THE BOY OSWALD
Lee Harvey Oswald, the role he played in the death of John F. Kennedy, and the lasting legacy of the assassination cannot be understood without an appreciation of his life. Was Oswald a patsy or the lone gunman? The fact remains that a vast majority of the American people believe in a conspiracy to murder John F. Kennedy however, it is my contention that the conspiracy view is overstated and distorts an important part of American history. It is the intent of this writing to expose the reader to a minority point of view, that Lee Harvey Oswald, alone, assassinated the President of the United States in Dallas, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was born in New Orleans in 1939 and entered a strange and secluded world. His father died two months before his birth and his mother, Marguerite, chose to discard her children. His brother Robert and his half-brother, John, entered an orphanage while Marguerite took care of Lee. In 1942, the day after Christmas, Lee joined his two older brothers. He was three years old. Oswald's life, grim and poverty stricken, remains the key to understanding the events in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
His early life was nothing more than a minimum of parental structure from various care givers, an aunt, a neighbor, or anyone Marguerite could find to look after the boy. In January 1944, Marguerite met Edwin Ekdahl, an electrical engineer, and a man that offered her some financial prospects. Lee was removed from the children's home and taken to Dallas pending Marguerite's marriage to Ekdahl. This was a time of reunion for Lee, Robert and John and, with Marguerite's improved economic status, a short period of family togetherness existed.
The year after Marguerite married Edwin Ekdahl, the couple separated and, after a brief reconciliation, they divorced in 1948. With Marguerite's hopes of a comfortable future dashed, the two older boys, John and Robert, eventually quit school to work full time to help support their mother. Both John and Robert left home at the first opportunity. At 17, they enlisted in the Coast Guard and Marine Corps, respectively, and shed Marguerite's suffocating yoke hold on their lives.
In August 1952, with Robert in the Marines, Marguerite and Lee moved to New York to stay with, John, married with a family of his own. John and his wife, under the assumption Marguerite and Lee were only visiting, welcomed them and showed the sights of New York to their guests. Family bonds began to strain and were irreversibly broken when Lee, in a fit of rage, threatened John's wife with a knife, and prompted their ejection from his apartment.
The following year was a pivotal time in the formation of Lee's character. Lacking any parental guidance, he frequently missed school, spent his time at the Bronx Zoo, the library, or riding on the subway while Marguerite worked. In March 1953, Oswald was taken into custody for truancy, remanded to a youth detention center, and given psychological evaluations. His problems, in the words of social worker Evelyn Siegel, were "no-one gave a darn about him; he was not mentally disturbed but emotionally frozen. He had never developed a trusting relationship with anyone...he had to shift for himself."
Oswald believed school was a waste of his time and, certain in the knowledge of his own brilliance, believed himself brighter than his teachers. At this time, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit espionage and Oswald, while walking the streets of New York, found a leaflet protesting their conviction. Jay Epstein points to this incident as probably Oswald's first exposure to communism. Oswald, in his own writing, "discovered socialist literature and I had to dig for my books in the back dusty bookshelves of libraries."
In January 1954 Oswald, again in trouble with truancy officials, left New York with his mother and returned to New Orleans. He followed the same pattern set by his older brothers, quit school, work full time, go back to school and, at seventeen years of age, join the service to get away from Marguerite.
Lee Harvey Oswald, the scholar
OSWALDSKOVICH
It is an understatement to say that the Marine Corps and Lee Harvey Oswald were not a good fit. His first year, from October 26, 1956, was without incident. He spent the bulk of his first year in recruit training (boot camp) followed by advanced training in aviation electronics operation, radar operator. Serving almost three years, Oswald amassed several serious breaches of military conduct. His tour of duty in the Marine Corps identified the individual, his failures, and his inability to accept responsibility for his own life without blaming others for his difficult path.
In September 1957, after advanced training, Oswald was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1, MACS-1, and deployed to Atsugi, Japan. His military life unraveled shortly after his arrival. In October 1957, Oswald accidently shot himself with an unauthorized .22 handgun, a serious breach of military conduct. One month later, his unit was temporarily deployed to the Philippines and, while on guard duty, a member of his unit died under suspicious circumstances. Some of Oswald's fellow marines suggested his involvement in the incident.
