In August 1952, OSWALD and Marguerite Oswald moved to Manhattan, where John Pic Jr. lived. They moved into the apartment of John Pic Jr.'s mother-in-law at 325 East 92nd Street. Here, OSWALD pulled a knife on John Pic Jr.'s wife, Marge Pic. Marguerite Oswald and LEE, moved to the Bronx, where they lived in a basement apartment at 1455 Sheridan Avenue from September 1952 to January 1953. There, OSWALD refused to attend school - out of 64 school days, he attended 15. In January they moved to 825 East 179th Street where OSWALD refused to register at the public elementary school. At a hearing on January 27, 1953, it was decided to commence judicial proceedings if OSWALD'S truancy continued. OSWALD was called before a Family Court judge on April 16, 1953. Marguerite Oswald appeared in court and conveyed that he refused to appear. OSWALD was declared a truant and was remanded to Youth House for psychiatric study.

While at Youth House from April 16, 1953, to May 7, 1953, OSWALD was examined by its chief psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs. In a report on OSWALD prepared by Dr. Hartogs dated May 1, 1953, OSWALD was described as "a seriously detached withdrawn youngster of 13. Laconic and taciturn, he answers questions but volunteered almost nothing himself, spontaneously. Despite the fact that he is very hard to reach he seems to have some ability to relate which in view of the solitary existence he has been leading is somewhat surprising. There is a rather pleasant appealing quality about this emotionally starved, affectionless youngster, which grows as one speaks to him, and it seems fairly clear that he has detached himself from the world around him because no one in it ever met any of his needs and love. OSWALD was able to respond to expression of understanding for his lonely situation but he denied that he really felt lonely. He feels almost as if there is a veil between him and other people through which they cannot reach him, but he prefers the veil to remain intact. When inquiry was made into his fantasy life, he responded, 'This is my own business.' He agreed to answer questions if he wanted to, rejecting those which upset him and acknowledged fantasies about being powerful and sometimes hurting or killing people but refused to talk about the dreams other to admit they sometimes contained violence but he insisted they were pleasant. OSWALD has a vivid feeling of fantasy life turning around the topics of omnipotence and power through which he tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations. OSWALD claims that he can get very angry at his mother and occasionally has hit her particularly when she returns home without having brought food for supper. He did not enjoy being together with other children and when asked whether he prefers the company of boys to one of girls, he answered, 'I dislike everybody.' His occupational goal was to 'join the army.' The summary in this report was as follows: 'This 13-year-old well built boy has superior mental resources and functions only slightly below his capacity level in spite of chronic truancy from school. No finding of neurological impairment or psychotic mental changes could be made. OSWALD has to be diagnosed as personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies. He has to be seen as an emotionally quite disturbed youngster who suffers under the impact of really existing emotional isolation and depravation, lack of affection, absence of family life and rejection by a self involved and self conflicted mother. Although LEE denies that he is in need of any other form of help other than remedial one, we gained the definite impression that LEE can be reached through contact with an understanding and very patient psychotherapist, and if he could be drawn at the same time into group therapy. He had a score of I.Q. 118 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. He exhibits some difficulty in relationship to the maternal figure suggesting more anxiety in this area and strain, he appears increasingly defensive suggesting some concern orally and in general incapable of constructing an effective ego defense. LEE said, 'I don't want a friend and I don't like to talk to people.' He describes himself as stubborn and according to his own saying like to say 'No.' Strongly resistive and negativistic features were thus noticed.

"LEE came to New York from Fort Worth, Texas, with his mother and has not been able to make a New York adjustment. The root of his problem which produced warning signals seem to be his relationship with his mother. There was no one in his family to meet his needs for love and interest since his father died of a heart attack two months before he was born and his older brothers, John and Robert, 21 and 18, were involved with their own friends and activities and repulsed his advances. LEE became a seclusive child who was thrown upon himself and his own resources and he never made friends with other children. His mother who worked and who when he was an infant demonstrated her need to shift responsibility for him by leaving him with her sister and then placing him for a short while in a home, appears to be a rigid self involved woman with strong ideas and she had little understanding of this boy's behavior...This is his first brush with the law. Psychotic mental context was denied and no indications of psychotic mental changes was arrived at. LEE'S withdrawal is a form of violent but silent protest against his neglect by [his mother]. He feels that his mother rejects him and really has never cared very much for him...He expressed the similar feeling with regard to his brothers who live pretty much on their own without showing any brotherly interest in him." [FBI 62-109060-362]

Dr. Hartogs recommended OSWALD be placed on probation on the condition that he seek outpatient care. He suggested OSWALD be treated by a male psychiatrist who could fill his need for a father figure.

Dr. Renatus Hartogs liked OSWALD. He did not characterize OSWALD as violent in this report, however, when he testified before the Warren Commission, he stated that during a 1953 seminar about OSWALD he reported: "I found him to have definite traits of dangerousness. In other words this child had a potential for explosive, aggressive acting out which was rather unusual to find in a child who was sent to Youth House on such a mild charge." Dr. Hartogs had no notes or reports on this seminar. When Dr. Hartogs testified before the Warren Commission he said "I recommended this youngster be committed to an institution...a mental hospital or a training school..that he should not be placed in the community." Warren Commission Counsel Wesley Liebler confronted him with his earlier report. Dr. Hartogs: "It contradicts my recollection." Dr. Hartogs invented this "seminar" to please the Warren Commission. Gerald Posner cited Dr. Hartogs "seminar" testimony [WC V8 p.217] rather than his earlier written report. In 1975 Dr. Renatus Hartogs was ordered to pay $350,000 for having sexual relations with one of his patients. [NYT 3.20.75]

In 1953, Dr. Hartogs reported no findings of neurological impairment, yet the Warren Commission claimed OSWALD suffered from a form of dyslexia which caused a "reading-spelling disability." Evidence that OSWALD could not spell simple words appeared in his writing but his reading grades were below normal. [WR p383]

When Marguerite Oswald visited her son at Youth House, she recalled having been searched for drugs and weapons and having had to wait in line with: "Puerto Ricans and Negroes and everything." OSWALD was placed on probation by the Family Court. On May 7, 1953, OSWALD returned to public school at which time he entered ninth grade. It was reported he "consistently refused to salute the flag during early morning exercises. He spent most of his time sailing paper planes around the room and refused to work. His attitude was belligerent. However the progress report of November 19, 1953, reflects that there has been considerable improvement in OSWALD. He is now getting along well and salutes the flag." [FBI 62-109060-1362]

OSWALD'S Probation Officer, John Carro, told the Warren Commission that most of the boys he worked with were "Puerto Rican or Negro, and they were the New York type of youngsters who spoke in the same slang, who came from the Bronx. This boy was Lutheran. Different from the average boy I had on probation...he had brothers but he didn't miss them. He seems to have liked his stay at Youth House because there they were paid attention, and this is a boy who is virtually all alone all day...there was no indicia that this boy had any Marxist leanings or that he had any tendencies at that age...this was just a truancy situation, not one of real disruptive or acting out of delinquent behavior."

In June 1993 New York State Supreme Court Justice Carro related: "He didn't show that he cared that much for [his mother]...His truancy was not going to the park or to the movies; his truancy was to stay home watch TV and read magazines...The real problem was - this is the 1950's - here's a kid from down south, spoke with a southern drawl, wore Levi's which were not in style then - they weren't called jeans, they were dungarees in those days, and here's a kid who came up to a predominantly Jewish, black and Puerto Rican neighborhood. And he just didn't fit into the thing and instead of just trying to acclimate or associate, he just withdrew. He didn't like his teachers, the students and the area. He had no time for school and wasn't learning anything. He would rather be on his own and stay home. He was about 12 years old, just turned 13 and at that time he wanted to go into the service. He didn't discuss any politics or dissatisfaction with the country, he was just dissatisfied with his own lot in life. His mother claimed they had had their own car, home, dog and she suddenly was in the Bronx paying $45 a month rent in a little one-bedroom apartment after having a falling-out with her son where she had first gone to live. She was making next to nothing on her job." Justice Carro was asked about the incident where it was reported that OSWALD refused to salute the American flag: "One of his teachers was the source of this information. I felt that was just part of his acting up in class. It did not reflect that he was already anti-U.S. or anti-flag at the time, because the fact is his brothers were in the service and he wanted to go into the service. It's not fair to mention the flag - how many kids don't do that for whatever reasons, one thing or another - some kind of rebellion - he was rebelling a little, he was not getting along. He didn't like his teachers; it was anti-social behavior and I've never credited it to anything else. I spent nine months seeing this kid maybe on the average of once a week or twice a month and I found him to be a normal teenager, an ordinary young person. He didn't have any psychotic or bizarre behavior...there was nothing extraordinary or indicative of any future [leftist] propensity by this young man. None of this ever surfaced. I got no inkling of it from the mother, from him, from the whole investigation, from the school reports."

In early 1953, John Carro recommended that OSWALD should be institutionalized, although not in a reform school. OSWALD committed no crimes while he was absent from school, but he needed psychiatric help. John Carro spent months trying to find an appropriate Protestant institution for him and recommended meanwhile that he visit an outpatient psychiatric clinic. When OSWALD became a disciplinary problem upon returning to school in the Fall of 1953, Family Court considered expediting his placement in an institution.

John Carro, unlike Dr. Renatus Hartogs, realized that OSWALD had an anti-social personality that needed correction.

Before the court took any action, the OSWALDS left New York and returned to New Orleans in January 1954. OSWALD was out of the jurisdiction of the New York State Family Court. OSWALD and his mother stayed with Lillian Murret and Charles Murret at 757 French Street while Marguerite Oswald looked for an apartment. Julian Evans, whose wife rented Marguerite Oswald an apartment at this time told the Warren Commission that he believed OSWALD was a "psycho." He based this upon the fact that when OSWALD went fishing he watched the fish he caught die on the bank. OSWALD enrolled in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High School on January 13, 1954, and completed the school year without apparent difficulty or brush with the law. OSWALD readjusted to the South and renewed his efforts at friendship; he even got a part-time job delivering dentures.

The HSCA stated OSWALD'S uncle, Charles Murret, provided OSWALD with ties to organized crime in New Orleans: "The HSCA established that Charles Murret was associated with organized crime figures in New Orleans, having worked for years in an underworld gambling syndicate affiliated with the MARCELLO crime family." CARLOS MARCELLO was described by the Narcotics Bureau as one of "the nation's leading racketeers."

Charles Murret, who died on October 12, 1964, of carcinomatosis, was associated with Sam Saia, who died on October 25, 1965. Sam Saia was a close associate of CARLOS MARCELLO. [HSCA V5 p95] Sam Saia made his money by peddling dope and became one of the biggest bookmakers in New Orleans. An FBI report dated May 28, 1962 noted that the Internal Revenue Service identified Sam Saia as one of the most powerful gambling figures in Louisiana with close connections to the Mayor and former Police Chief of New Orleans. Sam Saia left a $450,000 estate and lived at the same address or owned the residence where Russell and Salvador Saia, convicted narcotics violators, lived. When questioned by the HSCA in 1978, Lillian Murret admitted her husband worked for Sam Saia. The son of Charles and Lillian Murret testified similarly. When Marilyn Murret, the daughter of Charles and Lillian Murret, was questioned about Sam Saia by the HSCA she said: "I know the Saias. I don't think I ever met him." She said she had no knowledge of her father's business, associates or employment. She did not believe her father died under mysterious circumstances.

Judging from Charles Murret's FBI file, Dutz was a minor mob figure. The FBI had 127 pages on Charles Murret, but only three of them dealt with his organized crime connections. Edwin Becker, who infiltrated the MARCELLO mob in the early 1960's stated: "There's no minor people in the MARCELLO clan." Charles Murret was cited in a 1943 FBI Crime Survey as the owner of the D.& A. Clubs: "These clubs, which are handbooks only, are operated by Charles Murret." [FBI 62-75147-33-3, 5.16.44; Cover ltr. FBI FOIA req. #89,804] In 1956 Murret was arrested for operating a hand book.

