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New book about Scientology: Ron the War Hero

ChrisO

Patron
RonTheWarHeroCover.jpg


I'm very happy to announce that a book version of "Ron the War Hero", my history of L. Ron Hubbard's calamitous military career, will be published on May 9th. I'll post a link to the Amazon pre-order page shortly. It's a new and greatly expanded version of the web pages of the same name that I published back in 1999, with the benefit of much more historical material that has been uncovered since then – including previously undisclosed revelations that Hubbard's career was not just farcical, but tragic (for others).
 
This is a fascinating book - I thought to buy the book to support the writer, that it would be a dry account of Hubbard's war exploits, however, as I read it, it turns out to be anything but. It is a well researched, documented portrait of a garrulous man who the military couldn't rid them selves fast enough.

During the war, he so screwed things up in Australia, they sent him stateside at their first opportunity. An interesting quote in the book which is really telling of Hubbard's view of his own self importance, when someone who knew of Hubbard's disastrous war career, said something along the lines of: Hubbard? Hubbard? You're that Hubbard? which in a'58 recorded lecture, he twisted the statement to mean he was recognized for his grandiose accomplishments, not his grandiose fuck up.

Oh man - when I read these officers statements of him, and see his inflated self worth, his "I know best" bent in action and how it results in the avoidable destruction of badly needed munitions, deaths, in the Pacific theater, I reflect on myriad examples in Scientology of these facets of him showing through. For example:

When you take the statement in the policy Keeping Scientology Working (KSW #1) about how the whole agonized future of the human race depends on what you do here and now in Scientology, it is clearly his narcistic ego in full regalia. I never looked at it that way any of the times I had to method 9 it. I thought it was sincere. How deluded was I? In my own defense, I had no clue what a narcissist was when I was a scientologist, but really, I have only myself to blame for not paying more attention, studying harder in the psych course I took in college.

I don't know if narcissism can evolve from this:

having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance.
"a narcissistic actress"
synonyms:
vain, in love with oneself, self-loving, self-admiring, wrapped up in oneself, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, conceited, self-centered, self-regarding, egotistic, egotistical, egoistic, egocentric, egomaniac

Into this:

What Is Narcissism?
Narcissists cut a wide, swashbuckling figure through the world. The most benign type may be the charismatic leader with an excess of charm, whose only vice may be an inflated amour-propre. [bcolor=#ffff00]In stark contrast are individuals with narcissistic personality disorder, whose grandiosity soars to such heights that they are easily angered when they don't receive the attention and admiration that they consider their birthright. Bona fide narcissists may also have a tendency to disregard other people's feelings and take advantage of others to get what they want.[/bcolor] As with many characteristics, narcissism can be viewed as a spectrum: Some people are lower on the trait and others higher, with many landing in the middle. Out-and-out narcissists exhibit the highest levels of self-flattery.

It seems to me, that he became worse over time, more vindictive. He certainly became more paranoid, on the run like common fugitive, seeing the FBI and process servers on very corner.

Another weird facet of Hubbard's mental maze that comes up in the book, is his reporting people to the authorities as spies, commies, Nazis. Why would he do that? It makes no sense. That is one part of the puzzle that is L. Ron Hubbard that I can not fathom.

Those tangents aside - if you haven't gotten the book, you should. It's quite eye opening.

Mimsey

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/narcissism
 
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Something else - Hubbard was supposed to hand deliver shipping orders for a supply ship bound for the Philippines the fastest way possible, but he manages to fail to do so. Apparently he loses them which is a big security risk, so he crafts new orders for a new route for the ship, that goes the long way around Australia, and ends up with delays, additional fuel / food expenses and the ship ultimately being attacked by the Japanese.

In reflection - his botching the hand delivery of the confidential shipping orders was the stimulus for him devising the new route, to avoid the ship falling into enemy hands. All that was needed, was a simple delay the ships departure, to solve the security risk, but instead he knew best, and tragedy unfolded.

So much for his making up the damage of losing the shipping orders.

Amazing.

Mimsey
 
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Yesterday I finished the book - in the last chapter Chris summarizes Ron's military career. He had an open door to do a hatchet job, yet, like the rest of the book, he treated Hubbard fairly, giving credit where due and pointing out where he was lacking wothout sensationalizing it. You should give the book a read - it is a fascinating facet of Hubbard's life.

