Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-24
Russia Once Spurned Alleged Slayer Of President
By BERNARD GWERTzMAN
Star staff Writer

who turned to Cuba for love
after Russia spurned him.
A man who served with Os-
valid in the Marines has de-
scribed him as a lonely, in
troverted, aloof boy" His
section chief, however, remem-
bers him as q ''hothead" who
was always having beefs with
the guys in the barracks"
His landlady in Dallas told
police, II told myself that he
was a peculiar man. I took it
for granted that he didn't care
for people. But he never both
cred anyone"
Oswald, himself, once said
his infatuation with Marxism
was a result Of the hardships
suffered by his mother. She
told police yesterday her son
els really a good boy"
MY mother has been a
worker all her life" he told
an American reporter in Mos
COW in 1859 when he was seek
ing Soviet citizenship. "Sheis
a good example Of what hap
pens to workers in the United
States" ~
Although he was not born
until 1899. he apparently liked
to talk about the problems his
mother had during the hard
days Of the depression in the
early 1905.
Bitter About Mother
Allen D. Graf Of Buffalo,
who served with him in the
Marines, said Oswald twas
bitter about the tough time his
mother had during the depres-
sion"
Oswald explained that he en-
listed in the Marines in 1856
when he was IL because 1--WE
were poor and I didn't want
to be a burden on my mother"
His father, an insurance
salesman, died before Oswald
was born. Reared in New
Orleans (his birthplace) and
Fort Worth, he spent two years
in New York during his teens.
Oswald spent only % days
in high school and yet claims
to have read "Das Kapital" by
Karl Marx, a weighty tome
from which many scholars have
SHE'D away.
He claims that he came across
Marx when he was Is. after
watching the way workers are
treated in New York and
Negroes in the South"
He decided after reading
"Das Kapital" that, as an
American, he would wind up
either a worker exploited for
capitalist profit. or an exploiter
or, since there are many in this
category. I'd be one Of the un-
employed"
Scored as SharpshOOter
As a Marine, Oswald had an
undistinguished career. He
never rose above private first
class, and was called before
two courts-n1artial, once for
unauthorized possession Of a
weapon, and once for using
provoking words to a non-com-
missioned officer"
AS a marksman, he was some
what above average, qualifying
as a "sharpshooter," with a
score of 212 out of $50 with a
standard MI rifle. Sharp
shooter" is the second highest
of the three qualifying categor-
les.
He was taught to be an avia-
ton electronics operator and
served overseas in Japan.
Later, Oswald said that in
Japan, he "had chance to
watch American militarist i'm
perialiSm in action"
He received a hardship sep
aration from the Marines in
September, 1859, one month
before his three-year hitch ex-
pired. But instead of going
home to his mother, Oswald
took his saved-up Marine
money and headed for Russia
to become a Soviet citizen.
Like other defectors before
him, Oswald looked to Russia
to solve all his problems. He
went to the American Embassy
and told officials: IT am a
MarxiSt."
State Department records
show that on November 2,
1859, Oswald turned in his
passport and said in an af-
fidavit: 81 affirm that my al
legiance is to the Soviet So
cialiStic Republic"
Married in Russia
But Soviet officials were not
eager to grant Oswald citizen
ship. They put him off, offer
ing, however, to allow him to
live in Russia as a resident
alien.
He was permitted to live in
the city of Minsk in the Byelo-
russian Republic far cry
from Moscow. There, he met
and married on April 80, 1861,
Mariana Nikolaevna Prusa-
kova, a pharmacist. They have
two daughters.
About this time, apparently
he became angry with Soviet
authorities for not allowing
him citizenship, and asked fol-
an exit visa. He also sought