The HSCA stated that between 1955 and 1956, OSWALD lived on Exchange Place in the French Quarter of New Orleans, an area where many businesses were owned by CARLOS MARCELLO. Another OSWALD/Mob connection was his mother's attorney, Clem Sehrt (born August 19, 1909; died June 1974), whose law partner worked for CARLOS MARCELLO. Sehrt was a family friend of the Claveries beginning in the early 1900's and helped Marguerite Oswald prepare the false affidavit which OSWALD used in his unsuccessful attempt to join the Marines at age 15. Clem Sehrt, according to the New Orleans Crime Commission, was an associate lawyer and financial adviser to Louis Rousell, a Louisiana banker associated with CARLOS MARCELLO. In the 1930's Clem Sehrt came to prominence through his close association with Louis Rousell. Louis Rousell was involved in a political scandal in which it was reported two Louisiana Supreme Court Justices were receiving regular sums of income from an unreported corporate payroll of Louis Rousell. Louis Rousell and his associates had reportedly supplied the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court with a new Cadillac each year. Clem Sehrt died in the mid-1960's. OSWALD'S mother once worked for Raoul Sere, who was an Assistant District Attorney during a period when the New Orleans District Attorney's Office was corrupted by the MARCELLO family. [WR pp. 669-680]

Marguerite Oswald was also friendly with Sam Termine, a Louisiana crime figure who had served as a "bodyguard" and chauffeur for CARLOS MARCELLO. An unnamed southwestern businessman, with strong mafia ties, informed the HSCA in 1977 that he was a close personal friend of Marguerite Oswald. Businessman "X" went on to say that he had set up a meeting between Mrs. Oswald and Sam Termine. During this time Sam Termine was on the state payroll in the Louisiana State Police, an official position in which he had received a gold star award. During this meeting Sam Termine told Mrs. Oswald: "Carlos is now legit .... he's been out of narcotics for years." Sam Termine died in March 1976 at the age of 62.

OSWALD'S family did have connections to the mafia in New Orleans. OSWALD did not remain in New Orleans and cultivate these connections. He moved to Texas then joined the Marines.

In Coup D'Etat in America this researcher mistakenly accused OSWALD'S cousin, Marilyn Murret (the daughter of his aunt Lillian Claverie) of being a CIA asset. A file in the CIA's Office of Security existed on Marilyn Murret, but it consisted of "overt source material." [CIA FOIA O1C-78-0070/17]

J. Lee Rankin was born July 8, 1907, in Hartington, Nebraska. As an Assistant United States Attorney Rankin worked on Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the desegregation of America's schools. He became New York City's chief Corporation Counsel from 1966 to 1972. Rankin died on June 27, 1996.

ANGLETON leaked this disinformation to Scott and Allen. He had access to the State Department cable.

ANGLETON leaked other information to Scott and Allen: On October 22, 1964, Scott and Allen ran a story that was based on an ANGLETON report entitled Soviet Strategic Executive Action [CSCI-3/768,041]. "The contents of the Allen and Scott report reveals knowledge of most sensitive, though dated, CIA finished counterintelligence research and warrants vigorous follow up by the Security Committee of USIB." [CIA 916-921, 920-922] The article stated: "Despite the Commission's written request for all documents that might shed light on the assassination, CIA authorities failed to turn over a national intelligence estimate warning that it is Kremlin policy to remove from public office by assassination Western officials who actively oppose Soviet policies...Other U.S. intelligence experts, very dubious of Russia's coexistence line, stress that the Warren Commission's findings might have been different if this CIA estimate and other documents suppressed by the State Department had been available for study." [Honolulu Advertiser 10.27.64 sent to CIA by William Colby.]

In January 1965 Scott and Allen reported on a proposed defector study. [CIA 986-927BC; NARA 1993.06.21.16:33:15:710310]

Bill Slatter of NBC-TV, who telephoned Edward Voebel when the agents left, was an associate of William Kirk Stuckey. William Stuckey, born in 1932, received a B.S. degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and spent two years in the Marines. After returning from a Latin American trip Stuckey stated he "went into the newspaper business...The New Orleans States-Item made me a columnist. This was in February 1962 when I started my column, and this extended on to April 1963...New Orleans and the Americas. After I left the paper, doing public relations, I acquired a radio program...Latin Listening Post [on an NBC station down here]." William Stuckey knew HEMMING, STURGIS, BRINGUIER and OSWALD. Bill Slatter videotaped OSWALD for William Stuckey.

An FBI teletype dated November 26, 1963, from the New Orleans FBI, to Director J. Edgar Hoover, summarized: "Voebel was unable to recall if OSWALD attended meetings under command of Ferrie or with previous commander."[HSCA V9 p108] The New Orleans Police Department elicited this from Voebel on November 27, 1963: "OSWALD attended a party (not sure) at the home of Dave Ferrie, Captain, right after the members of the Civil Air Patrol received their stripes." In 1964 Edward Voebel told the Warren Commission that OSWALD attended two or three Civil Air Patrol meetings. Warren Commission Assistant Counsel Albert Jenner asked: "Who was the mayordomo of the Civil Air Patrol unit that you attended?" Voebel responded: "I think it was Captain Ferrie. I think he was there when LEE attended one of these meetings, but I'm not sure of that. Now that I think of it, I don't think Captain Ferrie was there at the time, but he might have been. That isn't too clear to me."[NARA FBI 124-10248-10154]

Other cadets who were in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 linked David Ferrie to OSWALD. A Vice Squad Detective with the New Orleans Police Department reported: "Ferrie assumed control at Moisant Airport at about the same time OSWALD joined."Colin Hamer, an official of the New Orleans Public Library, told the HSCA that the meetings OSWALD and David Ferrie attended were held in an Eastern Airlines hangar at Moisant Airport and that OSWALD attended 16 meetings. He stated: "Ferrie was a unit leader. He stated that he can clearly recall that Ferrie headed the Civil Air Patrol Unit during the period that OSWALD attended. They were both there." Colin Hamer, contacted in June 1993, related: "When I was in the Civil Air Patrol they were both in, but I don't remember if they were in at the same time. I don't remember any relationship or if they knew each other or anything like that." The HSCA interviewed Jerry Paradis, a corporate attorney and the former New Orleans Lakefront Civil Air Patrol Unit Recruit Instructor. OSWALD joined the Lakefront unit after leaving David Ferrie's Moisant Airport unit. Paradis corroborated the accounts of OSWALD'S other Civil Air Patrol colleagues. When David Ferrie was interviewed by FBI agents after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he recommended Paradis as a Civil Air Patrol member who could verify whether OSWALD had ever been in his Civil Air Patrol unit. In his HSCA interview, Paradis stated that he was never called by the FBI. He told the HSCA: "I specifically remember OSWALD. I can remember him clearly, and Ferrie was heading the unit then. I'm not saying that they may have been together, I'm saying it is a certainty." The HSCA: "The committee established that OSWALD and Ferrie apparently first came into contact with each other during OSWALD'S participation as a teenager in a Civil Air Patrol unit for which Ferrie served as an instructor..." [HSCA R p170]

P. J. Trosclair, Intelligence Unit, New Orleans Police Department told the FBI on November 25, 1963, that "he understood, but had nothing to back it up, that OSWALD was possibly friendly with Ferrie in view of his Cuban activities." The HSCA tried to find OSWALD and David Ferrie's records in Civil Air Patrol files, but found that "most of the records of the squadron had been stolen in late 1960." One record which still existed revealed that OSWALD joined Civil Air Patrol on July 27, 1955, when he was given Serial No. 084965. The HSCA concluded: "While the Civil Air Patrol documentation did not permit a conclusive determination, the records themselves lent substantial credence to the possibility that OSWALD and Ferrie had been involved in the same Civil Air Patrol unit during the same period of time." [FBI NO-44-2064 12.10.63, 62-109060-1294, NO-89-69 p341 11.26.63, 62-1090604-891] After November 22, 1963, Marguerite Oswald told the FBI that she was going to "divulge information that had never before been discussed. When OSWALD was 15 ½ years of age, he was a Civil Air Patrol Cadet. She said that while he was in the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian, who was associated with the Civil Air Patrol, induced OSWALD to join the United States Marines." [WCD 480a p3] Gerald Posner alleged David Ferrie was expelled from the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 and therefore OSWALD could not have been in his group. Testimony revealed that despite his expulsion he continued to wear a Civil Air Patrol uniform, and held meetings between 1955 and 1960. [Airline Pilots Assoc. Ferrie v. Eastern Alpha #488 9.17.63]

In October 1955 OSWALD enlisted in the Marines using a false affidavit, signed by his mother, to prove that he was 17 years old. The document didn't pass muster, and he had to wait another year before he could enlist.

William David Ferrie was born March 28, 1918, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the son of a police captain and attorney. He attended Catholic grammar and high schools and intended to enter the priesthood, but withdrew from seminary school because he was a homosexual. He graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, with a B.A. Degree during the early 1940's. At the age of 24, David Ferrie took flying lessons, then worked as a pilot for an oil drilling firm. Next, David Ferrie taught in a high school, but was fired in 1948 and left Cleveland in 1949, amidst rumors that he took several young boys to a house of ill-repute. He returned to Cleveland in 1950 and joined the Air Force Reserve. In applying for a commission, he wrote his commanding officer: "There is nothing I would enjoy more than blowing the hell out of every Red...My friends and I could cook up a crew." [CIA 1127-987] David Ferrie became an instructor for the Civil Air Patrol in Cleveland. Eastern Airlines hired him as a pilot in 1951. In 1952 he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He became associated with the New Orleans Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol in 1953, and spent much time in the company of his cadets. He remained in this position until late 1955, when he resigned and subsequently became an instructor at the Moisant Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

In September 1955 the FBI made inquiries about David Ferrie based on a report from a source that Mrs. G.H. Nichols had quoted David Ferrie as having stated: "I see no reason to salute the American flag." Joseph W. Lisman, Agent of Delta Airlines and Commander of the Cadets, Moisant Squadron, Civil Air Patrol, advised the FBI on August 9, 1955, he had been acquainted with David Ferrie, an Eastern Airlines commercial air pilot, for three years. He said "40 out of 50 people would say David Ferrie is nuts and that the other 10 might say he is normal. Lisman described Ferrie as being brilliant, but not a genius, and as a person who goes off on tangents just short of becoming berserk. He added, however, that David Ferrie is a good organizer; he made the Civil Air Patrol at New Orleans airport what it is today; he has a large following among the Civil Air Patrol Cadets, and is an excellent flying instructor. He gives six hours of his time each week to instructing Moisant Squadron Cadets and considerably more of his time to associating with them."

"Joseph W. Lisman quoted Ferrie as having been critical of the Roosevelt Administration and saying the administration was trying to drive us into Communism. He said Ferrie was critical of the Truman Administration for the same reason. Lisman stated the only reference to the flag which he had heard Ferrie make was to the effect that in the abstract sense it is nothing more than cloth, but symbolizes what we stand for. Lisman could furnish no additional information relative to Ferrie's loyalty. He mentioned Ferrie is a woman hater, and that he, himself, personally disliked Ferrie because of his personality traits."

Mrs. G.H. Ruby Nichols advised the FBI on September 26, 1955, she was not the source of the information to the effect Ferrie had stated he could see no reason to salute the flag. She stated Ferrie had addressed a Scout meeting, under the direction of Mrs. R.J. Durr, and Mrs. Durr had reported some information to the effect that Ferrie might be a communist. Mrs. Nichols said she is a member of the Seniors of the Moisant Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and is in charge of the Girl Scout Squadron." [FBI 105-104340-1] "Mrs. R.J. Durr, leader of Scout Troop 57, stated on September 28, 1955, she was sorry that matter had come up concerning Ferrie. She mentioned he was greatly disliked by her Scout Troop, principally because of the fact he arrived at the meeting on his motorcycle, his clothes were not pressed, and his hair was unkempt. She described Ferrie as a crackpot. She could think of no disloyal statements made by Ferrie, but finally recalled that he had offered his opinion that marching of military forces is silly. Confidential Informants cognizant in 1955 with some phases of Communist Party activity in the New Orleans area advised they were not acquainted, nor did they have any information, concerning anyone named David Ferrie."

