num_pages: 382
description: The endless tangle of questions about bullets, trajectories, wounds, time sequences &amp; inconsistent testimony that's surrounded the JFK assassination &amp; has fascinated generations of self-styled investigators, probably never will be satisfactorily resolved. Each new release of documents from the various bureaucracies involved in the half century old investigation may only deepen apparent contradictions. Within this morass of facts. however, there's a central actor, Lee Harvey Oswald. His rifle, which fired the fatal bullet, was found in the Book Depository. So was his palm print. He'd bought the ammunition. His cartridge cases were found near the body of a murdered policeman on the route of his flight. In light of the evidence, the issue that ought to have concerned people wasn't Oswald's technical guilt but whether he was involved with others. He wasn't a loner. Ever since he was handed a pamphlet about the Rosenbergs at age 15, he was a joiner, seeking affiliations with groups at home &amp; abroad. At 16 he wrote the SP "I am a Marxist &amp; have been studying Socialist Principles for well over 5 years" requesting information about joining their Youth League. He later made membership inquiries to the SWP, SLP, The Gus Hall-Benjamin Davis Defense Committee, The Fair Play for Cuba Committee &amp; the CP—correspondence bringing him under FBI surveillance. He also joined the Marines. After a 2-year stint as a radar operator, he sought still another affiliation: in 10/59 he became the 1st Marine to defect to the USSR. In Moscow, he delivered a letter stating "I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." Not only did he publically renounce his citizenship but he told the US consul he intended to give the Soviets military secrets he'd acquired while serving in the Marines, adding he'd data of "special interest" to the Russians. Since he indeed had exposure to secrets such as the U-2, his defection had serious espionage implications. He thus hadn't only compromised the secrets he'd come in contact with, but put himself in the hands of another country. He was now dependent on Russia for financial support, legal status &amp; protection. Before disappearing into the Soviet hinterland for a year, he spelled out his operational creed in a long letter to his brother. From Moscow, he wrote presciently of his willingness to kill for a political cause: "I want you to understand what I say now, I do not say lightly, or unknowingly, since I've been in the military...In the event of war I would kill any American who put a uniform on in defense of the American Government" &amp; then ominously added for emphasis, "Any American." His willingness to act as an assassin was now known to anyone who read the letter, which included not only his Russian hosts but US intelligence, since his letter was intercepted by the CIA &amp; microfilmed. He returned to the USA in 6/62, joined by his Russian wife Marina, settling in Dallas. He then purchased a rifle with telescopic sights &amp; a revolver from a mail-order house under a false name. He lectured a few friends on the need for violent action rather than mere words. His particular focus was extreme conservative Gen. Edwin A. Walker, who'd been active in Dallas organizing anti-Castro guerrillas. For example, he suggested to a German geologist, Volkmar Schmidt that Walker should be treated like a "murderer at large". He didn't stop at fierce words. For weeks, he stalked Walker's movements, photographing his residence from several angles. He then had his wife photograph him, dressed entirely in black, with a revolver strapped on a hip holster, a sniper's rifle in his right hand &amp; two newspapers, The Worker &amp; The Militant, in his left. He made 3 copies--one of which he inscribed, dated "5-IV-63" &amp; sent to a Dallas acquaintance, George De Mohrenschildt. He then left with his rifle wrapped in a raincoat, telling Marina he was off to "target practice", but his target, Walker, was out of town that night. He returned to Walker's home 5 nights later &amp; fired a shot, missing by inches, demonstrating his will to kill. After the failed assassination, another friend, Ruth Paine, drove Oswald &amp; family to New Orleans, where he became the organizer for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, which opposed efforts to overthrow Castro. Aside from printing leaflets, staging demonstrations, getting arrested &amp; appearing on local radio talk show that summer, he attempted to befriend leaders of &amp; infiltrate anti-Castro groups organizing sabotage raids against Cuba. By this time, he apparently considered himself a sleeper operative, writing in 8/63 to the central committee of the CP, &amp; asking "Whether in your opinion, I can compete with anti-progressive forces above ground, or whether I should always remain in the background, i.e. underground." During this summer, while practicing sighting his rifle in his backyard, he