12 Things We Learned From Rose McGowan On Louis Theroux’s Podcast
8. Her Father Was Discharged From The Navy
So how did her parents come to join the Children of God group in the first place? Well, McGowan’s mother and father moved to Venice in the early '70s after her father was “honourably discharged” from the U.S Navy during the draft for the Vietnam war.
The reason for his discharge was that he dropped acid into his commanders’ drinks - stating moral differences and refusing to kill another race for the honours of a country.
After the discharge, her parents moved to Italy where they met and befriended a man named David Bird... who turned out to be the founder of the Children of God. After she was born in September 1973, her father began running the Italian chapter of the cult, often involving the family travelling across Europe meeting communes belonging to the group.