After MACS-1 returned to Atsugi, in March 1958, Oswald received a suspended sentence for the illegal weapon charge from the previous year. Professor Larry Sabato in his book, The Kennedy Half Century, indicated Oswald intentionally shot himself, but the relatively light sentence imposed by the court martial suggested an accidental discharge of the weapon. Oswald was charged two months later for assault on a senior NCO who, Oswald believed, unfairly assigned him to menial duties. Oswald's original sentence to confinement was imposed and the harsh treatment he received while in the brig radically changed Oswald. He developed an acute hatred towards the Marine Corps and the United States, which intensified during the remaining term of his enlistment.
A month after Oswald's release from the brig, MACS-1 deployed to Taiwan and, shortly after arrival, Oswald inexplicably and negligently discharged his weapon into the jungle while on guard duty. He either suffered some form of emotional breakdown or deliberately staged the event. In either case, he was relieved of his duties and flown back to Japan while MACS-1 remained in Taiwan. Many conspiracy writers claim Oswald, for obscure and shadowy reasons, was anxious to return to Japan.
Oswald's possible connection to Russian agents while at Atsugi has never been confirmed and the security level of information he may have obtained is unknown. Indeed, he held a confidential security clearance but, Oswald's connection to the loss of a U2 plane over Russia in 1960 has been stated but, his assignment to mostly menial duties, detention in the brig, and unit deployment during the year he was stationed in Japan probably precluded the loss of meaningful information related to this incident. We cannot discuss what is unknown without conjecture. As his overseas deployment was about to end, Oswald, eager to remain in Japan, sought an extension of his tour but his request was denied, and he returned to the United States.
During Oswald's last year in the Marine Corps, he appeared to become more open about his Marxist beliefs. Oswald answered questions directed at him in the Russian da and nyet, subscribed to Russian periodicals, and complained bitterly about the failure of capitalism and American life, particularly with regard to racial equality. He frequently referred to his fellow marines as comrades, wrote his name in Russian on his field jacket, and answered to his nickname, Oswaldskovich, with delight. He taught himself Russian to some degree but failed to pass a Russian language examination administered by the Marine Corps. In August 1959, Oswald was granted a hardship discharge from the Marine Corps, largely based on false documentation provided by his mother.
Oswald's tour of duty can be characterized as failure, failure to take responsibility for his own actions, failure to honor his enlistment contract, and failure to regard his fellow marines with respect. Oswald was an outsider, a singular being in an environment where individualism is discouraged. Some of his former acquaintances from the Marine Corps indicated to the Warren Commission similar testimony, a man who kept to himself, never socialized with other marines, and rarely left the base. This was the beginning of the case against Oswald, the lone nut.
Private Oswald, USMC
OSWALD THE RUSSIAN
In September 1959, only a few days after leaving the Marine Corps, Lee Harvey Oswald left the United States, bound for the Soviet Union, via Finland, where he obtained a temporary tourist visa. Oswald's sojourn to the Soviet Union was a perplexing and highly unusual event considering that few Americans were even permitted entry into Russia during the two decades following World War Two. The Iron Curtain in the late 1950's, aptly named for its rigidly suppressive regime under Stalin and Khrushchev, was not a destination of choice but a place from which people fled.
The question has been raised by conspiratorialists regarding Oswald's ability to finance such a strange venture. His bank account at the time of his discharge from the Marine Corps contained a little more than two hundred dollars, therefore, it is reasonable to question his ability to fund a trip of this magnitude. Oswald, as a marine that seldom left the base, may have operated a high interest loan business, a slush fund, a common form of payday loans among service members. It is possible that he sold information to communist agents while in Japan, as suggested by Edward Jay Epstein. Some have suggested that the CIA sent Oswald to Russia, an idea that may have originated from his mother, Marguerite, who claimed from the time of his death that Oswald was a CIA operative, a national hero, and a patriot.
Spasskaya Tower (L) and St. Basil's Cathedral
THE DEFECTOR
Oswald in Moscow
Oswald's arrival in Moscow, however financed, and his movements within the Soviet Union are well documented. He was met at the train station and taken to Hotel Berlin by an Intourist representative, the agency that arranged his tour of Moscow. Oswald, on his second day in Moscow, met a young Intourist guide named Rimma Shirakova who became his confidante and champion, a vital link in his plan to defect to the Soviet Union. On his second meeting with Rimma, Lee announced his intention to seek political asylum and renounce his American citizenship, a statement that caught Rimma completely by surprise and began the strange odyssey of Oswald in Russia.
