L. Ron Hubbard as Liar

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

To his followers, L. Ron Hubbard was larger than life. The biographies of Hubbard given within the cult portray the metamorphosis of this legendary man in stages from youthful prodigy, to teenage adventurer, to brave war hero, to the long-suffering messiah who gave his life for all.

Unfortunately, almost every fact in the cult biographies of L. Ron Hubbard is a lie. While the legendary accomplishments of this cult guru could have come unedited from one of his swashbuckling novels, the true facts of his life reveal quite another picture.

As with the Wizard of Oz, once the curtain was drawn, the fearsome wizard was just an ordinary man. So it was with Hubbard.

"L. Ron Hubbard," the official biography begins, "was born in Tilden, Nebraska, on the 13th of March, 1911. His father was Commander Harry Ross Hubbard of the United States Navy. His mother was Dora May Hubbard...." [Corydon, p. 219]

So far, everything is true.

The biography continues:

Ron spent his early childhood years on his grandfather's large cattle ranch in Montana, said to cover a quarter of the state. It was on this ranch that he learned to read and write by the time he was three and a half years old. [Corydon, p. 219]

The truth is that Hubbard's grandfather was a small town veterinarian who did not own a cattle ranch in Montana. After Hubbard and his parents relocated to Helena, Montana, where his father was hired to manage a local theater, the grandparents soon followed, bought a house on Fifth Avenue, and the grandfather opened the Capital City Coal Company.

The story continues:

L. Ron Hubbard found the life of a young rancher very enjoyable. Long days were spent riding, breaking broncos, hunting coyote and taking his first steps as an explorer. For it was in Montana that he had his first encounter with the Blackfoot Indians. He became a blood brother of the Blackfoot.... [Corydon, p. 219]

Although these events may have existed in the imagination of a young boy in Montana, that is the only place where they did, in fact, exist.

Young Ron Hubbard lived with his parents in a small apartment on Rodney Street in Helena, and he attended the local kindergarten.

When he was six years old, his father enlisted in the Navy after the start of World War I. For the next few years, Ron and his mother followed Harry to a series of port cities where Harry was stationed.

By the time he was twelve years old, young Ron Hubbard had read a large number of the world's greatest classics -- and his interest in philosophy and religion was born. Ron Hubbard had the distinction of being the only boy in the country to secure an Eagle Scout badge at the age of twelve years.... [Corydon, p. 220]

Although Hubbard did receive an Eagle Scout badge, the Boy Scouts of America keeps only an alphabetical listing of Eagle Scouts, with no record of their ages.

The following years, from 1925 to 1929, saw the young Hubbard, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, as a budding and enthusiastic world traveler and adventurer.... Having the financial support of his wealthy grandfather, L. Ron Hubbard spent these years journeying through Asia. [Corydon, p. 220]

He was up and down the China coast several times in his teens from Ching Wong Tow to Hong Kong and inland to Peking and Manchuria.

In China he met an old magician whose ancestors had served in the court of Kublai Khan. In the hills of Tibet he lived with bandits who accepted him because of his honest interest in them and their way of life.

In the remote reaches of western Manchuria he made friends with the ruling warlords by demonstrating his horsemanship. Deep in the jungles of Polynesia he discovered an ancient burial ground steeped in the tradition of heroic warriors and kings.... [Miller, p. 26]

Heady adventures for a teenager!

The truth, however, is a bit more believable. At the age of thirteen, the Hubbards had moved to Bremerton, Washington, where young Ron was an eighth grader at Union High School. Hubbard enjoyed such activities as hiking and camping at the nearby Boy Scout campground.

Two years later, when Ron was a sophomore at Queen Anne High School, his father was unexpectedly posted to Guam, where Ron spent part of the summer, sailing with his mother on the steamship President Madison, with stops in Honolulu, Yokohama, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila.

In the spring of his junior year, Ron dropped out of school. Two years later Ron was enrolled in the Woodward School for boys in Washington, D.C. as a substitute for taking the College Entrance Examination. In 1930, Ron was admitted to George Washington University School of Engineering with a major in civil engineering.