Edward Voebel, who linked OSWALD to Ferrie, graduated from Fortier High School in 1958. He then attended the Marion Military Institute, Marion, Alabama, in 1959 and in 1960. He then served six months in the United States Army. The HSCA sought to locate Edward Voebel to take his testimony, but learned from his father, Sidney Voebel (born March 18, 1922; died in January 1981) of New Orleans, that his son died in 1971. Sidney Voebel said the circumstances surrounding his son's death were mysterious. He died suddenly from a blood clot when he suffered an attack of pneumonia at the age of 31. In April 1993, the former wife of Sidney Voebel, Doris Voebel, was contacted: "My husband and I have been divorced since my son was a year old. I never spoke with him after he left me with three children and no alimony. I took my children and raised 'em." The former Mrs. Voebel described the circumstances of her son's death: "It was right around Mother's Day and I asked him - I took a wedding at St. Anthony's Church and I said to him, 'Would you mind decorating the church for me?' He said, 'Well, gee, I've been up all night playing music.' I said 'It's Mothers Day and it's real hard here in the shop.' He said 'Okay.' So he came back and he said he had a pain in his chest. So I told him, 'I'll let your sister drive you home, leave your car here.' So he left the car here and he went home. The pain got worse, so his wife brought him to Foundation. The Ochsner Foundation Hospital - right up there on Jefferson Highway. Run by Alton Ochsner. And the doctor said, 'Go home, that it's just nervousness and indigestion.' So he came home and the pain got worse and worse till they brought him back. They said, 'Oh, no, you don't have indigestion, you have pneumonia.' So they said they punctured his lungs and nothing came out so they put him in the hospital ten days. And I went to visit him once, and I was going to go up that night to see him. Then I called up and he said, 'I'm going to be home Monday, there's no use you comin' up Sunday evening - just come visit me at the house.' I said 'Okay.' So that morning the hospital called. They wanted to speak to my mother, Mrs. Bartenelli. And when they said that, I knew something was wrong. Because they should have asked for me. They told him to go take a shower. And when he put his foot on the floor he was gone. It was a blood clot all along and they were treating him for the wrong thing." [Interview with Doris Bartenelli by A.J. ajweberman 4.14.93]

The HSCA studied the deaths surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It began by compiling a list of 21 names of people whose "deaths were considered by the critics to be mysterious." The HSCA compiled data on those 21 names: the Library of Congress supplied clippings on their deaths, autopsy reports and police reports and death certificates. From this sampling, its conclusion was that "the available evidence does not establish anything about the nature of these deaths that would indicate that the deaths were in some manner, either direct or peripheral, caused by the Kennedy assassination or any subsequent investigation."

Out of that list of 21 names compiled by the HSCA, only six were listed in this data base as significant. Edward Voebel and William Stuckey were not included. Since the data base of the HSCA was erroneous, it was no surprise that its conclusions were inaccurate.

David Ferrie would not have tolerated OSWALD, had OSWALD been a Communist at this time, yet the Warren Commission claimed that fifteen-year-old LEE HARVEY OSWALD espoused Communist doctrine and was determined to join the Communist Party. The Commission indicated he borrowed books on Communism, including Karl Marx's ponderous Das Kapital, from the New Orleans Public Library. Edward Voebel, who thought OSWALD was not a great reader, did not see him read anything except "comic books and the normal things kids read." [f.n. 258 WR p860] The Chief Counsel of the Warren Commission, J. Lee Rankin, questioned Marguerite Oswald:

Mrs. Oswald: LEE, at age 16, read Robert's Marine manual back and forth. He knew it by heart. Robert had just gotten out of the Marines, and his manual was home. And LEE started to read communistic material along with that.

Rankin: What communistic material did he read?

Mrs. Oswald: It was a small book that he had gotten out of the library. And I knew he was reading it, Mr. Rankin.

Rankin: Was it on Marxism, or what was it about?

Mrs. Oswald: No - if you are saying the title is Marxism [Das Kapital] - no sir, the title was not.

Rankin: Was it about communism?

Mrs. Oswald: It was more about communism. I knew he was reading it. But if we have this material in the public libraries, the certainly it is alright for us to read. And I think we should know about these things and all of our scholars and educators and high school boys read subversive material, which we call subversive material. So as a mother I would not take the book away from him. That is fine, LEE is a reader. I have said from early childhood he liked histories and maps. So that is fine. What I am saying now -we are getting back to this agent part. He is with this recruiting officer and he is studying the Marine manual - he knew it back and forth. In fact he would take the book and have me question some of the things. And he was reading communism. LEE lived for the time he would become 17 years old to join the Marines - that whole year...That is one part. That is the beginning of it, Mr. Dulles. I have much more." Allen Dulles characterized the testimony of Mrs. Oswald as incoherent.

Marguerite Oswald believed her son was reading about communism for counter-intelligence purposes. To disprove her contention, the Warren Commission cited the testimony of Palmer C. McBride, who worked with OSWALD in 1955 as a messenger for Pfisterer Dental Labs. Palmer McBride made his report to Air Force Intelligence on November 22, 1963. The report was transmitted to the FBI on November 23, 1963. On November 26, 1963, Palmer McBride told the FBI that OSWALD first visited his home in late 1957 or early 1958. Palmer McBride stated that the subject of President Eisenhower was discussed: "OSWALD was very anti-Eisenhower and stated that President Eisenhower was exploiting the working people. He then made a statement to the effect that he would like to kill President Eisenhower because he was exploiting the working class. This statement was not made in jest, and OSWALD was in a serious state of mind when this statement was made. LEE was very serious about the virtues of Communism...He would say that the capitalists were exploiting the working class and his central theme seemed to be that the workers in the world would one day rise up and throw off their chains. He praised Khrushchev's sincerity in improving the worker's lot...In another conversation OSWALD stated to me he was not a Communist Party member, but he suggested that both of us join to take advantage of their social functions. I did not join the Communist Party, but I do not know whether he did or not. During the period I knew OSWALD he resided with his mother in the Senator Hotel or a rooming house next door to the Senator Hotel in the 200 block of Dauphine Street. I went with him to his room on one occasion and he showed me copies of Das Capital and The Communist Manifesto. In April or May 1958 OSWALD stated he was moving to Fort Worth, Texas, with his mother. In about August 1958, I received a letter from him saying he was employed as a shoe salesman in Ft. Worth. In this letter he stated he had gotten mixed-up in an anti-Negro or an anti-Communist riot in a high school grounds in Ft. Worth, Texas. On the evening of November 22, 1963, I heard a radio commentator state that OSWALD had been arrested...upon seeing a full face photograph of OSWALD in the November 23, 1963 issue of The Miami Herald I am now quite certain that they are one in the same individual. I particularly recall the large ears, the mustache, and the receding hairline. I also recall that OSWALD made statements favoring Russia and Communism to other employees at the Pfisterer Dental Labs."

Palmer McBride told the FBI that OSWALD first visited his home in late 1957 or early 1958, rather than 1955 when OSWALD lived in New Orleans. OSWALD was already in the Marines in late 1957 or early 1958.

McBride said OSWALD resided with his mother in the Senator Hotel or a rooming house next door to the Senator Hotel in the 200 block of Dauphine Street. OSWALD and his mother never lived at this address.

McBride said that in April or May 1958 OSWALD stated he was moving to Fort Worth, Texas, with his mother. In about August 1958, I received a letter from him saying he was employed as a shoe salesman in Ft. Worth. In this letter he stated he had gotten mixed-up in an anti-Negro or an anti-Communist riot in a high school grounds in Ft. Worth, Texas. This was fiction.

McBride said OSWALD had large ears and a mustache. This did not fit OSWALD'S description.

Palmer McBride gave the FBI the names of these "other"employees who had allegedly witnessed OSWALD make pro-Communist statements. One of the names Palmer McBride supplied to the FBI was George Bischoff. In June 1993 Bischoff was contacted and asked if OSWALD had arguments with other employees about the merits of communism. He responded, "No, no. He was a perfect gentleman when he worked here - as far as I can remember. He was real young. As far as I knew the boy, I can't say a thing about him." Bischoff was asked if OSWALD ever mentioned the USSR or Khrushchev. He responded: "No, no, that wasn't in his mind." Lionel Slater, another former Pfisterer Dental employee, was asked, "Did OSWALD make any communistic remarks back then?" He stated: "Not that I know of." Mr. Slater could not remember the specific dates of OSWALD'S employment. Linda Faircloth of Pfisterer Dental contacted in June 1993. She said she spoke to everyone at Pfisterer who knew OSWALD and that none of the former Pfisterer employees remembered OSWALD making any pro-Communist statements - except for Palmer McBride, OSWALD'S "bosom buddy." The FBI reported: "SAC Maynor advised the New Orleans Office has interviewed three employees of Pfisterer Dental Laboratory and was attempting to locate one other employee who might have recalled OSWALD or McBride. SAC Maynor stated none of the employees interviewed to date could recall either McBride or OSWALD. No record could be located on employment of McBride or OSWALD and the bookkeeper who handled the records for that period is deceased." [FBI 62-109060-646; McBride, Palmer telephone 818-768-2863]

On January 20, 1966, Mrs. Lorraine Blackwell advised the FBI that she was listening to the radio and heard a program which set forth twelve guidelines for spotting a Communist, and it was her opinion that James Harrison Vance qualified as a Communist. James Harrison Vance had told her that he was "an atheist and that he had no use for religion at this time. He indicated that he might, at some later date, have use for a god, but at the present time he was only interested in being a physicist...He also stated he did not believe in going to war. He wondered how long it would be until he was exposed to classified information in his job with Boeing. They also got into a discussion concerning the assassination of President Kennedy and Vance said that his mother and OSWALD'S mother were personal friends and that he, Vance, had slept and eaten with OSWALD, and attended Scout meetings with him. During these meetings Vance said OSWALD attempted to turn them into 'cell blocks.' Mrs. Blackwell did not know where these meetings had taken place, but she assumed in New Orleans." In May 1966 James Harrison Vance, an associate engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, called the FBI and asked to be interviewed. He told the Agents that Palmer McBride told him that he, Vance, had known OSWALD in 1958. James Harrison Vance told the FBI that "he has never to his knowledge either seen, or associated with, OSWALD..he has never heard anything about OSWALD being a member of the Boy Scouts." M. Paul Hartman of Counter-Intelligence Research & Analysis received this document. [NARA 1993.06.17.15:18: 54:090000; J.H. Vance Protection of the President 4.18.66 New Orleans]

Palmer McBride was contacted in June 1993. He persisted in his errors: "I knew OSWALD in 1958. I never knew OSWALD in 1955. I knew him in the Summer of 1958 for about two weeks; he worked at the dental lab. I quit Pfisterer Dental Lab in August 1958 when I went off to the summer camp with the Air Force Reserve. And that's when I knew him, just before I left the lab." It was pointed out to Palmer McBride that OSWALD was overseas at this time. He responded: "Why'd I think it was 1958 all these years? Well, whatever. I knew him for about two weeks and he came and visited my house once and expounded on the glories of communism and said he wanted to kill President Eisenhower 'cause of exploiting the people. Okay, that was it. Communist crap." Palmer McBride was asked about OSWALD'S statement regarding Communist social functions. He recalled, "Hell, he talked about dances and stuff; I never went. I told him I was in the United States Air Force Reserve and I sure in hell wasn't going to a meeting of any kind."

The testimony of Palmer McBride regarding his alleged contact with OSWALD in 1958 was read to him. He stated: "That's when I knew him, in April 1958 and May 1958 - that's when I knew him." He was asked about the letter OSWALD had mailed to him and where it was today. "Hell, I don't know. I didn't get it." If Palmer McBride didn't receive it, who did? He finally commented, "I don't remember receiving a letter." It was pointed out to Palmer McBride that OSWALD never worked as a shoe salesman. He stated: "Hell, I don't know." Palmer McBride was asked about OSWALD'S alleged threats on President Eisenhower: "Hell, people are thinking the same thing about the President today. They are already talking about Clinton. Look what happened the other day at the ceremony at Arlington. Bunch of veterans turned their back on him. All he did was alienate Congress with this gay military thing, and then what happens is they won't pass the jobs bill. But I'm not about to go out and shoot the son of a bitch because of it."

In 1964 the FBI asked Palmer McBride why he made no report of OSWALD'S threat concerning President Eisenhower to any law enforcement agency: "McBride now assumes that at the time he felt the statement was made by OSWALD to emphasize his anti-Eisenhower feelings and not made in the nature of an actual threat on the life of the President."

Palmer McBride was asked if he made up the story to discredit communism by linking it to OSWALD: "Hell no, OSWALD and I were friends. He argued about the merits of communism with the other employees of Pfisterer Dental Lab...I never said anything about him having a mustache. I recognized his picture on TV and I went over and I talked to a colonel from Air Force Intelligence. I just told him all I knew. And he said, 'We'll get in touch with you in case anything comes up' and then he [OSWALD] was assassinated and he never said anything more to me. Where did they get that at? It's been so long ago - maybe I did receive a letter that said he was working as a shoe salesman in Fort Worth - but look at the dates. You said it was April 1958. That's when I remember him leaving the dental lab. I left the dental lab about August 13, 1958. We were friends for a couple of weeks - sort of an intellectual thing. It couldn't have been 1955 or 1956. I did visit briefly - we were going to a New Orleans Amateur Astronomers Association meeting - which a bunch of us from New Orleans belonged to, including Bill Wulf, who was President. That was the night he got into a fight with Bill Wulf's father over communism when he went to pick Bill Wulf up at his house. Briefly, we went to a rooming house across the street from the dental lab to get some clothes or something and he showed me his copy of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital from the public library. So it must be all right then, if the public library lends it out. I asked him if he was a card-carrying Communist Party member and he said, no, he just was a sympathizer to their cause. His mother was there and he introduced me. I said, 'Hello Mrs. Oswald, how are you?' and that was it. And that was the last time I ever saw her - across the street, next to the hotel. Like you say, there was a hotel - the Senator? After I left Pfisterer I never heard from OSWALD - I kept in touch with Wulf - he was my best friend - all the time we used to send audio tapes to each other. We never even talked about OSWALD."