Oswald's attempts to seek asylum were frustrated by unyielding bureaucracy and Rimma, his unofficial spokesperson, on the last day of his visa, informed the distraught young defector his request to remain in the Soviet Union had been denied and he was required to leave the country that evening. Oswald, writing is in self-proclaimed "historic diary," was shaken by a devastating blow that "shattered his fondest dreams."
Oswald, not to be deterred by the Soviets, attempted suicide in the bathroom of his hotel by slashing his left wrist. When he failed to meet Rimma for a tour, she became concerned and knocked on his door. Receiving no answer, she sought hotel security to gain entry into Oswald's room where they found him unconscious in the bath. The truth behind young Oswald's near death by his own hand is obscure. According to Norman Mailer in his work, Oswald's Tale, the doctor who treated Oswald's wound indicated the cut on his wrist was not life threatening and he was up, out of bed, after receiving only five stitches. The Russians, jittery of an American citizen dying under suspicious circumstances while in the Soviet Union, weakened under the fear of international scandal and allowed Oswald to remain until a solution to their unique problem was found.
After his weeklong hospital stay, Oswald was taken to his hotel, then moved to a less elegant room in Hotel Metropole. Soviet authorities indicted they would contact him with news of their ultimate decision on his fate in the Soviet Union. Oswald grew impatient. He took a taxi to the American Embassy, threw his passport on the receptionist's desk, and demanded to renounce his American citizenship. The consul that handled Oswald's case that Saturday morning was Richard Snyder, a career foreign service officer with a master's degree in Russian studies from Harvard University. Snyder took Oswald's passport and, unable to dissuade him, told Oswald to return on the following Monday to fill out the necessary paperwork. Oswald did not return and Snyder kept his passport, a most fortuitous event for the young defector. Snyder would meet him again twenty months later when the disillusioned Oswald returned to obtain his passport in order to leave the Soviet Union.
Priscilla Johnson McMillan, in her work, Marina and Lee, suggested that Oswald was a beneficiary from a policy of detente following the Eisenhower-Khrushchev talks at Camp David the previous September. McMillan further explained that decisions regarding Americans in the Soviet Union were being made at higher levels than previously and Oswald's suicide attempt showed the Russians his will to destroy himself rather than return to the United States. The Russians let him wait for a few months, hoping that inactivity in his case would lead to frustration and his return home. With Oswald inside the Hotel Metropole in a form of exile, the Russians, convinced he was not leaving, threw in their cards and folded.
Oswald's passport photograph
A RATHER AVERAGE GENTLEMAN
The KGB
It has long been suggested by conspiratorialists that Lee Harvey Oswald was a KGB agent or an agent for the CIA. There is no evidence to support the claim that either agency employed Oswald in any capacity. In an episode of PBS's series, Frontline, entitled, Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald, Vladimir Semichastny, former head of the KGB, was interviewed and questioned about KGB interest in Oswald. He indicated that the KGB had considered Oswald for intelligence work but found him unsuitable, devoid of the qualities considered necessary for an operative. Conversely, Semichastny claimed the KGB had concerns about Oswald's intentions in the Soviet Union. The KGB placed Oswald under an extensive surveillance and determined he was a simple man of no particular talents. Semichastny confirmed that Oswald had not worked for the KGB and, considering Oswald's lack of qualification, the KGB did not believe the CIA employed him to spy on the Soviet Union.
There are documents indicating American security agencies were interested in Oswald, but the evidence suggests concern over classified information Oswald may have given to the Russians, rather than interest in a possible recruit. Semichastny, without indication of any cooperation by Oswald, stated the information (that Oswald may have given) was outdated and not useful. This is probably the case. Once news of Oswald's defection and his statement of intent to give classified information to the Russians had reached the United States, action was taken to minimize the security breech. Oswald was interviewed by the FBI on his return to the United States and there is evidence to suggest the CIA also contacted him, however, the CIA has never acknowledged any involvement with Oswald and the extent of their connection remains a mystery.