Mimsey
 
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I was going to add a war photo to my post - until I realized it was part of a photo shoot they must have done years ago - look at his sunglasses. Is that a clear bracelet on his wrist?

LRH-40-18-OBN-ROLL-16-E30-DT-RESTORED-110613.jpg


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strativarius

Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
I was going to add a war photo to my post - until I realized it was part of a photo shoot they must have done years ago - look at his sunglasses. Is that a clear bracelet on his wrist?
I would have thought it was one of those disks with some sort of medical info' on it. I could be wrong though of course.
 

Little David

Gold Meritorious Patron
I was going to add a war photo to my post - until I realized it was part of a photo shoot they must have done years ago - look at his sunglasses. Is that a clear bracelet on his wrist?

LRH-40-18-OBN-ROLL-16-E30-DT-RESTORED-110613.jpg
Per Scientology, that photo is "L. Ron Hubbard in Ketchikan, Alaska, 1940. In June, the same month that Fear is published in Unknown, Hubbard sets sail from Seattle under Explorers Club flag number 105, in the thirty-two-foot ketch Magician, on the Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition. He charts previously unrecorded hazards and coastline for the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, conducts experiments on radio directional finding, and examines local native cultures. He also does a series of radio shows on KGBU in Ketchikan, Alaska. Then, in December, he announces a Christmas story writing contest for Alaska’s amateur writers in the “Golden Pen Award” hour."
 

strativarius

Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
"Seems mental" maybe?

Paul

My reason for suggesting it had medical info (blood group etc) on it was I visited my sister in Canada in 1980 and I was wearing my clear bracelet at the time and that was what she thought it was, so I was sort of assuming Americans and Canadians have such things around their wrists.
 
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Per Scientology, that photo is "L. Ron Hubbard in Ketchikan, Alaska, 1940. In June, the same month that Fear is published in Unknown, Hubbard sets sail from Seattle under Explorers Club flag number 105, in the thirty-two-foot ketch Magician, on the Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition. He charts previously unrecorded hazards and coastline for the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, conducts experiments on radio directional finding, and examines local native cultures. He also does a series of radio shows on KGBU in Ketchikan, Alaska. Then, in December, he announces a Christmas story writing contest for Alaska’s amateur writers in the “Golden Pen Award” hour
Chris discusses that in his book sans exaggeration. Mimsey
 
No. That picture was taken before Dianetics was even released.
No, no, no. It was part of a photo shoot most likely done sometime in the 50s

If you compare the photos I posted ( and the other versions I didn't post but can be found in google images ) you should notice how staged they all are. How he is posed this way of that, artfully holding the lanyard, or other prop as he looks off to a distant horizon, but sunglasses are all the same. They did some retouching, and some other dark room work, but they are all clearly not spur of the moment snapshots.

Each and everyone of these were shot by a professional photographer. They are all well lit, well exposed, well framed, focused carefully. Really slickly done.

Look at his wrist in this one:

LRH1950a.jpg


Again with the sunglasses:

LRonHubbard_KetchikanAlaska_1940.jpg

the prop, the pose...

LRH-35-05-OBP-3F-RESTORED_cropped.jpg
 
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Voodoo

Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
No, no, no. It was part of a photo shoot most likely done sometime in the 50s

If you compare the photos I posted ( and the other versions I didn't post but can be found in google images ) you should notice how staged they all are. How he is posed this way of that, artfully holding the lanyard, or other prop as he looks off to a distant horizon, but sunglasses are all the same. They did some retouching, and some other dark room work, but they are all clearly not spur of the moment snapshots.

Each and everyone of these were shot by a professional photographer. They are all well lit, well exposed, well framed, focused carefully. Really slickly done.

Look at his wrist in this one:

LRH1950a.jpg


Again with the sunglasses:

LRonHubbard_KetchikanAlaska_1940.jpg

the prop, the pose...

LRH-35-05-OBP-3F-RESTORED_cropped.jpg
I can assure you the picture I was referring to was taken in the 40s - many years before Hubbard wrote Dianetics. The original of that shot shows his second wife right behind him in the sailboat. Scientology airbrushed her out, just like Hubbard did in real life: "I never had a second wife."

The other three pictures you just posted are from three different time frames in Hubbard's life. The top one is from the early Dianetics days. The second one was taken in the post war years when he was with his second wife. The third shot is from his pulp fiction pre-war years.
 