Palmer McBride was queried about his politics. "I am 100% American, who has always backed this country and its leaders - even when they are fuck ups - like George Bush was, not doing anything for this country, taking care of foreigners." On the subject of Klansman David Duke, he observed: "Well, I never knew the man and of course I was in Louisiana when he was running for Governor, and never even heard of him until then. I didn't know anything about the Ku Klux Klan except what I saw in the movies. I had no compunctions about what communism was. I knew OSWALD was a raving nut. I told him so on several occasions. And wasn't he instrumental in having Gary Powers' U-2 shot down? Wrecked the Summit. I build airplanes since 1952. I worked at Cape Canaveral for Boeing. I been with Northrup for 20 years."

This researcher pointed out to Palmer McBride that George Bischoff and Lionel Slater did not remember OSWALD making communist statements at Pfisterer Dental. He replied, "I remember George very well. Well, OSWALD didn't work in the laboratory with those people. He was out in the office. Lionel was one of the delivery boys along with me and OSWALD. Yeah, well, he didn't know him too much. They didn't stay together much. He was out delivering to different dentists all over town. He made the remarks just to me, at the lab - it was so long ago - I don't remember that much about it."

The Warren Commission cited the testimony William Eugene Wulf (born September 22, 1939), who was a friend of Palmer McBride.

Liebler: Did the agent who interviewed you indicate in any way as to how they had been led to you?

Wulf: In no way whatsoever. As far as I know the only person who knew that I had met OSWALD...was Palmer McBride, so I concluded that he probably got in touch with the FBI on the subject...

Liebler: Have you talked to McBride about this thing since the assassination?

Wulf: No; I have not. I have only corresponded with McBride once, and that was about a month ago [May 1964]. I sent him an amateur radiogram requesting the address of a mutual friend in New York, but I got no answer, and we were wondering where he is.

William Wulf, contacted in June 1993, stated: "I don't even remember exchanging tapes with Palmer McBride, he was in the service at the time, as far as I know. He was out at Patrick Air Force base. We very very seldom communicated, in fact, I didn't see Palmer until after the assassination. I didn't hear or talk to Palmer until several years later. We did not keep in contact. I spoke with Palmer for the first time about five weeks ago, after I got his number from a reporter. That was the first time I talked to Palmer. I saw him twice since the assassination, we only had two conversations. The two times I met Palmer he didn't appear to want to talk about the assassination and OSWALD at all. Period. We didn't."

Palmer McBride and William Wulf concocted their tale. Both men had each others' addresses and telephone numbers and communicated through audio tapes and amateur radio. It was highly improbable that Palmer McBride and his best friend had not discussed OSWALD'S role in the assassination shortly after it happened. Palmer McBride was, and still is, outspoken. He would have been anxious to discuss the effects of Das Kapital on OSWALD. Yet William Wulf said he had little contact with Palmer McBride and never discussed OSWALD. William Wulf denied that he spoke with Palmer McBride even after the FBI questioned him. This was even less likely. William Wulf told Liebler about OSWALD: "I, being a history major... we got around to Communism. I think OSWALD brought it up, and he started expounding on Communist doctrine and saying that he was highly interested in Communism, that Communism was the only way of life for the worker, et cetera, and then came out with a statement that he was looking for a Communist cell in town to join, but he couldn't find any. He was a little dismayed at this, and said he couldn't find any that would show any interest in him as a Communist..." In 1993 he stated: "After the assassination I didn't recognize the face; what I recognized was the incident with my father and that he was a very mixed-up kid. The whole business of his looking to join the Communist Party cell. He couldn't find one. He tried to make contact with the Communists. He appeared to make the impression that he had actually talked to somebody and said nobody took him seriously. He was very hip on Marxist-Leninist theory on the Soviet Union as the epitome of communism. He came to me as a guy who wanted to belong to something. He had an identity crisis. He was a kid looking for someone; whether he found it or not, he was a gullible kid. Now, whether he was used by an intelligence service or the Russians or the Cubans or the mafia, I don't know. He could have been used by anybody. I felt that he was looking to play spy. I felt that was why he joined the Astronomy Club, quite frankly - to play infiltrator. I mean, I got the impression he didn't know what the hell he was. He was looking for an identity. He didn't have an identity. He could have gone either way, he was a mixed-up kid."

Why had OSWALD been turned down by the Communists, who were anxious to recruit American youth? Why wasn't young OSWALD'S alleged contact with Communist groups detected by FBI sources? William Wulf testified that his father overheard the alleged conversation about communism and asked OSWALD to leave his home. There was no record of William Wulf or his father having contacted the FBI about OSWALD. [WR p384] The father of William Wulf was an ex-Communist: "My father had gone through Communist affairs in Germany in the 1920's and did not agree with OSWALD violently...He came back from Germany following the war, 1919 to 1920, when it was all upheaval. The Socialist Democratic Party was fighting the Communist wing and all. He remembered that and he just - well, as most Germans, a lot of Germans do, they just don't like Communists."

William Wulf was asked if OSWALD thought he could have put him in touch with Communists. He responded: "In fact, my father would have killed me if I had anything to do with Communists, he hated them. He had good reason because, as a Socialist Democrat, my father had been duped by them real bad as a World War I veteran in his 20's. My father was a Spartacist. He hated what he called black, authoritarian socialists. My grandfather was a SPD organizer. My father was trying to tell OSWALD, 'Look kid, don't fall for all this crap. They're a bunch of authoritarians, they're not democratic, they don't give a damn about the people.' And he wouldn't hear anything of it. My impression at the time was he was headed for trouble."

Both Palmer McBride and William Wulf had their own reasons for hating Communism. They had a motive in concocting this story.

William Wulf was queried about Palmer McBride's stated acquaintance with OSWALD in 1958. William Wulf reflected, "The time frame is all screwed up. When I met him he was working at Pfisterer Laboratory. I have no idea if McBride met him or saw him after that period. Now that had to be late 1955, early 1956." In regard to the anti-Negro and anticommunist demonstration at OSWALD'S high school, William Wulf related that another researcher informed him such an incident occurred at a Fort Worth high school, but earlier than 1958. William Wulf denied that Palmer McBride brought OSWALD to the Astronomy Club, although Palmer McBride said he had. As far as the rest of Palmer's statements, William Wulf admitted: "I don't know where Palmer's coming from with all this."

When the FBI questioned Marguerite Oswald and Robert Edward Oswald about young LEE HARVEY OSWALD before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, they both stated that OSWALD never exhibited an affinity for communism. Had OSWALD tried to make personal contact with the Communist Party when Palmer McBride and William Wulf claimed he did, it would have been his first and last time. There was no record of OSWALD having face-to-face contact with a member of the Communist Party. None of OSWALD'S associates were Communists, and he never attended any Communist Party, or Communist Party-front group meetings. He was not a card-carrying member and, according to the FBI, neither was anyone in his family. When he was interviewed by a reporter in Moscow on November 13, 1959, he noted that he was interested in Communist theory since he was 15 years old, when an old lady in New York handed him "a pamphlet about saving the Rosenbergs." When asked whether he was a Communist Party member, however, he responded that he had never met a Communist and that he might have seen one only once, when he saw that old lady. OSWALD initially had trouble parroting the Soviet Communist line. On November 14, 1959, he told Aline Mosby: "I was with the occupation forces in Japan and occupation of a country is imperialistic." The Soviets occupied numerous countries after World War II. On November 26, 1959, OSWALD wrote his brother: "I have been a pro-communist for years and yet I have never met a Communist, instead I kept silent and observed..." In 1962 he wrote: "I have never even known a Communist outside of the ones in the USSR." [WR pp. 392, 399, 695] Aside from William Wulf and Palmer McBride, the only witness who linked young OSWALD with Marxism was OSWALD: In 1959 he made a self-serving statement that he became a Marxist at age 15, upon discovering socialist literature.

Later in life, OSWALD corresponded with the Communist Party and subscribed to its publications, but he did nothing to further the Communist cause in America, except leaflet on five occasions and appear on two radio programs. OSWALD had no left-wing associates in any of these activities. [FBI 105-82555-29] Marina Oswald 1994: "OSWALD was not Communist or Marxist what so ever. He did not subscribe to that theory or belief. That was a part he had to play."OSWALD should be judged by his deeds, not by his words.

Note how Gerald Posner treated this part of OSWALD'S life: he quoted the part of Edward Voebel's testimony before the Warren Commission about OSWALD and guns - nothing more. Then he extensively quoted William Wulf, Palmer McBride and OSWALD about OSWALD'S early affinity for Communism. He quoted Marguerite Oswald as having admitted OSWALD had books about Communism, but omitted her statement that his reading them had to do with his ambition to become a spy. OSWALD'S connection with David Ferrie, an anti-communist, was absent. Gerald Posner wrote: "There is no credible evidence that OSWALD knew David Ferrie." Scott Malone uncovered a photograph of the OSWALD and David Ferrie at a Civil Air Patrol outing. Gerald Posner: "There was no evidence that connected Ferrie and OSWALD...OSWALD did not know Ferrie." OSWALD-did-it advocate Priscilla Johnson was asked if the photograph changed her thinking: "I think OSWALD liked to create mysteries about himself." It was pointed out that we were talking about 15 year old OSWALD: "So maybe he was in the Civil Air Patrol when he was 15, but I don't know anything that would prove he knew Ferrie in the Summer of 1963."

Anticipating that OSWALD would join the Marines when he was 17, Marguerite Oswald moved to Fort Worth, Texas in July 1956, where she took an apartment at 4936 Collingswood for herself, OSWALD, and Robert Edward Oswald. On June 28, 1961, the FBI questioned Mrs. James E. Taylor, who was the landlady at 4936 Collingswood in 1956. Mrs. Taylor told FBI S.A. John Fain: "OSWALD was a peculiar boy, inasmuch as he read a great deal, and kept very much to himself. She had heard Mrs. Oswald state that Subject read books that were 'over his head.' Mrs. Taylor explained this to mean that the books he read were 'deep' books. She stated she does not know the titles of the books that he read. Mrs. Taylor stated that she got the impression Subject obtained some of this reading material through the mail. Taylor stated that she felt sorry for the subject inasmuch as it appeared it appeared to her that he had few friends and no social life. She stated that she pitied the boy because he had never known his father who had died before his birth. She stated that Mrs. Oswald worked continuously in an effort to support her two boys. Mrs. Taylor remarked that she has never seen anyone stay at home more closely than OSWALD [and] that Mrs. Oswald often quarreled at him for staying at home so closely and on occasion urged him to get out and seek employment but that he preferred to sit at home and read. Mrs. Taylor stated that Mrs. Oswald was in poor health and extremely nervous and that she often quarreled very loudly with both Robert and SAC..." In September 1956 OSWALD enrolled in tenth grade at Arlington Heights High School, but attended classes only a few weeks. He dropped out of school on September 28, 1956.

In early October 1956, about a month before he turned 17, OSWALD wrote to the Young People's Socialist League, which was part of the Socialist Party headed by Norman Thomas. That letter follows: "Oct. 3, 1956 DEAR SiRS; I am 16 years of age and I would like some information about your Youth League, I would like to know if there is a branch in my area, how to join, ect., I am a Marxist, and have been studying socialist principles for well over 15 months and I am very interested in your Y.P.S.L. Sincerely Lee H. Oswald (Addrese over)."

OSWALD dropped out of school a few days later and tried to join the Marines.

OSWALD was coached when he wrote this letter. The spelling disability and poor grammar evident in most of OSWALD'S writing were absent from this letter, except for the word "Addrese." Compare this letter to one that OSWALD wrote on October 7, 1955: "To whom it may concern, Becaus we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you. Sincirely Mrs. M. Oswald." [WR p680]

OSWALD received help from David Ferrie in composing this well-written letter. Why did OSWALD wait until he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to make his first documented contact with the American Left? Did David Ferrie already have information on left-wing activity in New Orleans but not in Fort Worth? HEMMING told this researcher: "More than likely OSWALD was used as a mail drop when he was a kid. This is an indicator he was already cooperating with someone. It could be an informant, a Philbrick type." OSWALD checked this on his subscription blank: "I want more information about the Socialist Party." From whom or from what publication had he obtained this subscription blank?