His grades for the first semester ranged from an A in Physical Education, a C in Mechanical Engineering, a D in chemistry, and F's in German and Calculus, earning him a D average. After a second and similar semester, he dropped out of school. Later he would say he had been a student in the first course in atomic physics in the country and that he had a Ph.D. -- which he renounced much later when it became known that the degree had been purchased from a California diploma mill.

Soon Hubbard married and began his career as a struggling science fiction writer. His stories began to appear regularly in Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

In 1941, as the United States was drawn into the Second World War, Hubbard was determined to get into the Navy. He composed his own letter of recommendation for the military:

I have known him for many years and have found him discreet, loyal, honest and without peer in the art of getting things done swiftly. "For courage and ability I cannot too strongly recommend him." [Miller, p. 93]

Hubbard's stories of his naval career serve as an example of his most outrageous fiction writing:

Commissioned by the U.S. Navy, Hubbard was ordered to the Philippines at the outbreak of the war and was flown home in the Secretary of the Navy's private plane as the first U.S. returned casualty of the Far East.

He served in the South Pacific, and in 1942 was relieved and rushed home to take part in the battle against German submarines as Commanding Officer of a corvette serving in the north Atlantic.

After serving in all five theaters of World War II and receiving twenty-one medals and palms, in 1944 he was severely wounded and was taken crippled and blinded to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. [Miller, p. 95]

The truth about Hubbard's war career is quite different.

Hubbard's first job in the Navy was a desk job in public relations. He soon requested a transfer to Navy Intelligence. On his way to this posting, he so antagonized his superior officers that he was sent home, with an entry in his record stating that:

This officer is not satisfactory for independent duty assignment. He is garrulous and tries to give impressions of his importance. He also seems to think he has unusual ability in most lines. These characteristics indicate that he will require close supervision for satisfactory performance of any intelligence duty. [Miller, p. 98]

The report also added that Hubbard had become "the source of much trouble."

Hubbard was then given another desk job. Eventually, however, he worked his way out of this job, and into the Submarine Chaser Training Center in Miami, Florida. After a few misadventures on training ships under his command, the following notation was placed in his record:

Consider this officer lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation. He acts without forethought as to probable results. Not considered qualified for command or promotion at this time. Recommend duty on a large vessel where he can be properly supervised. [Miller, p. 107]

Subsequently, Hubbard was posted onto the U.S.S. Algol. As the Algol prepared to go into battle, in a strange incident which occurred just before the Algol sailed to the Pacific, Hubbard discovered a homemade gasoline bomb in a coke bottle amidst the cargo being loaded onto the ship. There was an investigation into this curious incident, but the results of the investigation were not recorded. However, that evening, Hubbard was relieved of duty.

Crippled and blinded at the end of the war, he resumed his studies of philosophy and by his discoveries recovered so fully that he was reclassified in 1949 for full combat duty. It is a matter of medical record that he has twice been pronounced dead and in 1950 he was given a perfect score on mental and physical fitness reports. [LRH, Facts About L. Ron Hubbard]

Hubbard reported in sick with a suspected ulcer, and was hospitalized at Oak Knoll Military Hospital in Oakland, California, where he remained until December 5th, 1945, when he was discharged from the Navy.

Contrary to his own report of receiving twenty-one war medals, he received four routine medals which were awarded to all servicemen serving in this war

He was eventually awarded a small partial disability rating.

Two years later, in a pathetic letter to the Veteran's Administration, Hubbard wrote:

This is a request for treatment.

After trying and failing for two years to regain my equilibrium in civil life, I am utterly unable to approach anything like my own competence. My last physician informed me that it might be very helpful if I were to be examined and perhaps treated psychiatrically....

I cannot account for nor rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal inclinations.... I cannot, myself, afford such treatment.

Would you please help me?

Sincerely, L. Ron Hubbard [LRH, 1947 Letter to the VA]

The Veteran's Administration apparently ignored this letter, to the great detriment of the thousands of souls caught up in Hubbard's later voyage into the world of the demonic in the dangerous cult of Scientology.

Had the Veteran's Administration heeded Hubbard's plea for help, the outcome for many might have been different.

The outcome of history is often ordained by the trivial and the mundane. So it was with Hubbard.