told his wife about his plan to hijack a plane to Cuba, saying he might earn a position in its government. Then, on 9/9, in a report that appeared on the 1st page of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Castro, target of CIA assassination attempts, warned that if the USA continued "aiding plans to eliminate Cuban leaders...they themselves will not be safe". The implication of this warning wasn't lost on Oswald. Telling Marina they might never meet again, he left New Orleans 2 weeks later headed for the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. To convince the Cubans of his bona fides &amp; seriousness he had prepared a dossier which included a 10 page resume, outlining his revolutionary activities, newspaper clippings about his defection, documents he'd stolen from a printing company engaged in classified map reproduction, his correspondence with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, &amp;, as if to demonstrate his lethal capability, photos linking him to the Walker shooting. He applied for a visa at the Cuban Embassy on the morning of 9/27/63. He said he wanted to stop in Havana en route to the USSR. On the application the consular officer who interviewed him noted: "The applicant states that he's a member of the American Communist Party &amp; Secretary in New Orleans of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee." Despite such recommendations, he was told he needed a Soviet visa before a Cuban visa could be issued. He argued over this requisite with the Cuban counsel, Eusebio Azque, in front of witnesses, &amp; reportedly made wild claims about services he might perform for the Cuban cause. During the next 5 days, he traveled back &amp; forth between the Soviet &amp; Cuban embassies attempting to straighten out the difficulty. When he telephoned from the Cuban embassy to arrange an appointment at the Soviet Embassy with officer Valery Vladimirovich Kostikov, he set off alarm bells at the CIA, which had been monitoring the phones. Kostikov was a KGB officer who had been under FBI surveillance in Mexico. By the time the CIA had identified Oswald, &amp; notified the FBI, he'd left Mexico. Returned to Dallas, Oswald assumed a different identity--O.H. Lee. Separating from his family, he moved to a rooming house. He forbade his wife divulging his whereabouts. On 10/18, his visa was approved by the Cuban Foreign Ministry despite the fact he'd not received a Soviet visa. Apparently unaware of this development, he wrote another letter to the Soviet Embassy, referring to his meeting with Kostikov in Mexico, adding cryptically: "Had I been able to reach the Soviet Embassy in Havana as planned, the embassy there would have had time to complete our business." When FBI counterintelligence intercepted this letter in Washington. it urgently requested its field agent in Dallas to question him. FBI agent James Hosty, unable to locate Oswald, warned Marina she could be sent back to Russia. When his wife told him about the warning he threatened to bomb its Dallas office. By this time, he had a menial $1.50 hour job at the Book Depository, which overlooked the convergence of the 3 main streets into central Dallas. On 11/22, at 12:30PM, as JFK’s car passed the depository, a burst of rifle fire killed him. Under 2 hours later, a Dallas policeman had been killed, &amp;, near the shooting, Oswald was arrested with the murder weapon in hand. He was charged with killing the policeman &amp;, shortly afterwards, assassinating JFK. On 11/24, he was shot to death in Dallas police HQ by night club owner Jack Ruby. The Warren Commission concluded Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK. But conspiracies don't necessarily require multiple rifleman to accomplish their purpose. What the Commission couldn't rule out, as two of its members pointed out to me, was the possibility he'd acted at the behest of others. He'd advertised willingness to undertake a high-profile assassination by circulating photos connecting himself to the shooting of Walker. Any party monitoring his activities in Dallas, New Orleans or Mexico City could have discerned from them a potential assassin awaiting a mission. With a mind set on such violent actions as hijacking, blowing up an FBI office or killing “any American,” not much would be required to prod him to violence. He'd sought liaisons in dangerous quarters &amp; someone could've provided inducement. But silenced by Ruby, &amp; intelligence services capable of expunging embarrassing data about their contacts with a Presidential assassins from their files, it's doubtful we'll ever know who, if anyone, influenced him to act on 11/22/63.--EJE 12/14/09 (edited)
language: English
title: Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald
titlecomplete: Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald
genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, Politics, History
ratings_count: 112
publisher: McGraw-Hill Book Company (NY)