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mention of Hubbard’s being wounded in battle or breaking his feet. X-rays taken of
Hubbard’s right shoulder and hip showed calcium deposits, but there was no evidence of
any bone or joint disease in his ankles.
There is a Notice of Separation in the ocial records, but it is not the one Davis sent
me. The dierences in the two documents are telling. The St. Louis document indicates
that Hubbard earned four medals for service, but they reect no distinction or valor. The
church document indicates, falsely, that Hubbard completed four years of college,
obtaining a degree in civil engineering. The ocial document correctly notes two years
of college and no degree.
The ocial Notice of Separation was signed by Lieutenant (jg) J. C. Rhodes, who also
signed Hubbard’s detachment paperwork. On the church document, the commanding
ocer who signed o on Hubbard’s separation was “Howard D. Thompson, Lt. Cmdr.”
The le contains a letter, from 2000, to another researcher, who had written for more
information about Thompson. An analyst with the National Archives responded that the
records of commissioned naval ocers at that time had been reviewed and “there was
no Howard D. Thompson listed.”
The church, after being informed of these discrepancies, asserted, “Our expert on
military records has advised us that, in his considered opinion, there is nothing in the
Thompson notice that would lead him to question its validity.” Eric Voelz and William
Seibert, two longtime archivists at the St. Louis facility, examined the church’s document
and pronounced it a forgery. 10
Eric Voelz additionally told The New Yorker, “The United States has never handed out
Purple Hearts with a palm.” He said that ditto marks, which are found on the document
provided by the church, do not typically appear on forms of this kind. The font was also
suspect, since it was not consistent with the size or style of the times. Voelz had never
heard of the “Marine Medal,” and he took issue with the “Br. & Dtch. Vict. Meds.” found
on the church document, saying that medals awarded by foreign countries are not listed
on a Notice of Separation, and that they were unlikely to have been awarded to an
American in any case.
A few months after this meeting, Davis and Feshbach stopped representing
Scientology, even though they continued to be listed as the top spokespeople on the
church website. Rumor from former members is that Davis blew but was recovered and
once again subjected to sec-checking. Then Feshbach became seriously ill. According to
the church, they are on a leave of absence from the Sea Org for medical reasons. They
are now living in Texas. When I last spoke to Davis, he said, “I think you should know
my allegiances haven’t changed—at all.” He added: “I don’t have to answer your
questions anymore.”
1 In my meeting with Isham, he had asserted that Scientology is not a “faith-based religion.” Leaving aside the question of
what religion is without faith, I pointed out that in Scientology’s upper levels, there was a cosmology that would have to
be accepted on faith. Isham responded that he wasn’t going to discuss the details of OT III, nor had I asked him to. “You