Did OSWALD write this letter on his own volition, because of his curiosity about the Left? Did OSWALD want to familiarize himself with Leftist ideology so that he could better combat it? Did this fit in with his ambition to become a spy? Why was OSWALD confessing to the Socialist Party, which received CIA subsidies because of it's anticommunist orientation, that he was a Marxist? If OSWALD had been studying Marxism for more than a year, why didn't he contact a Marxist organization? Did OSWALD'S determination overshadow his intelligence? OSWALD inquired about meeting with Fort Worth Socialists when he was about to join the Marines. Would OSWALD have wanted to risk being turned down by the Marines? The Socialist Party sent OSWALD additional literature on October 9, 1956.

In his letter dated October 7, 1955, OSWALD wrote that his family was moving to San Diego and that he needed a copy of his birth certificate. He needed the birth certificate so that he could alter it and use it join the Marine Corps. Warren Commission documents indicated that OSWALD lied on numerous occasions in his dealing with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Communist Party etc. It was a rare event when OSWALD told the truth to anyone. In light of OSWALD'S subsequent activities, it would be foolish to believe that OSWALD was sincere when he composed this letter to the Young People's Socialist League..

OSWALD turned 17 on October 18, 1956. He enlisted in the Marines on October 24, 1956. On October 26, 1956, he reported for duty at the San Diego, California, Marine Recruit Depot. From March 1957 to May 1957, he was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. OSWALD completed Marine basic training and Radar Operators School by May 3, 1957. He was granted a Confidential security clearance after he attended Aircraft Control and Warning Operators Training School, where he learned to spot incoming aircraft, plot their course, and monitor enemy air traffic. He was taught "tactical mission data and weapons and electronic status board plotting procedures." On May 4, 1957, OSWALD was transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi, and then to Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, in July 1957. Beginning in 1957, the CIA's U-2 spy plane landed at Atsugi Naval Air Station. [FBI 100-16601-12.11.63] If OSWALD'S job there entailed spotting incoming aircraft, he was familiar with the U-2. Proof of this was found in a May 8, 1978, CIA response to the HSCA regarding the deployment of the U-2 in Japan in 1957: "Operating procedures and liaison had been accomplished with the following major U.S. components: Far East Air Force; Far East Command and Theater Commander; 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the Atsugi Naval Air Station." The HSCA asked the CIA to determine if the men in OSWALD'S unit (Marine Air group 11, First Marine Wing) had knowledge of the U-2 Project. The CIA responded that Marine Air group II, First Marine Wing, had no knowledge of the U-2. [CIA SC-01836-78 TOP SECRET Eider, Chess] The HSCA concluded that "OSWALD'S Marine Corps records bore no indication that he ever received any intelligence training or performed any intelligence assignment during his term of service." HEMMING told this researcher: "It could have been shown that OSWALD, as a GTI operator with a Secret clearance working the board, would have tracked the U-2. I don't want to go into all the details. It's still classified."

While OSWALD was in the Marines he became acquainted with GERALD PATRICK HEMMING.

GERALD PATRICK HEMMING was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 1, 1937. He was one of eight children of a radio/TV repairman with a shop in Alhambra, California. HEMMING told this researcher: "I come from a culture that insisted on European education. My father was born in Colombo, Ceylon, to a wealthy English family. He owned newspapers in Calcutta and Bombay. He was born while his mother, a widow, was on a world tour spending the millions she had inherited. My father went to school in France and England. He loved the Germans. Came to the United States. Married my mother who was from Seskatuan, Canada. On my mother's side we have Indian and black blood. On my father's side pure fucking English/German. I'm raised to know what it is to have a library, the classics, all this shit. I used to play hokey and hit the used bookstores. In 1951 or 1952 I read Handbook for Spies by M.R.D. Foote."

In 1951 HEMMING told this researcher that he had appeared in the Los Angeles Times for "breaking into sporting goods stores for weapons and going to the desert with the weapons and some other guys and training them for guerilla warfare. As long as they obeyed the fucking law, did what I said, and didn't go off on a tangent, there were no problems. The Los Angeles Times called it a John Dillinger crime wave. OSWALD had one gun as a kid, I'm given to understand. I had a collection of weapons." GERALD PATRICK HEMMING'S brother, Robert Hemming, verified that this incident did occur. In August 1995 HEMMING displayed the article to this author:

BOYS PLANNING

CRIMES SEIZED

29 Stolen Guns Found Hidden by

Five Teenagers Set on Banditry.

SAN MARINO, March 5, 1951. Five teenaged boys dreamed of launching a 'Dillinger crime wave' from a foothills hideout have been rounded up Police announced today. Captain Ed Norwine said the alleged gang members only 16 years old, admitted stealing the guns in three burglaries of San Marino and Alhambra stores so they could operate like Dillinger, the desperado of the 1930's.

LIVE SHELLS----

The youths assertedly boasted they planned to 'blitz' the San Gabriel Valley with holdups after setting up a hideout in the foot hills above Pasadena. Officers said the boys had read up on guerilla warfare, and even practiced with live shells in the San Gabriel Wash.

The break came last night when officers on routine patrol noticed two boys standing in front of a sporting goods shop at 2496 Huntington Drive, while a third boy was trying to open the roof skylight.

The boys admitted they were after more guns, then named their two confederates and told where their caches of arms were hidden.

RIFLES FOUND ---

Twenty one rifles, a shotgun and seven revolvers and automatics were reported found under the boys houses, together with burglary tools. A 3,000 round supply of ammunition was dug up from one of the boy's backyard.

Three youths, jailed in Pasadena for investigation of burglary were taken today to Juvenile Hall. The other two, temporarily released to their parents, also will be questioned by juvenile authorities.

Officers said the gang got its weapons by twice burglarizing a sporting goods store in Alhambra, California...

HEMMING, who spoke Spanish and German, dressed in a Hitler Youth Corps uniform. HEMMING told this researcher: "I studied the Nazis very closely. I read Mein Kampf in the original goddamn German. I had my picture taken in a Nazi uniform. I'm very close to that. I speak the fucking language and everything. I don't like these goddamn cracker son-of-a-bitches playing fucking Nazi. It's sickening. You got to be a German to be a Nazi. My philosophy is the whole world is full of assholes. Some of the these assholes are chimps, some of these assholes are homo sapiens."

When he dropped-out of high school in 1953, someone in HEMMING'S family forged a birth certificate for him and HEMMING joined the Marines. HEMMING refused to say how long he was in the Marines before his true age was discovered: "That's in an area with a lot of other mysterious shit. OSWALD wasn't tall enough to get away with the false age shit." Forced out of the Corps when his true age was discovered, he rejoined on April 19, 1954.

HEMMING weighed 231 pounds and was 6' 4" tall when he joined the Marines. While in the Marines, HEMMING claimed he read and traveled extensively. He made international connections and was often "mistaken for a CIA agent" by CIA personnel: "One guy left classified data with me. Because I was so tall, everyone thought I was much older. When I was stationed at a particular place I was practicing some trade craft. I did it twice. Early in my career and late in my career."

HEMMING hinted at his friendship with OSWALD: "I had run into him before, he came to Subic Bay, I didn't know who the hell he was. He saw me. I didn't know him. I visited the radar sites. He was with a group of people. I didn't much pay attention to him. I might even have drank beer with him and not even remember it. Or at chow he might have been with a group of people driving from his unit over to the chow hall that could have overheard numerous conversations and sat there. In the Marine Corps when you are sent overseas to an outfit, you are sent on a draft. Usually when you are on a draft, you're not a critical MOS guy. A guy that may have been OSWALD came through on a draft and then stopped over in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii and attempted to switch jobs from this draft with our radar people. He'd rather have not gone to Japan. If the man dealt with me there it was over a sandwich or a cup of coffee or some such shit. I was busier than a son-of-a-bitch. Now if it was in Iwakuni..." He told the HSCA he flew to Atsugi three times, but never saw OSWALD. According to Scott Malone, OSWALD and HEMMING could have met when they were both in Iwakuni, Japan.

When HEMMING left the Marines his service data read: "Service Schools Successfully completed MAD, NATTC, JAX, FLA. 8 weeks (1954) Airman, C1 (p); NATTU NAS Otathe, Kansas, 12 weeks (1955) Air Control Manager, GCAScol C1 © 14 weeks (1955) Operators course; NTC, Bainbridge, Md. 15 weeks (1958) USNavPrepScol. Remarks Recommended For Reenlistment Good Conduct Medal period commences April 19, 1957 (2nd Award); Satisfactorily passed USAFI GED High School level test; Satisfactorily passed USAFI GED College level test. Specialty number and title: 6711 Air Traffic Cont. Related Civilian Occupation and DOT number 1-19.01 Airplane Dispatch Clerk (air trans.) National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal." [HEMMING'S DISCHARGE given to this researcher by HEMMING] HEMMING listed his military history on his CIA Application for Employment: "Airmen Prep School, NAS Jacksonville, Florida, Military Aviation, Air Control "A" Tower Radio Radar; NAS Olathe Kansas Flying November 1954 to February 1955; AC "C" Radar Operator, Radar, Radio and Navigation; MAS Olathe, Kansas, Instrument Flight August 1955 to November 1955."

HEMMING was a radar specialist who attended Air Traffic Control School (Federal Aeronautics Administration Tower License) and GCA Radar Final Control School and served in the 4th Marine Regiment (Far East), 3rd Marine Air Wing. During most of his four years and seven months in the Marines HEMMING was based in the Far East. OSWALD attended Aircraft Control and Warning Operators School, and served in the 1st Marine Air Wing in the Far East. [WR p683] OSWALD and HEMMING were both in the same geographical area at the same time. They could have known each other, despite the fact there was no paperwork that documented this relationship and when HEMMING filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Navy he implied that no records of his early association with OSWALD existed: "I wish all memoranda from FBI, CIA et al. in reference, from 1959 through and including 1963, between myself and OSWALD (deceased, EX-PFC, USMC)." Gerald Posner wrote: "HEMMING served with OSWALD in Japan and was himself recruited by the CIA." [Case Closed f.n. p27]

HEMMING never said he was stationed in the same unit as OSWALD or at the same location. He said he may have run across OSWALD, or OSWALD may have run across him, while he "traveled around the Far East on a space available basis on an out-of-bounds pass and got to see the world. Anyplace I stayed it was because it had a radar site there or a control tower. I could stay at the control tower bunk area or in the radar site bunking area, because, I, like them, was part of the elite group of controllers. When they are trying to match you up, when you are putting somebody in and trying to get somebody close to somebody, you have to have identical interests and background." [HEMMING ONI FOIA Req. 12.22.76] HEMMING was in to taking military flights. When OSWALD left the Soviet Union in 1962 he asked if he could catch a "military hop" to the United States from Berlin.

HEMMING told this researcher: "Even if OSWALD served in the same unit with me I wouldn't recruit the son-of-a-bitch to kiss my ass. The guy had a fuckin' attitude. Let's say I'd been around him a long time, what the fuck was there to like about the son-of-a-bitch? He's like anybody else in the Air Wing of the Marine Corps. Just doing his time. I remember guys that served with me, and only two of them ever got in rubber boats with me and did shit, Marine Corps shit, doing it on their own time. Getting guys to do shit to improve their techniques and to improve their skills on their own time is a bitch. What would be the criterion for OSWALD to have the privilege of hanging out with me? Jesus Christ, that little fucking puke. The guy hadn't done shit. I'm not looking for fucking groupies, I'm looking for fucking counterparts."

On April 1, 1957, HEMMING attained the rank of Sergeant: On October 27, 1957, at Atsugi, OSWALD opened his locker to remove some gear and a .22 caliber Derringer pistol fell to the floor. The discharged bullet hit him in the left elbow. Marine Paul Edward Murphy was in the next cubicle and rushed in. OSWALD remarked, "I believe I shot myself." He was hospitalized until November 15, 1957. The Judge Advocate General concluded that OSWALD "displayed a certain degree of carelessness or negligence" by storing a loaded revolver in his locker, but that his injury was incurred in the line of duty, and not the result of his own misconduct. He was, however, charged with possession of an unregistered privately-owned weapon in violation of general orders. A court martial followed on April 11, 1958. OSWALD received a fine and a suspended 20-day sentence.

