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How Scientology can prove us wrong about L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘sheep-dipped’ valor

 
What set off our longtime reader PickAnotherID about Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s military record (see part 1 and part 2) was not only the obviously faked document and medals that the church fed New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright for his 2011 magazine story “The Apostate.”

Pick, a 20-year military veteran with Air Force security experience, was especially galled by Scientology’s claim that the reason Hubbard’s heroism wasn’t reflected in his official records was that those records had been “sheep-dipped” in order to mask his work in military intelligence.

Scientology relied on the highly dubious figure of L. Fletcher Prouty for that assessment. (See historian Jon Atack’s thorough thrashing of Prouty, a notorious conspiracist for hire.)

Prouty’s proclamation that Hubbard was actually up to highly classified work for the military which had to be disguised in his military record is a touchstone for a lot of current and former Scientologists who want to believe that this midcentury science fiction writer was really onto the secrets of the universe or was a patsy for British intelligence or the CIA, or whatever deep state theory is burning up the Scientology interwebs this week.

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But Pick wanted us to know that there’s a very simple way to debunk all that nonsense, and he hasn’t seen others refer to it. It’s simply this: In 1994, President Bill Clinton lifted the veil on WW2 records for the public — nearly 44 million pages of information — and if there were any “sheep-dipping” going on with Hubbard’s records, it would have become public after that date.

Here’s the text of Clinton’s Executive Order 12937, read it for yourself:

November 10, 1994
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. The records in the National Archives of the United States referenced in the list accompanying this order are hereby declassified.

Sec. 2. The Archivist of the United States shall take such actions as are necessary to make such records available for public research no later than 30 days from the date of this Order, except to the extent that the head of an affected agency and the Archivist have determined that specific information within such records must be protected from disclosure pursuant to an authorized exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, other than the exemption that pertains to national security information.

Sec. 3. Nothing contained in this order shall create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

William J. Clinton
The White House

Pick tells us that there’s a way that Scientology can prove to us that Hubbard really did deserve the medals they claimed for him when they delivered that photo to Wright. We thought you’d like to see Pick’s detailed challenge for the church…

President Clinton’s executive order declassified all WWII documents (not related to atomic weapons development) that were not previously reviewed and declassified. In light of this, any so called “sheep dipping” any of L. Ron Hubbard’s military activities to be classified is no longer relevant.

Therefore, in light of the many claims made by Mr. Hubbard himself, and Scientology’s spokespersons regarding Mr. Hubbard’s military service, the following proof of that service is demanded:

1. Copies of all orders and/or citations awarding the various US Forces medals and associated devices claimed and the actions relating to each award.

2. Verification from appropriate French government authorities Mr. Hubbard was in fact awarded the Médaille commémorative de la Guerre de 1939-1945 and the action related to this award.

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3. Verification from appropriate Netherlands government authorities Mr. Hubbard was in fact awarded the Bronzen Kruis and the action related to this award.

4. Verification from the appropriate British government authorities Mr. Hubbard was in fact awarded the Star Medal 1939-1945 and the action related to this award.

5. Verification from the appropriate Philippine government authorities that Mr. Hubbard was in fact awarded the Philippine Defense Medal and the action either on land, at sea, or in the air related to this award.

6. Related to the claim of being awarded the Purple Heart:
a. The date, location and name of the ship where Mr. Hubbard was supposed to have been blinded and crippled after having picked up an unexploded shell that had landed on the deck of his ship. And any medical records related to these injuries.
b. The date, location and name of the ship where Mr. Hubbard was supposed to have had both feet broken due to concussions running through the deck of his ship during a battle. And any medical records relate to these injuries.
c. Medical records related to injuries after being machine-gunned in the back while escaping from the Japanese on Java. In particular any mention of how he survived peritonitis, septicemia, and septic shock due to ruptured intestines from such a wound.
d. Alternatively, if Mr. Hubbard wasn’t machine gunned in the back, medical records related to a fractured ankle suffered while escaping from the Japanese on Java.

7. Copies of any manifests showing he was flown to the U.S. aboard the Secretary of the Navy’s aircraft after the claimed wounds occurred.

