With the advent of World War II, he entered the United States Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade) and served as commander of antisubmarine corvettes. Although highly decorated, he was deeply saddened by the inhumanity of that conflict and so more resolved than ever to discover some workable means to better the human condition. To that end, he continued his research even through the darkest years of conflict. Left partially blind and lame from injuries sustained during combat, he was diagnosed as permanently disabled by 1945 and hospitalized in Oakland, California. By this point, however, he had already formulated his first theories on the human mind and, through application of those theories, was not only able to help fellow servicemen, but also regain his own health. In short, he found that by relieving the mental trauma attendant to injuries, one could effect truly miraculous improvements.

After several more years of intensive work, wherein he applied his techniques to some four hundred individuals, Ron compiled his sixteen years of research into The Original Thesis (known today as The Dynamics of Life). Although not immediately published, this work inspired so much enthusiasm among scientific and professional circles that he was soon called upon to further explain the techniques he now termed Dianetics.

The first published article on the subject, entitled "Terra Incognita: The Mind," appeared in the Winter/Spring issue of the Explorers Club journal, generating still greater enthusiasm and hundreds of inquiring letters. L. Ron Hubbard then commenced the writing of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the first popular handbook on the human mind expressly written for the man in the street. Dianetics was published on May 9, 1950 and became an immediate bestseller. Moreover, because it offered techniques for self-betterment that anyone could learn and apply, the book soon sparked what newspapers described as "The Fastest Growing Movement in America."

The publication of Dianetics ushered in a new era of hope for mankind and a new phase of life for its author. in constant demand, L. Ron Hubbard was soon crisscrossing the country to meet requests for public lectures and personal instruction in the application of Dianetics. Yet even through that intensely busy summer and autumn of 1950, he did not cease his research-first to perfect the technology with which he had resolved problems of the human mind, and then to examine an even more elusive question: What exactly is life? For as he wrote, "The further one investigated, the more one came to understand that here, in this creature, Homo sapiens, were entirely too many unknowns."

Although still applying a wholly scientific methodology, the research that followed soon led him into an entirely spiritual realm. In particular, he was examining what he had termed the life source and later described as the thetan; and as breakthrough after breakthrough was carefully codified through late 1951, the applied religious philosophy of Scientology was born. Offering man a route to new levels of awareness and ability, the first Church of Scientology was established in 1954.

Because Scientology explains the whole of life, there is no aspect of man's existence that L. Ron Hubbard's subsequent work did not address. Residing variously in the United States and England, his continued research brought forth solutions to such social ills as declining educational standards and the disintegrating family. Also utilizing the basic tenets of Scientology, he was able to discover remarkable methods of assisting the ill, repairing marriages, bettering relations and, in short, resolving any problem or conflict. And because an understanding of individuals ultimately provides an understanding of groups, he was soon employing Scientology truths to evolve a sane means of administering organizations-work which brought about the expansion of Scientology into a worldwide network.

On September 1, 1966, with Scientology now spanning the globe, L. Ron Hubbard resigned his position as Executive Director of the Church and stepped down from the boards of all Church corporations in order to fully devote himself to researches into the highest levels of spiritual awareness and ability. On the threshold of breakthroughs into such levels, he returned to sea aboard a 3,200-ton research vessel, Apollo. For the next seven years, he again traveled extensively, while devoting his attention to increasingly grave societal problems. Of special note from this period is his Scientology Drug Rehabilitation program, recognized by government studies as the world's most effective. He also developed and refined his revolutionary Study Technology, which has factually led to increased literacy for millions.

Moving to shore in 1975, Ron continued his travels-first from Florida to Washington, DC and Los Angeles before finally settling in a southern California desert community near Palm Springs, his home until 1979. There, as part of a larger program to bring Scientology and Dianetics to increasing numbers of people, he wrote and directed training films while also continuing to search out solutions to the world's most pressing problems.

In 1980, as part of his long-standing effort to reverse late-twentieth-century moral decay, he wrote the nonreligious moral code, The Way to Happiness. Applauded by community and political leaders, and civic groups, The Way to Happiness subsequently spawned a worldwide grass-roots movement to uplift the decency and integrity of man. To date, some fifty million copies are in circulation. Effective in many sectors of society, the booklet has also been described as the single most effective means of rehabilitating inmates of criminal institutions.

Resuming his travels in the early 1980s, he finally took up residence in the central California community of Creston, near San Luis Obispo. Here, he completed his research into advanced levels of Scientology and finalized the technical materials he had spent his life developing.

All told, L. Ron Hubbard's works on Scientology and Dianetics total forty million words of recorded lectures, books and writing. Together, these works constitute the legacy of a lifetime that ended on January 24, 1986. Yet the passing of L. Ron Hubbard in no way constituted an end; for with more than a hundred million of his books in circulation and millions of people daily applying his technologies for betterment, it can truly be said that the world still has no greater friend.