Why did OSWALD own a Derringer? Did he use it in some HEMMING-directed operation? HEMMING 1995: "That kid went out in the bush with seven other Marines hunting Huks, just out side of Angeles City on the base slopes of Mount Arayat. They drove through Olongapo...I can give you the whole fucking schedule. At Subic Bay and Cubi Point they were out hunting Huks on the weekends. First four guys got killed they clamped down, they took everybody's 782 shooter away from 'em. Gotta knock off this shit. OSWALD got wounded outside of fucking Angeles City by a grenade fragment, playing Huk hunter." OSWALD stated: "Subic Bay Naval Base in the Phillippines, you'd know what I mean. Sympathies with Communist elements there, their hatred of America. Americans look upon all foreign people as something to be exploited for profit. All Filipinos who are well off are those who cooperate with the Americans." [Interview with Priscilla Johnson]

On November 20, 1957, OSWALD'S Unit, MACS-1, went to the Philippines. The squadron was expected to return to Atsugi after maneuvers were completed; instead it disembarked and stayed at Subic Bay. On January 5, 1958, Marine Private Martin D. Schrand was fatally wounded by a discharge from a riot-type shotgun while on guard duty at Subic Bay. The official Marine investigation that year found that the death of Martin Schrand was the result of an accidental discharge of his gun; no other person was involved in the incident. The Marines dropped Martin Schrand's shotgun and discovered, when there was a shell in the chamber, it discharged.

Martin Schrand was an unstable character. He joined the Marines after going before a Juvenile Board where he was accused of car theft. He set his mattress on fire at Keesler Air Force base. Martin Schrand's brother was killed in an accident aboard a Navy vessel. OSWALD knew Martin Schrand at Atsugi and met him again in Subic Bay, but OSWALD had no apparent motive to kill him. According to the Warren Commission, a rumor began circulating shortly after Martin Schrand's death that linked OSWALD to it. After the assassination, when it became expedient to link OSWALD to murder, OSWALD'S superior officer stated: "From firsthand information, he knows nothing of this, but was advised from other individuals that there was some question concerning the shooting of Shroud [sic]. He recalls that Marines assigned guard duty utilized a pump shotgun and were given three slugs for the gun. The instructions were that the chamber of the gun was to be kept empty until necessary. He stated that it was his understanding that Marine Shroud was shot through the left side of the chest, the bullet piercing the body and coming out the opposite side. He also recalls that the squadron's gear was kept in an airplane hangar which housed the plane, the nature of which he did not know at that time, but which he now knows to be a U-2. He does not know whether Marine Shroud was assigned the specific duty of guarding the hangar which housed the U-2..." No report existed prior to the assassination that remotely linked OSWALD to this killing.

In Oswald's Tale, Norman Mailer wrote: "If OSWALD, however, - and let us assume the probability of that has to be small but not inconceivable [killed Schrand] then what a sense he would have had thereafter of being forever an outlaw..." Norman Mailer suggested: "An undeclared possibility is that someone was being forced to kneel and commit fellatio [on Schrand] and so was in the position to pick up the shotgun from where it had been placed on the ground at his feet." [Norman Mailer Oswald's Tale p385]

In 1994 Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale, was published by Random House. Oswald's Tale was co-authored by FBI source Lawrence Schiller. [FBI Phil. F.O. 157-916-346] It focused on irrelevant detail such as Marina Oswald "pregnant, was now very sensitive to odor" and relied heavily on the works of Edward Epstein and witting CIA collaborator Priscilla Johnson McMillan. In the 1970's Norman Mailer was instrumental in obtaining the release of Jack Abbott from prison. Jack Abbott subsequently murdered a waiter at the Bini Bon restaurant, two blocks from where I lived at 6 Bleecker Street, because the waiter wouldn't let Jack Abbott use the restroom. After that I lost any respect I had for Mailer.

On June 27, 1958, OSWALD spilled a drink on Mexican-American Sergeant Miguel Rodriguez and abusively challenged him to a fight. Miguel Rodriguez suspected at the time that OSWALD was prejudice against persons of Mexican descent. OSWALD was sentenced to 28 days of hard labor. [WR p684; Epstein, Ass. Chron. p366] OSWALD told former Marine Richard Call that "he had beaten up a Sergeant who had been riding him for no good reason."

It was about this time that OSWALD claimed he "met some Communists in Japan and they got me excited and interested..." [DeMohrenschildt WC Test.] OSWALD related to William Stuckey, "the conclusive thing that made him decide Marxism was the answer was his service in Japan. [This] convinced him something was wrong with the system and that Marxism was the answer. He said it was in Japan he made up his mind to go to Russia..." There was no independent corroboration for OSWALD'S assertions. Marine Daniel Powers, who was in OSWALD'S Unit in Japan, stated: "He never expressed sympathy for the Communist Party, Communist principles, or Marxist doctrines." Journalist Scott Malone stated that after retracing OSWALD'S activities in the Far East he was unable to uncover any indication of OSWALD'S intelligence activity or contact with Japanese communists. OSWALD frequented prostitutes in Japan. Since he did not send any of his Army pay to his mother, he could afford them. Medical records indicated he contracted gonorrhea in the autumn of 1958. OSWALD was sent to Atsugi for treatment on October 6, 1958. Gerald Posner attributed his hospitalization to a nervous breakdown OSWALD had while in guard duty. Gerald Posner's source was author, and ANGLETON confident, Edward J. Epstein. Epstein obtained the information during an interview with Lieutenant Charles R. Rhodes. Charles R. Rhodes never testified before the Warren Commission. This researcher could not locate any FBI interviews with him.

Gerald Posner wrote: "His contact with the Japanese Communists may have come through a hostess at Tokyo's Queen Bee, one of the three most expensive nightclubs in the capital. The club was frequented by officers who ogled beautiful hostesses, some of whom were informants for Japanese and foreign intelligence agencies." Gerald Posner based this link "on a confidential intelligence source."

Gerald Posner wrote that an evening at the Queen Bee cost $100, and OSWALD only made $85 a month: "By the time he defected he had saved $1,500, nearly 75% of his Marine salary during two years of service." First: OSWALD was a Marine for 2 years and 11 months and earned $2975, so Gerald Posner's figure should be 50% of his salary. Second: Gerald Posner's reference for this was OSWALD, not Army Savings Records. OSWALD could have been given the $1,500 in small-denomination bills before he defected and instructed to say he had saved it.

Gerald Posner continued: "That makes it unlikely OSWALD bought any dates at the Queen Bee. But some of his fellow Marines saw him with a striking and well-dressed Japanese woman on several occasions, he was seen with a Eurasian woman who reportedly spoke Russian (no citation)." Where did they see him with these women? Gerald Posner was unclear. He implied that OSWALD'S visits there were "on the house," because the KGB picked up the tab. His source was probably Edward Epstein, who was the first to write about the Queen Bee.

Edward Epstein's source for the OSWALD and the Queen Bee story was John E. Donovan, who did not know OSWALD in Japan. In March 1959 Lt. John E. Donovan became OSWALD'S commanding officer after OSWALD returned to the United States in December 1958. Donovan's father was the Subject of a CIA name check in 1948 requested by Robert Bannerman and Ermal P. Geiss. Donovan was employed by the Bureau of Standards. [NARA 1993.07.24.11:13:33:090470] On December 1, 1963, John E. Donovan called the CIA in Langley, Virginia:

INCIDENT REPORT BUILDING SECURITY BRANCH

DATE: December 1, 1963

TIME: 10:30 a.m.

NAME: John E. Donovan

INCIDENT: Telephone call

SUMMARY OF INFORMATION: Donovan call to report that he knew and worked with OSWALD for a nine month period while fulfilling his military obligation in the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 1959. Donovan advised he may possibly be of assistance in providing names etc. of OSWALD'S intimate acquaintances during that period. Subject further advised that he has not discussed his knowledge of OSWALD with the FBI or the Secret Service as of this time. Donovan is presently attending Georgetown University while teaching at the Ascension Academy. John E. Donovan related that he is a former FBI employee having worked there from June 1953 to 1956. It is also noted advance knowledge of this call was received from NSO John Moretti and Major (deleted) CIA employees, who are both members of Captain John E. Donovan's U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Unit.

ACTION TAKEN: Contacted Charles Kane, OS, who requested that this report be prepared and submitted so that the lead may be turned over to FBI through official channels." [CIA 1260-1033] A CIA Official Routing Slip indicated this document was routed to C/SRS. Remarks: Mr. Solie was verbally informed of this contact by NSO Moretti at 9:00 a.m. on December 2, 1963.

HSCA investigators interviewed John E. Donovan: "When he testified before the Warren Commission Donovan stated that he had contact with OSWALD only in California, but he has since refreshed his recollection, and now he recalls that he first knew OSWALD when they were both stationed in the Phillippines. Donovan recalls that before he testified before the Commission, he was advised by his superiors only to answer the questions, asked and not to go off on tangents. John E. Donovan worked as a consultant to Edward Epstein for two years in connection with Edward Epstein's book, Legend. According to Donovan, OSWALD was very interested in the U-2 airplane while he was stationed in the Philippines. According to Donovan in Formosa OSWALD took photographs of troop deployments, fighter aircraft, ammunition bunkers, and F-86 aircraft with radar attached. In addition, according to Donovan, OSWALD had a liaison with an effeminate boy in Formosa.

"In Japan, OSWALD, who was paid only $87 per month, frequented the Queen Bee Bar, a night club and brothel where an evening might cost $50. OSWALD was seen in the company of a stunning Eurasian bar girl who was multilingual. According to two sources she spoke Russian. Donovan feels that OSWALD may have developed intelligence contacts in Japan and he thinks that OSWALD'S later defection to the Soviet Union may be related to such intelligence contacts." [HSCA 4.7.78 Genzman]

When Donovan phoned the CIA he failed to mention any of this and he said he knew OSWALD in the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 1959 in California. Donovan was clearly spreading disinformation.

JEREMIAH O'LEARY JR.

On November 27, 1963, journalist Jeremiah O'Leary Jr. telephoned the FBI and stated that a CIA man in Dallas told him that OSWALD picked up a $5000 payment when he went to Mexico. [FBI 62-109060-957] Two weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Jeremiah O'Leary ran an article in The Washington Star based on a interview with John E. Donovan entitled, "OSWALD Was a Troublemaker in the Marines." Donovan stated: "During the time I knew him (from March to September 1959 at Marine Air Control Squadron 9 in Tustin, California) he was orderly and he knew his job."In November 1973, The Washington Star reported that one of its diplomatic correspondents, Jerry O'Leary, was a part-time CIA agent. [WR p686; Wash. Star 12.3.63 p29, 11.30.73 - OSWALD Johnson; Epstein Legend p29]

On May 9, 1978, the CIA generated a Office of Security File Folder Cover on John E. Donovan that read: "SECRET RETURN TO OFFICE OF SECURITY. Recommend Impoundment of Entire File. Recommend Impoundment of portion(s) of File. Do not Recommend Impoundment of File." This last option was checked.

On September 14, 1958, OSWALD sailed with his unit for Ping Tung, North Taiwan. It was there that Marines were preparing an offensive against Communist China in case of an invasion Matsu and Quemoy - where OSWALD was soon shipped.

In December 1958 OSWALD returned to the United States and was stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Ana, California. OSWALD wrote that he went on leave that month. [WCE 93] It was at El Toro, not at Atsugi, that OSWALD'S first exhibited communist proclivities. The only other documented contact he had with the left prior to this was his letter to the Socialist Party in which he claimed to be a Marxist. Gerald Posner admitted that prior to this, "...he gave the Marines no reason to believe he might be a security threat." In January 1959 OSWALD read the Communist Party publication, The Daily Worker, and Russian-language newspapers in his barracks. He openly expressed his admiration for Soviet-style Communism. OSWALD studied the Russian language at El Toro. He took a Russian language aptitude test in February 1959. [WR p257] His friend in the Marine Corps, Nelson Delgado, said OSWALD was fluent in Spanish and German. OSWALD had the Germanic Gothic alphabet and various German words in his address book. [WR p656; 8WH303; WC Slawson's Rec. Dec. Notes #458]

According to an early version of a CIA chronology of OSWALD'S life: "His fellow Marines have reported that OSWALD frequently expressed pro-Soviet and pro-Communist views and on at once one occasion defended Fidel Castro during a discussion. He also read Communist literature including the Communist newspaper, The Worker. That the decision to go to the USSR was made, or at least contemplated, while he was stationed at Atsugi, Japan, in 1958 is suggested by the fact that OSWALD began to study the Russian language while there. Moreover, sometime between April 4, 1957, and January 30, 1959, OSWALD'S mother informed her doctor, Dr. Morton N. Goldberg, that her son, unnamed, want to defect to Russia." The FBI questioned OSWALD'S former associates in the Marines.