Vladimir Semichastny, KGB Chief
OSWALD GOES TO MINSK
Oswald waited nearly two months in Moscow for the Russian authorities to decide his future in the Soviet Union. He was informed, through Rimma, that he was being allowed to remain in Russia, but his new home was in Minsk. Oswald had won, a triumph of his will over Russian bureaucracy, but he was disappointed about leaving Moscow. Mailer wrote that Oswald did not know where Minsk was and had never heard of it. The young defector boarded a train on January 7, 1960, and departed for his new home, 420 miles to the Southwest in, what is now, Belarus. Writing to his mother and brothers, "I do not wish to ever contact you again. I am beginning a new life and I don't want any part of the old."
Minsk, at the time of Oswald's arrival, was only fifteen years removed from the ravages of World War Two. It had suffered badly under the onslaught of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of Russia, with virtually every building destroyed or badly damaged and almost the entire population displaced. Minsk in 1960, rebuilt and thriving, was still a step backwards in time, a grim experience for an American visitor.
Oswald was provided with an apartment, an unheard-of luxury for a bachelor in a city with a critical housing shortage. He wrote on March 16, 1960, "I receive a small flat, one-room kitchen-bath near the factory (8 min. walk) with splendid view from 2 balconies of the river, almost rent free (60 rubles a month). It is a Russian's dream." He was given employment as a sheet metal worker at a radio and television plant, work he eventually grew to dislike and found demeaning for a man with, in his own mind, international political status. Some conspirators have suggested that Oswald was given a choice living quarters, employment, and a stipend of substantial financial support in return for information provided while in Japan or after his defection to the Soviet Union.
As a youth, Oswald never made any friends and failed to make any lasting friendships while in the Marine Corps. Veterans will be quick to note that their military experiences yielded friendships that endured for lifetimes, but not Oswald. He made some initial progress at friendships while in the Soviet Union but, in the end, he became withdrawn and a loner.
Oswald, center in shades, with
coworkers in Minsk
IN RUSSIA AND LOVE
Oswald transformed himself into something of a man about town in Minsk. He became friendly with a guide from Intourist named Rosa Kuznetsova, a lovely girl who spoke excellent English. From his "Historic Diary" he wrote, "at night I take Rosa to the theater, movie, or opera almost every day. I'm living big and am very satisfied. I receive a check from the Red Cross every 5th of the month "to help." The check is 700 rubles. Therefore, every month I make 1400 rubles, about the same as the Director of the factory." He enjoyed the attention from his co-workers and, being the only American in Minsk, he was something of a novelty, a young man of mystery with his own apartment. From his own writing, Oswald had several relationships with women during his first year in Minsk but the girl he wanted was Ella Germann, a dark-haired girl whom he met at the factory. They saw each other for a few months and, just after New Year's Day, 1961, Oswald proposed to her. Ella refused. Oswald wrote, " I am stunned. She snickers at my awkwardness .... I am miserable!"
Priscilla McMillan wrote that Ella's refusal helped change Oswald's mind about life in the Soviet Union. He grew to dislike the drabness of Minsk, the cold climate, and the rigid control of the Party, thoughts that had been growing in his mind since his arrival the year before. Shortly after Ella's matrimonial rebuff, Oswald was contacted by Russian passport authorities regarding his long-term plans in the Soviet Union and, in an emotional state of dismay, replied that he did not want to pursue citizenship. He wrote, "I am starting to reconsider my desire about staying. The work is drap (drab), the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling alleys, no places of recreation except the trade union dances. I have had enough."
It was fortunate for Oswald not to pursue Russian citizenship, once taken into the Motherland, there would be no opportunity to return to the United States. Like those Americans dismayed at the failure of capitalism during the Great Depression, emigration to the Soviet Union closed all the portals of return to America and permanently absorbed those persons into obscurity in the vastness of Russia.
While in this state of frustration, Oswald met a very pretty girl named Marina Prusakova.
A young Marina Prusakova
MARRIED MAN
The winter of 1961 was a lonely period for Oswald. He wrote in early January, "I am miserable about Ella. I love her but what can I do? ... Make my first request to American Embassy, Moscow, for reconsidering my position, I stated, "I would like to go back to U.S." On February 28, Oswald received a letter from Consul Richard Snyder. Oswald wrote, "I could come in for an interview any time I wanted." No longer enchanted by Marxism and communist non-material splendor, he was ready to go home.
