62 “a well-known writer”: Warren G. Magnuson letter to “The President,” April 8, 1941; L. Ron Hubbard military records, National Personnel Records Center.
63 “one of the most brilliant men”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 93.
64 Hubbard said that he: Thomas Moulton testimony, Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong. “I never saw the scars,” Moulton admitted. For a comprehensive list of the contradictions in Hubbard’s various war accounts, see Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.spaink.net/cos/warher/battle.htm#doc-a.
65 “first U.S. returned casualty”: Hubbard, “A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard,” brochure for the First Australian Congress of the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International, Nov. 7–8, 1959.
66 By assuming unauthorized authority: L. D. Causey to Commandant, Twelfth Naval District, Feb. 14, 1942.
67 USS YP-422: Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/battle.htm. Owen notes that this vessel is often referred to as the USS Mist, but that no such ship existed.
68 “Upon entering the Boston”: The Humanitarian: The Road to Self-Respect, The Ron magazines, p. 12. 1996. Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/yp-422.htm.
69 “with some seventy depth charge runs”: Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/battle.htm.
70 “not temperamentally fitted”: Lieutenant (jg) F. A. Del Marinal cable, Sept. 25, 1942.
71 He arrived wearing dark: Thomas Moulton testimony, Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong.
72 “a very loose person”: “The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,” www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html.
73 Hubbard was finally given: Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.spaink.net/cos/warher/battle.htm#doc-a.
74 “These little sweethearts”: “Ex-Portlander Hunts U-Boats,” Oregon Journal, April 22, 1943.
75 bottom of his class: Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/battle.htm.
76 “It made noises like”: Thomas Moulton testimony, Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong.
77 “The target was moving”: Hubbard, “An Account of the Action Off Cape Lookout,” undated report.
78 with dawn breaking: Ibid.
79 “There was no submarine”: Commander Frank Jack Fletcher to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, June 6, 1943.
80 Japanese records after: Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999, www.spaink.net/cos/warher/battle.htm#doc-a.
81 “This on top of”: “The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,” www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html.
82 He spent the next: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 107.
83 “Once conversant with the”: Hubbard request to School of Military Government, Sept. 9, 1944.
84 none proved useful: Patterson, Robert A. Heinlein, Vol. 1: In Dialogue with His Century, p. 350.
85 “Ron had had a busy war”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 109.
86 Hubbard had an affair with Heinlein’s wife: Patterson, Robert A. Heinlein, pp. 369–70.
87 “He almost forced me”: “The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,” www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html.
88 Vida Jameson…“Quiet, shy little greymouse”: Samme Buck, personal correspondence; Frederik Pohl, “The Worlds of L. Ron Hubbard, Part 2,” The Way of the Future Blogs.
89 “Blinded with injured optic”: Hubbard, “My Philosophy,” The Philosopher: The Rediscovery of the Human Soul, The Ron magazines, p. 85.
90 “I had no one”: Ibid.
91 Doctors at Oak Knoll: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 112.
92 nor do his military records: Hubbard said in 1950 that he was treated for “ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight, bursitis and something wrong with my feet.” Albert Q. Maisel, “Dianetics: Science or Hoax?” Look, Dec. 5, 1950.
93 “And I was watching this”: Hubbard, “The Story of Dianetics and Scientology,” lecture, Oct. 18, 1958.
94 “My wife left me”: “The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,” www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html.
95 Hubbard towed a house trailer: Alva Rogers, quoted in Carter, Sex and Rockets, p. 103.
96 “James Dean of the occult”: Hugh B. Urban, “The Occult Roots of Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion,” Novo Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions (February 2012): 94.
97 He acquired a three-story: Kansa, Wormwood Star, p. 28.
98 twelve-car garage: Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions.
99 The house had once belonged: Letter from Arthur Fleming to John Muir, Feb. 8, 1911; Pendle, Strange Angel, p. 208.