"Since OSWALD'S defection received so little publicity Botelho thought OSWALD might have been a spy for the U.S. Would not have been surprised if OSWALD would have gone to Cuba because he once mentioned he would like to go to Cuba to train anti-Castro troops because of the money he would earn. Botelho shared the same room with OSWALD the two months prior to OSWALD'S discharge. OSWALD was very unusual person in that he would not speak unless spoken to and his answers were always brief. He associated with others as little as possible. OSWALD subscribed to a Russian language newspaper he said was published in San Francisco and to which he stated he first subscribed in Tokyo so that he could learn the Russian language. Richard Call began calling OSWALD "OSWALDSKOVICH." Botelho knows of no subversive connections or memberships and was shocked when OSWALD was identified as responsible for the death of President Kennedy." [NARA FBI 124-10261-10225]

Sergeant W.B. Funk advised the FBI that he was barracks NCO at MACS 9, Santa Ana, California, during the time OSWALD was assigned to the squadron. He stated OSWALD had a private room in a Quonset hut and that OSWALD kept his door locked all the time and that for him to inspect OSWALD'S room he had to threaten disciplinary action to get the door unlocked. "He advised OSWALD always had a stack of books on Communism which he had obtained from the camp library and possibly some from Santa Ana Public Library which he read constantly. He stated he had never heard OSWALD discuss politics or world affairs and he assumed at the time OSWALD was merely interested in these subjects on an academic basis. He stated everyone felt sorry for OSWALD as he was a loner who stayed by himself and never went on liberty with any of the men from the Squadron. He stated he doubted if OSWALD had any friends in the Santa Ana area because he hardly went on liberty enough to have acquired a friend. Sgt. Funk stated that a Lance Corporal named Delgado was an individual who resided in the same Quonset hut with OSWALD and that Delgado was so uncomfortable with OSWALD he requested to be assigned to other sleeping quarters." [Charlotte N.C. FBI 89-75-229- NARA FBI 124-10276-10224]

Staff Sgt. Camilous Brown advised he first met LEE HARVEY OSWALD when OSWALD was transferred to MACS Number Nine, MCAF, Santa Ana, California. He stated that OSWALD was with the squadron for about a year and that he was discharged during 1959, exact date unknown. Sgt. Brown stated that OSWALD was quiet guy who stayed to himself and did not solicit friends. He explained that OSWALD was disliked among members of squadron because work quality and professional attitude were poor and he appeared to only waiting for discharge day. Brown advised OSWALD rarely went on liberty, saved all his money was very resentful when his living quarters were inspected by barracks NCO. He also stated 'Nothing in my room concerns anyone but myself' and that a room inspection seemed to concern OSWALD more than anything else. Brown stated he never knew of OSWALD engaging in discussion of politics or world affairs with anyone and had never heard him express an opinion on any subject other than room inspection.

Former Marine Richard Dennis Call told the FBI "He play chess with OSWALD weekly, and had some discussions with him. OSWALD had no close friends, was quiet, introverted, non violent, and a nonentity to the best of Call's recollection. OSWALD was interested in Russian music, and was studying the Russian language through recordings, and was called a Russian by some of the Marine Corps personnel. Call had no information that OSWALD had any subversive membership, subscribed to any subversive literature, attended any subversive meetings or had any questionable associates. When Call and his associates learned of OSWALD'S defection "they were greatly surprised by this since he had actually never voiced any pro-Russian opinions." [FBI Phil. 89-58-87 NARA FBI 124-10261-10214]

A Marine mail room clerk reported that OSWALD received subversive literature to his operations officer, Robert E. Block. OSWALD was questioned about this. He explained that he was only trying to indoctrinate himself in Communist theory. [Epstein, Ass. Chron. p374; Robert Block WC V8 p302] On November 22, 1963, Officer Robert Eddy, Santa Ana, California, Police Department, advised the FBI that "around 1959 to 1960 he had been in CIC at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. He said he recalled an individual whom he thinks may have been OSWALD was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Facility at about that time. Eddy said he vaguely recalled there was some talk that the individual he thought may have been OSWALD was receiving some kind of communist literature at that time and also reportedly said that he was going to Russia when he got out of the Marine Corps." Robert Eddy said that he did not conduct any investigation concerning OSWALD and referred the FBI to Elwood Whitby, another CIC investigator. Elwood Whitby did not conduct an investigation and referred the FBI to Douglas H. Cameron. Cameron told the FBI that he did not conduct an investigation of OSWALD. [LA FBI 89-75-189 - NARA FBI 124-10270-10175]

OSWALD'S address book contained the name, "Znanya," believed by the FBI to be a Russian bookstore in San Francisco. The CIA reported: "The Znaie bookstore referred to above presumably is a branch store, 'Znanie, Russian Bookstore,' which Victor Kamkin was planning to open at 5237 Geary Street, San Francisco, California, in the summer of 1959. This store was to be operated by S. Sapelkin, presumably Semen I. Sepelkin, the husband of Mrs. Kamkin's sister. (Deleted). The Znanie Book Shop in San Francisco, as well as the Victor Kamkin bookstore in Washington, D.C. was of interest during House Un-American Activities Committee Hearings in May 1962 and July 1962 on 'Outlets for the Distribution of Soviet Propaganda in the United States." [CIA 515-217] A Kamkin Catalog was found among OSWALD'S personal effects. [Item 181]

HEMMING was living in Los Angeles at the same time OSWALD was at El Toro. HEMMING stated that he was in touch with OSWALD at this time. OSWALD once mentioned he would like to go to Cuba to train anti-Castro troops because of the money he would earn. HEMMING did precisely this.

OSWALD seemingly slipped by the Marine's Counter-Intelligence Corps. He also alluded the anti-subversion net of the FBI, since no FBI document was generated about the Communist Party newspaper being sent to OSWALD at a Marine base, or his having been on their mailing list.

OSWALD had no interest in left-wing politics since October 1956, when he wrote to the Socialist Party. What suddenly rekindled OSWALD'S interest in Communism? Was his interest generated by contact with someone in the CIA or someone in contact with someone in the CIA?

During the later portion of his Marine tour, HEMMING told this researcher he attended Bainbridge Naval Academy Preparatory School. Records confirmed HEMMING attended "NTC, Bainbridge, Md. U.S. Navy Preparatory School" for 15 weeks in 1958. [Armed Forces of the U.S. Report of Transfer or Discharge for JPH] That year he took a course at the Marine Corps Institute on Communist Guerilla Warfare. HEMMING said he was accepted into the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps after Bainbridge Naval Academy and he reportedly was to attend the University of Missouri. HEMMING said he changed his mind because he wanted to engage in Special Forces type activity. He served the balance of his tour at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

HEMMING told this researcher: "I met with ANGLETON at his home near Tyson's Corner. It came at the end of my tour of duty. [1958] I was 21 years old. It was a casual fucking encounter. If I put my ass on the line in Cuba, I'm going to report on a high level. He was introduced to me as a high official, someone you could trust. I told some people this is what I am going to do, if this can be of benefit beyond me, beyond my personal experience, if it's of some value, let me know. They responded, setting up a couple of meetings. We weren't plotting and scheming like some secret fucking mission. I wanted to get the feel of being a Jedburgh. [OSS men who parachuted behind enemy lines.] I was doing the exact same thing. I wanted to make goddamned sure I wasn't going to do it wrong. I was going behind enemy lines and was going to pose as the enemy. I couldn't get it all from fucking books. There's trade craft in there that doesn't appear in goddamn books. He knew who I was. What I had been doing. Where I was going. I didn't report to ANGLETON. We're talking about a very casual conversation. ANGLETON: 'Young man, let me tell you this. You're jeopardizing your military career. And I can't say, 'Go do this, or go do that.' 'As far as service to your country, I don't see it whatsoever. However, I can make some arrangements that if you do get into a situation, you can be helped. If you get into a position where you learn something of benefit to your country it can be reported. But not on a day-to-day basis. Not even on an infrequent basis. It is more likely when you come out of there and it's all over, or, if you are in a position and somebody makes a decision, you may have to stay in place. But you won't know why, who or whatever and it's going to be a very difficult position. You won't even know that it's coming from me. You'll have to judge yourself whether certain words are used. Whether you remember them. Somebody's given you some key words...'

"He told me never to attempt to communicate with him from a hostile environment for any reason at all. He said, 'I'm not going to tell you it's not worth it. None of us ever know.' He's got a responsibility not to encourage me to go on this asshole Cuban thing. It would be admitting they had nobody in place. I didn't want to be a spy - a slime ball slipping in and out. I wanted some G/W experience. I was guaranteed I was not [carried on the CIA's books]. Goddamn right, from the outset. I wasn't working for them pricks, if I could be of service, real good.

"The guy had homosexual tendencies after a few drinks. Maybe the guy found himself in a situation like that once a year. It's a fondling type situation. I'm not talking about a love affair. Grabbing somebody by the dick or something. That's what happened. The pattern was there. It didn't make me fucking happy. I was there. It happened to me more than once with more than one fucking intelligence type. I thought, 'Maybe it's a test?' No more disagreeable things occurred, so I guess I'd passed the test."

When HEMMING was told that I found this unlikely he remarked: "Out of one side of your mouth you are talking about the guy who may have assassinated the President of the United States but you want to keep his character intact. The guy didn't give a shit about money. The guy gave a shit about his organs and that was it. He didn't give a shit about his lifestyle, even though he was a patrician. Frank Wisner was the same way when I met him."

HEMMING told this researcher: "I saw ANGLETON four times in my life. I'm being recruited and I'm not interested in this shit. I'm interested in Special Warfare. I'm not going into the details of how I met ANGLETON. The only thing that interested me was talking to people who had been in the OSS. These are my fucking heros. They were interesting characters. This was in Virginia. I'm at the Naval Academy Prep School, then I'm at the Naval Academy, up the road from D.C.

"You know why I got along with ANGLETON? Cause I was raised in East Los Angeles with Mexicans. My old man hated them and beat my ass for hanging out with the beaners. First girls I dated were Mexican."

Mrs. Angleton was asked if she remembered HEMMING: "I have no memory of him at all. I don't think it ever happened. JIM had nothing to do with Cuba. Nobody would come to him about Cuba. What do you mean, 'Perhaps my husband had a hand in it?' You better have evidence. He never knew HUNT. He may have talked to him by phone or maybe he saw him in the office once in awhile. But he never knew him. I never in my life laid eyes on that man. Never heard of CHRIST. People came and went from the house. Be careful of what you're saying. I'm sick of this and I might file a lawsuit. You get a legend going and everyone wants to be part of it. My husband did know JIM McCORD. Not DAVID PHILLIPS."

HEMMING stated his entre into the intelligence community was through his uncle, Art Simpson, the brother of his mother, Catharine Ellen Simpson. HEMMING told this researcher: "He knew McCone, who was involved with my uncle, Art Simpson. Simpson was one of the un-indicted co-conspirators in John McCone's war profiteering trial. He was found innocent."

Born into a prosperous San Francisco family on January 4, 1902, John McCone was a steel company executive until 1937, when he formed the Bechtel-McCone-Parsons Corporation. This company specialized in the design and construction of petroleum refineries for installation in South America and the Middle East. In 1939 John McCone entered the ship-building business; in 1946, Ralph E. Casey, an investigator for the Government Accounting Office leveled accusations of profiteering against him, and John McCone was called before the House Merchant Marine Committee. McCone was president of the California Shipbuilding Corporation, which was accused by the Government Accounting Office of having made $44 million in profits from an investment of $600,000. "Calship" was owned by Henry J. Kaiser. Henry J. Kaiser was in partnership with Howard Hughes during the war. [Robert Maheu, Next to Hughes, 1992, Harper Collins p133] Kaiser and McCone made convincing arguments, and the matter went no further. They were not indicted. The name "Simpson" was absent from the articles about these hearings. [NYT 9.26.46; Newsweek 10.7.46 p37; Wash. Post 9.26.46; Ross & Wise Invisible Government p193]

After the war, John McCone purchased a million-dollar interest in Standard Oil of California which was owned by the Rockefeller family. McCone became a member of President Truman's Air Policy Commission in 1947 and in 1948 he became special deputy to James Forrestal, the Secretary of Defense. In 1956 John McCone stated: "The uninformed believe that radioactive fallout from H-bomb tests endangers life." In 1958 he became chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was an avid supporter of the Dulles brothers and a devout Roman Catholic. On September 27, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the appointment of John McCone as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Many of the President Kennedy's advisors believed he should have appointed Robert F. Kennedy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, or he should have chosen a Kennedy man. [Ross & Wise Inv. Gov. p200]

On HEMMING'S application for CIA employment he listed this financial reference: "Haisa-Pacific Inc., Art Simpson (President)." HEMMING told this researcher: "That was the Asia Pacific Foundation. Simpson was on the board. It was a proprietary." See it for yourself right here!!!