In the middle of March, Oswald met an attractive girl named Marina. Oswald wrote about that night, "I and Erich went to trade union dance. Boring, but at the last hour I am introduced to a girl with a French hairdo and red dress with white slipper(s). I dance with her, then ask to show her home. Her name is Marina. We like each other right away." Shortly after the dance Oswald was hospitalized for adenoid surgery and called Marina at home. He wanted to see her.
Priscilla McMillan wrote that Marina was not initially attracted to Oswald, but felt sorry for him, a stranger hospitalized in a strange country with no family nearby. After Oswald's release from hospital, he and Marina began seeing each other regularly, a courtship that was extremely brief. Oswald wrote, "we are going steady, and I decide I must have her. She puts me off and so on April 15, I propose. She accepts."
Lee and Marina were married on April 30, 1961, her aunt and uncle had a small reception for them in their apartment. Marina claimed, according to Mailer, she was not interviewed by any government official and the only documentation necessary for the marriage was registration of intent and certification of the marriage ten days later. Her family was not opposed to the marriage.
Some conspirators have claimed that Marina's uncle, a colonel in the MVD, the Interior Ministry Security Service, allowed the marriage of his niece to an American defector, as directed by the KGB, for future intelligence purposes. There is no evidence to support these claims.
Marina Prusakova
HUSBAND AND FATHER
Lee and Marina, like most newlyweds, began their marriage well. The young couple enjoyed walks in the park, boat rides on Lake Minsk, and, from his historic diary, "she is madly in love with me from the very start." After several weeks, Oswald confessed his desire to return to the United States. Marina was "slightly startled" by the revelation but told him to do as he wished.
Oswald found married life to be a challenge. He wrote, "the transition of changing full love from (Ella) to Marina was very painful esp. as I saw her almost every day at the factory." Oswald and Marina had a strained relationship and, according to McMillan, they both thought it a mistake to have gotten married. But, shortly into their marriage, Marina realized she was pregnant and Oswald, hoping for a boy, was jubilant. His desire to leave the Soviet Union was further strengthened by his resolve to become a man of fame and fortune, a goal he could never achieve in Russia.
After some months of slogging through the red tape of two governments, Oswald and Marina were given exit visas and, with funds loaned by the U.S. State Department, left the Soviet Union by train, bound for the Dutch port of Rotterdam. They departed Rotterdam on June 4, 1962, bound for New York. Priscilla McMillan wrote that Marina, while on board the ship, was ashamed of her shabby appearance and Lee spend most of his time away from her, either in the ship's library or at the movie, leaving Marina to tend to June. Their trip to America was not a happy adventure.
Some in the conspiracy community insist that Oswald was sent back to the United States as an agent for the KGB. It is more likely the Russians were glad to get rid of him. His co-workers in the Minsk radio and television plant stated that Oswald began his work well enough but, as time went by, he displayed indifference towards his work, a trait that he repeated on his return to America.
Lee, Marina, and June Lee
BACK IN THE USA
The Oswalds, with infant baby, June Lee, arrived in New York on June 13, 1962, and departed the following day, by plane for Ft. Worth, the home of his brother, Robert. During the Atlantic crossing Oswald wrote statements in anticipation of questions from the press but, on arrival at Love Field in Dallas, was dismayed to realize there would be no press conference. He asked his brother, Robert, "What, no reporters?" Robert stated that he had managed to keep news of his arrival quiet, but Lee was clearly disappointed by the lack of press coverage.
Lee, Marina, and June stayed with Robert and his family for a month, then moved in with Marguerite, a move Lee came to regret. Lee and Marina stayed a month with her while Lee looked for work. Lee took a job with Louv-R-Pak, a division of the Leslie Welding Company, as a sheet metal worker and, once Lee had saved enough money to rent his own apartment, the young family left Marguerite's apartment, leaving no forwarding address.
During the last fourteen months of his young life, Oswald held four jobs, none of which lasted more than six months, moved no less than eight times, and attempted to hold together an abusive relationship with his estranged wife. Marina, now pregnant with their second child, separated and returned to Lee on three occasions before finally moving in with Ruth Paine in Irving. It was during these last months of Lee Harvey Oswald's life that the course was set for his violent collision with the President of the United States.
The Oswalds depart the Soviet Union