It should be noted that no information related to the above remains classified since the Executive Order was issued. So there is no valid reason, unless the claims are in fact lies, not to produce the documentation to support Mr. Hubbard’s, and Scientolgy’s, claims regarding these matters. Without such proof, these claims will all continue to be considered “Stolen Valor.”

 
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More Scientology social media madness

We figure you probably didn’t get enough of Scientologists and their wins in yesterday’s post. So we thought we’d give you another helping today.

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First up, what are you doing to cut your havingness?

 

 
Considering a career change?

 

 
Yeah, this isn’t depressing.

 

 
Oh look, child abuse.

 

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Dave has fans!

 

 
Can you reg a mark through Zoom? Special guest: Grant Cardone!

 

 
From tears to smiles!

 

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Source Code

“Auditing itself depends to some degree on miracle healing. And the longer you sit back waiting for the process to do it, and the longer you sit back waiting for Ron to do it, the less it’s going to happen. You’re not going to make Clears waiting for something else to do it. You’re going to do it. If you don’t do it — look, who else is there! There’s the pc and he’s been an aberree for the last 15 trillion, squillion years, hasn’t he? He’s been spinning ever since they pulled his last temple down on his head or whatever happened. Well, if he could get out of the bank just at a whoooo, he wouldn’t be your pc, so he can’t do it. And when you’re in an auditing room all by yourself with just the pc, you know, and a couple of chairs or couch or something, you look around real carefully and find out who else in that room is going to do it! Nobody going to do it but you.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 9, 1959

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“US late night talk show host Jeffrey Daugherty has embarked on a path to deliver ‘White Dianetics’ to the world. I suggest the free Scientology community check out this project and interact appropriately with him. He is someone who is eminently amenable to factual discussion. It would be truly wonderful if someone from the community could come onto his show for an episode of discussing and laying out interesting stuff that could further show his quite open-minded audience what a wonderful technology LRH gifted humanity.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1998: The St. Petersburg Times reported that the lawsuit against Clearwater by Scientology has been settled. “The federal lawsuit was filed in 1994. It was preceded by another legal battle that stretched from 1983 to 1995 over an ordinance that could have allowed the city to examine the financial records of Scientology and other churches. The ordinance was ruled unconstitutional in 1993, but a fight lingered for two more years over legal fees. Meanwhile, Clearwater police revealed in 1994 that they had been gathering intelligence on Scientology for 13 years, and they released the records to the Times.”

 
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Random Howdy

“How long did it take for the Shakers to cease to exist? As far as I’m concerned that’s the basic scenario we’re looking at here. The feds aren’t going to do anything about Scientology ever and there’s not going to be any Jonestown event (thank gawd) so what does that leave except a fade out to non-existence?”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to November 2.
Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing set for October 29 in White Plains, NY delayed to January.
Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles

Civil litigation:
Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for a writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District.
Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Nov 6 hearing on motions to compel arbitration, awaiting ruling
Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Oct 19: Feshbachs still considering further appellate relief.
Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, awaiting verdict.

Concluded litigation:
Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and coming November 1 to Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] The Scientology-‘Ancient Aliens’ tie-in we just know you were waiting for
[TWO years ago] Someone is faking Lawrence Wright emails — and this one is about the Underground Bunker
[THREE years ago] French-kissing Wilt Chamberlain: Adventures of a teenager in the skeezy world of Scientology
[FOUR years ago] How a new independent ‘church’ is trying to wrestle away control over the word ‘Scientology’
[FIVE years ago] Scientology on the high seas: When L. Ron Hubbard was still making tech ‘breakthroughs’
[SIX years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Kirstie Alley is now Super Powered!
[SEVEN years ago] Luis Garcia Responds to Scientology’s Arbitration Scheme
[EIGHT years ago] SHOCKER: Court Punishes Scientology For Acting Like…Scientology

 
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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,115 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,619 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,139 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,159 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,050 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,357 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,225 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,999 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,803 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,119 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,685 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,604 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,772 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,353 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,614 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,652 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,365 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,890 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,420 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,971 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,120 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,440 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,295 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,414 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,770 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,073 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,179 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,581 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,453 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,036 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,531 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,785 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,894 days.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 9, 2020 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 14 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

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