Wanda Continues...
In this snippet Wanda goes back in time to when she was still at Flag.
Some people wonder why any of us stuck around as long as we did. Well, there was perceived value in the services, the people we worked with, both staff and fellow students, were honest, caring people, and we were having fun.
I never met Wally Burgess, but Wanda's description is everything that I had heard of him from others. People like Wally kept the "ship" afloat.
Wanda continues:
Wally Burgess came to Nebraska, and stayed at our house. He and a guy from France were doing some PR work at one of the telemarketing--they have a lot of telemarketing in Omaha because when the Strategic Air Command was created there, incredible numbers of telephone lines were installed in and out of the city. That’s why there was so much telemarketing going on in Omaha. So they were promoting the Dianetics book on national TV, and something wasn’t going right between selling the book and delivery… Whatever it was, it was their problem.
Wally called up and asked, “Hey! How would you like to have a couple of bums come stay at your house for a day or two?” I said, “Oh, I’d love it!” So they were on the ranch with me. The guy from France couldn’t ride a horse. He was lucky that he didn’t kill himself, even though we gave him the gentlest horse we had. Little children would ride her. However, we were worried a couple of times because he was all over that saddle. The horse actually stepped under him once so he didn’t hit the ground, just the saddle.
I’ve always been in good standing even when I requested and received the unused balance on my account. They had that wonderful endorsement on the back of the check. I just laughed at it. Before I received the check they called me to tell me what was going to happen. I was going to be declared suppressive. I told them if I recalled correctly, there’s some place where Hubbard said there would always be a crack in the door. So they didn’t bother me any more.
I’d call and talk to Wally and Wally would always talk to me, even after that. I am sure Wally is dead now, too. He always said that they would have to drag him kicking and screaming off the ship with black heel marks in the concrete dock.
Wally had a glider, and we went flying (since I held a license for powered craft). And [back in the day at Flag] we’d go for a walk almost every morning and evening. I think when Hubbard was still around Wally would cut the walk short. “I have to go in a different direction now. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he would say.
We ate all our meals together. The first time I walked into the Ft. Harrison they had a little restaurant as you come in the door to the left. I came in I think the 17th or 18th of December. There was 7 people at one table with what appeared to be an empty chair. I walked up, asked if that was an empty spot. This one lady said, “That’s for so and so.” Wally said, “No. It’s for her.” So I sat down.
When I got into the OT-3 materials I came down for lunch. I said to Wally, “I know all this material.” He asked, “How do you know it?” I said, “Don Hill told it to Jay and me a year and a half before Jay died.” Wally said, “You have to report it to the ethics officer.” I said, “Wally, you know they will pull me off course. Then I’ll have to go through all this riggamaroll. I’m down here to go through the courses. As soon as I get through the course I’ll go tell them. He said, “Okay.” Wally was an ordinary guy. He wanted to work with people. He knew what I wanted to do, and I always kept my word to him. Wally was just a great guy. If I ever had any problem I’d go talk to Wally and it always was resolved.
When I went Clear, the whole base celebrated. It was just a fun place to be. Captain Bill was there. He was a hoot. But, all these wonderful people just suddenly disappeared. On my return, I’d ask, “Where’s Murray? Where’s Chuck?” One guy said, “They went over the rainbow.” What does that mean to me? They died? After that Flag was totally different. These are the rules. This is the way we’re going to do it. No. You can’t discuss it. Just do it. Put your $750 an hour down, and just do it.
I’d say to myself, “You have got to be crazy doing this, Wanda.” I’d have long talks with myself. “Maybe it’s justified if it makes you a better person.” Good grief, I won’t pay that much for a lawyer, not even if I had murdered someone. [laughter]
When was it that they wanted you to go out to L.A. to do your OT levels? I think it had to be ’77. [Trying to remember…] It would be August of ’77 or August of ’78. Anyway, they told me I had completed everything available there [at Flag]. I finished my L’s, and I finished my Grades. Now, I had to go to L.A.
I said, “I won’t go to L.A.” They asked, “Why?” I told them I had been to L.A. Org, and it’s horrible! When I was there I did put the postulate out that no one would bother me. I’d go in, pick up the green books [Management Series and OEC], and leave. And, no one bothered me. I told them, “It’s gloomy. It doesn’t feel good to me, and I’m not going there.” They said, “That’s the only place you can get the OT levels.” I said, “Then I guess I won’t be getting OT levels.” So they created an org [an AO at Flag] for me.
John Danelovich was in charge of it. He had parent time between 1:00 p.m and 2:00 p.m. That hour was fun because I would watch L. Ron Hubbard process people, and do clay demos, and process himself, or audit himself. So that was kind of fun. As to all my exercises and checkouts, I did those with staff at night. That had to be ’77 or ’78 whenever they started the org. I was the only public person in that org, and I was in there by myself most all the time except when John was there working with me or at night when the staff would come in. It was then that I would drill with the staff. So, that was interesting.
I received real personal attention. That’s for sure. And, I liked it! It’s one thing to be a processor and crash other people, but you don’t want to crash yourself, and repair yourself because I don’t know if I could do that.
I was doing drills once. It was the funniest thing--that’s why I was just now laughing. I was doing Date and Locate. I think I was good enough at the time to do a Date/Locate in the middle of 5 o’clock traffic in the downtown of St. Petersburg.
There was this guy named Bill who had gone to St. Hill, and they lost all of his records between L.A. and St. Hill. They had been processing him [at Flag] just to put his case back together again. I don’t know what he was doing in the area that I was in at Flag, but I roped him into doing a Date/Locate drill. He had a solid, stuck needle. I tried everything the book told you to do to get rid of his stuck needle. Finally I reached over, and I touched the guy on his arm. I said, “Bill, if you just stick with me long enough, I’m going to get it. Please stick with me.” He laughed. Of course, he blew down, and everything was fine.
Well, I got flunked on it. Chuck was the course supervisor then and for a long time. Rumor had it that LRH trained him personally for that job. After that happened and Bill left, Chuck came over, had the girl [study twin], and me sit with him--this is when Scientology was good, in my opinion because, I was right! [laughing] Chuck said, “I am taking that flunk back from Wanda.” He said to my twin, “If you think if L. Ron was sitting here, and he did every exercise you are supposed to do to someone for a stuck needle, and he thought that if he touched him [put in a solid comm line], and reassured him that it would work, do you think he would do that? She said, “Yeah, I guess so.” John said, “She just used her head to get the process to work on the guy.”
To me, that’s what Scientology was all about when I was there. Two years later it wasn’t that way.
What we all had to deal with in the name of reclaiming our spirituality. 