Little David

Gold Meritorious Patron
Per Scientology, that photo is "L. Ron Hubbard in Ketchikan, Alaska, 1940. In June, the same month that Fear is published in Unknown, Hubbard sets sail from Seattle under Explorers Club flag number 105, in the thirty-two-foot ketch Magician, on the Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition. He charts previously unrecorded hazards and coastline for the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, conducts experiments on radio directional finding, and examines local native cultures. He also does a series of radio shows on KGBU in Ketchikan, Alaska. Then, in December, he announces a Christmas story writing contest for Alaska’s amateur writers in the “Golden Pen Award” hour."
Possibly more photos of LRH on the "Maggie/Magician" sailboat:

hubbard_going_to_alaska.png


hubbard-magician-colby-1939.jpg


Mike Rinder wrote:

"He wrote a Flag Order talking about single-handedly wrestling bears in Alaska, among many other amazing (and untrue) exploits."

From Bare-Faced Messiah:

p88.jpg

p89.jpg

p90.jpg

p91.jpg


https://www.mikerindersblog.org/journey-with-ron/
 
I can assure you the picture I was referring to was taken in the 40s - many years before Hubbard wrote Dianetics. The original of that shot shows his second wife right behind him in the sailboat. Scientology airbrushed her out, just like Hubbard did in real life: "I never had a second wife."

The other three pictures you just posted are from three different time frames in Hubbard's life. The top one is from the early Dianetics days. The second one was taken in the post war years when he was with his second wife. The third shot is from his pulp fiction pre-war years.
Is this the picture you are referring to?

LRHBettySideBySide.jpg


Please compare it to the one I posted above, reposted here:
LRH-40-18-OBN-ROLL-16-E30-DT-RESTORED-110613.jpg


When Hubbard hired a professional photographer to do the shoot, they had a shooting script of the key aspects of Hubbard's life. They planned them out. They procured costumes, props, lighting equipment, etc. They probably did it over a 2-3 day period. They had him pose as a writer, as a LT in the war, as an executive, sitting on the dock, as a disk jokey and who knows how many more. They then used them for future promo pieces. This is done all the time - a standard PR project.

But hey, if you think the photo of the stylish, ascot wearing sailor on the dock, sporting a clear bracelet, wearing the same sunglasses as used throughout the shoot, was taken pre Dianetics, far be it from me to burst your bubble.

Mimsey
 
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Moving along - Here's shots from the photo shoot and below are an actual snapshots taken during his service years. As in an earlier post I noted, they employed various dark room and photo retouching techniques to give the photos different looks - we go from the stark realism of the first, to a sepia print, to a dodged out background in the third. This was no amateur job. Whoever they hired knew what he was doing. Mimsey

"In a darkroom print from a film negative, dodging decreases the exposure for areas of the print that the photographer wishes to be lighter, while burning decreases the exposure to areas of the print that should be darker." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodging_and_burning

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p77_0.jpg


HubbardNavy.jpg




l_ron_hubbard_new_navy_pic_wwii.png


Hubbard_and_moulton.jpg
 
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Voodoo

Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
Is this the picture you are referring to?

LRHBettySideBySide.jpg


Please compare it to the one I posted above, reposted here:
LRH-40-18-OBN-ROLL-16-E30-DT-RESTORED-110613.jpg


When Hubbard hired a professional photographer to do the shoot, they had a shooting script of the key aspects of Hubbard's life. They planned them out. They procured costumes, props, lighting equipment, etc. They probably did it over a 2-3 day period. They had him pose as a writer, as a LT in the war, as an executive, sitting on the dock, as a disk jokey and who knows how many more. They then used them for future promo pieces. This is done all the time - a standard PR project.

But hey, if you think the photo of the stylish, ascot wearing sailor on the dock, sporting a clear bracelet, wearing the same sunglasses as used throughout the shoot, was taken pre Dianetics, far be it from me to burst your bubble.

Mimsey
Mimsey, the photos in your post were taken during Hubbard's radio expedition for the Explorer's Club. It was in the 1940s, prior to the advent of Dianetics. This is documented in multiple books on Hubbard's life.

Look at the man's physique in those shots. He's lean and slim. LRH never looked like that during the Dianetics days. He was already becoming portly and pockmarked by that time, and had begun combing his receding hair backwards.

Read the book, Messiah Or Madman. Hubbard's abortive adventure to Alaska is thoroughly documented there, with pics. The same ones you've posted.
 
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