fool you for ten minutes"

[ narconon, criminon, CCHR and "way to happiness" are just a few [tm] fronts for Hubbard’s $cientology ]