There was no such entity as the Asia Pacific Foundation. The Singapore-based Asia Foundation was founded in 1951 by Pan Am boss Peter Trippe and a number of West Coast financiers, along with the CIA, as an Asian counterpart to Radio Free Europe. L. McCartnery reported in Friends In High Places: "...Bechtel became a charter member of the National Committee for a Free Asia, an organization devoted to fighting communism and promoting free enterprise. The brainchild of Allen Dulles, NCFA, which later changed its name to the Asia Foundation, included on its membership such Bechtel friends and associates as Henry Kaiser...Together, the members of the Asia Foundation sponsored a number of propaganda activities, most notably, Radio Free Asia, a Far Eastern counterpart of Radio Free Europe... According to Simpson's papers, the Asia Foundation membership was only one of a number of links Bechtel had with the CIA. At the invitation of Allen Dulles, Steve Bechtel also served as the Agency's liaison with the Business Council, and in that capacity provided regular reports on tidbits council members had picked up overseas. In addition, Steve, and many of his colleagues on the council like John T. Conner, chairman of the Allied Chemical Corporation, were debriefed by the Agency after they made trips abroad. [p119] It was first called the Committee for Free Asia, and was headed by the late Robert Blum from 1953 until 1962, who several sources said resigned from the CIA to take it over. Gabriel Kaplan, of the Free Asia Committee, was sent to Manila in 1953 to help General Edwin Landsdale elect Raymond Magsaysay as President of the Philippines. [Bonner, R. Waltzing with a Dictator p40] The foundation, which was first sponsored by the Office of Policy Coordination, and then by the CIA's International Organizations Division under Tom Braden, provided cover for at least one CIA agent, and carried out a variety of media-related ventures. [NYT 12.26.77] In 1960 the Asia Foundation worked with the Leo Cherne of the International Rescue Committee in Vietnam. The Asia Foundation received funding from the CIA and had a budget of about $7 million dollars a year. [Ross and Wise, The Espionage Establishment, page 155] This fact became public knowledge in 1967 when it was revealed that the National Student Association received CIA funding. Following these revelations the Asia Foundation was banned from India. When the American Committee for Cultural Freedom needed CIA funding, representatives of that organization contact Norman Thomas, who in turn contacted Allen Dulles telephonically. [Domhoff, Higher Circles p264] In 1984 Congress passed the Asia Foundation Act which mandated funding for the foundation from the State Department and A.I.D.

There was no Art Simpson connected with the Asia Foundation, however, there was a John Lowrey Simpson, who worked for the Bechtel Company. John L. Simpson provided Bechtel with intelligence connections as a Director of the J. Henry Schroder Bank and a close friend of the Dulles brothers. John Simpson was in touch with Allen Dulles in regard to matters of cover for CIA agents. In Friends In High Places, L. McCartney wrote: "The approval for CIA covers came directly from Steve Bechtel, who had his own ties to the Agency. In March 1951, while his company's Middle East crews were pushing toward Taplines Mediterranean terminus, Bechtel became a charter member of the National Committee for a Free Asia...The brainchild of Allen Dulles, NCFA, which later changed its name to the Asia Foundation, included in its membership such Bechtel friends and associates as Henry Kaiser." From 1950 to 1952 the Pacific Foundation was headed by Arthur Dean, a trustee of the Asia Foundation, and a senior partner in the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell.

When Jose Arevalo was elected President of Guatemala United States Ambassador Richard Patterson warned him that the United States was not satisfied with his performance. In the book titled The CIA in Guatemala by R. Immerman, it was reported that "In issuing his warning to Arevalo, Patterson reflected a growing consensus with United States Government circles. The consensus among the leaders of those business concerns with large Guatemalan investments had already been formed. These leaders had met with Patterson shortly after his appointment in 1948 to let him know exactly how they felt. Among those present were United Fruit Companie's Zemurry and it's president, Thomas Dudley Cabot. J.L. Simpson, president of the board of IRCA [the Guatemalan railroad]...Acting as spokesman for the distinguished group, Simpson told Patterson that Guatemala was 'not a place to invest American dollars until such time as they were assured that the discriminatory Labor Code would be done away with." [page 87] Mother Jones magazine reported: "Two organizations as security conscious as Bechtel and the CIA don't leave many visible traces of their relationship. And Bechtel employees are sworn to secrecy, both when the company hires them and when they leave. But the flow of men back and forth between the two institutions indicates more than mere coincidence. Take John Lowery Simpson for example. His sudden employment as chair of Bechtel's high level finance committee in 1952 surprised the company's old timers. Bechtel has a strong tradition of internal promotion, and Simpson, whose prior job was executive vice president of the obscure Schroder Bank in New York, seemed to come out of nowhere. What the old timers didn't realize, though, was that Simpson had strong ties with the Office of Strategic Services through his friendship with Allen Dulles (a founding director of Schroder Bank as well as of the OSS), and that Simpson, who had access to military intelligence during the war, served as a Bechtel advisor during those years. After the way, the OSS, of course, became the CIA, and the Schroder Bank, or which Simpson remained a director after Bechtel, was recently discovered to have been a bank for the CIA director's controversial discretionary fund." [Mother Jones, 9.78] Robert Hemming confirmed that his uncle, "Art" Simpson, was a partner with John McCone in Cal-Ship in San Pedro.

HEMMING had contact with OSWALD in the Marines, then had contact with ANGLETON. Was HEMMING the "missing link" between OSWALD and ANGLETON? Had he brought OSWALD to ANGLETON'S attention in an informal atmosphere sometime between December 1958 and October 1959: "Did I recommend OSWALD to ANGLETON? I was not interested in the business. I was making a career decision. I'm on my way into the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, or NROTC at a university. Or I'm going to transfer over into the Army. I was not impressed with the CIA. The only time I ever thought of bringing former Marines into working with me was when I was in Cuba. I invited some of them down. I was hard pressed to find somebody that had Special Forces type of skills. These guys were sharp and had been in the infantry in Korea then they went to the Air Wing, then they went to radar school. We had similar interests. But nobody was doing what I was doing in the Marine Corps. I was more or less on my own...OSWALD would have never had a contact at that fucking level. Fuck no. What the fuck for? That would be telling OSWALD that he's important. He's used as a pawn. He's a fall guy for the U-2 shit, then he's a fall guy for something else, and then he's a fall guy for the Kennedy thing. This guy doesn't know what he's being used for. You're wrong on ANGLETON."

HEMMING refused to supply the names of anyone who could corroborate his story. He said he testified about the ANGLETON meetings before the HSCA and that "JIM was shown it, and didn't like it." A summary of HEMMING'S HSCA testimony contained no reference to ANGLETON. Marina Oswald 1994: "I do not believe ANGLETON ran him directly. They have lots of people in between and they don't want their nose to show to be dirty. It's a grapevine connection."

HEMMING told this researcher: "I ran into Cuban exiles at the gun shop up there in Bayonne, New Jersey. Totally causal thing. I was picking up some DEWAT (Deactivated War Trophy) Thompson submachine guns that had a lead plug in the barrel. No registration, no nothing. It's a piece of junk metal. Next door, in this other shop, they sold you a brand new barrel. This guy happened to mention some interesting people who came in. These guys were trying to get some wino American to buy them guns, cause they didn't have U.S. I.D. You had to have a drivers license. Since 1934, it's been illegal for a foreigner to buy a weapon in this country. If you're visiting this country, you can't buy a gun. The owner told me to clue these guys on where to buy the barrels and he'd throw in an extra piece for me. They needed somebody to buy it for them, so I bought it for them. It's as simple as that. Then I carried it down there for them. They didn't know how to do that either. They eventually clamped-down and told everybody to turn their DEWATS in." HEMMING told the HSCA: "While still in the Marines, he spent more than one weekend in Cuba, contacting 26th of July people. Before his separation from the service, Naval Intelligence became aware of his activities in supplying weapons, and attempted to recruit him." [HSCA Sum. HEMMING Depo Triplett 5.12.78] No military record has surfaced that substantiated this. In a Freedom of Information Act Request to the FBI dated August 27, 1975, HEMMING asked for documents on "Clandestine activities involving revolution against the Cuban regime of President Fulgencio Batista...Activities with Fidel Castro: Cuban Rebel Army and Rebel Air Force from 1958 to 1960." [ltr. to FBI from JPH 8.27.75; Johnson, Lee and Marina p327; CIA Routing and Record sheet 6.11.62; GPH FOI/PA Req.]

HEMMING left the Marines on October 17, 1958. He received an honorable discharge. In his CIA Biographic Resume HEMMING wrote that his first visit to Cuba occurred in February 1959. HEMMING commented: "That's what I was told to put down. They didn't want me saying I committed any crimes. They said, 'Forget everything before 1959 except Marine Corps service.' They told me not to put down any of my activities prior to January 1959. They didn't want the FBI to get wind of this shit. Then they would haul my ass in front of a grand jury on weapons smuggling charges. It was a matter of days. Very limited contact, but enough to get me put away. It was the first clue that I knew the FBI was after me. I didn't tell the FBI shit. It's a crime to lie to the FBI."

No evidence that HEMMING was involved in Cuban affairs prior to January 1959 has surfaced. The FBI reported February 1959 he went to Cuba, where he became involved in Cuban and Nicaraguan activity and served in the Cuban Rebel Army and Air Force at a salary of $70 to $80 per month on an irregular basis. In August 1960 he left Cuba and returned to California via Mexico. [FBI 105-86406-18] HEMMING stated: "After I got out of the Marines, I messed around in Mexico, Florida and Cuba." He told the HSCA that, "upon leaving the Marines, he became involved in obtaining weapons for the Cuban rebels."

OSWALD expressed an interest in Cuba around the same time as GERALD PATRICK HEMMING did. As stated former Marine James Anthony Botelho advised the FBI that he would not have been surprised "if OSWALD would have gone to Cuba because he once mentioned he would like to go to Cuba to train Castro's troops because of the money he would earn."In early 1959 he told his mother and sister-in-law that he wanted to visit Cuba. Before he left Santa Ana, California, OSWALD applied for a passport. His application indicated that he would board a Grace Line ship leaving from New Orleans. "List each country to be visited: Cuba, the Dominican, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Russia." The purpose of the trip was to visit Albert Schweitzer College and also visit the University of Tornu in Finland. [WR p687, CIA 591-252A]

In early 1959 OSWALD and HEMMING visited the Cuban Consulate in Monterey Park, California, together. Neither man had been there before. In HEMMING'S Application for CIA Employment he stated that in February 1959 he "bluffed his way into the Cuban Army, with no prior connections having been made in the U.S. He claimed to have contacted officials in the office of the Cuban Counsel in Los Angeles prior to his departure, and also to have talked to a few members of the 26th of July Movement including a [FNU] Topenez, but received no help." HEMMING also claimed that after "returning from Cuba," he worked for Topenez at the Cuban Consulate. HEMMING expressed regrets that he hadn't taken OSWALD to Cuba: "I figure I should've taken him under my wing. Then maybe he wouldn't have gone to the Soviet Union. He would have had a fucking ball in Cuba with me."

HEMMING 1993: "January the first, Batista leaves, Castro takes over blah, blah, blah, big headlines. January 2nd. The heads of the 26th of July Movement in Los Angeles put their fatigues and their arm bands on and head over to Monterey Park to Manuel Valasquez's private residence which is considered to be on Cuban soil because it is the Cuban Consulate in Los Angeles. They show up there and Valasquez lets them in, he goes back to Prio, he had been there for 25 years. And he says, 'Sure, you know, the documentation from Havana is on its way' and he knew he could make a phone call to Havana and they would confirm it. These guys would be taking over the Consulate so that no documents would be destroyed and he was in full agreement with it. Now they took over the phones too in the home...The newspaper article told this story and about how old time friends of Valasquez, the counsel from Panama and the counsel from Nicaragua called up because Valasquez had called them and said, 'Don't come to the consulate because Castro's new government people - the barbudos - have taken over the place. Don't come by. We don't want any disputes here. Well, they called up the 26th of July guys - Ishmal Topenez, he's a high official of Cuban Intelligence now. Rafael Topenez same thing - they were the head guys there. When the phone rang they picked up the phone and answered, 'Cuban Consulate.' Well, the Panamanian Consul and the Nicaraguan Consul got together and strapped their guns on and called the place. 'We want to speak to our friend Manolo Valasquez, we don't want to speak to no goddamn barbudos.' 'Mr. Valasquez is taking a nap.' ''But we want to talk to him now. Well, we'll be over there in a few minutes.' And they pulled out like gangbusters and they come up to the door and they knocked on the door and Topenez and he said, 'We're so and so' and they had their jackets back showing their guns. "So, you guys got guns, want me to swing the door back so you can see more guns?' Get your asses out of here. Slammed the door in their face. They opened fire. Right then. Shot the shit out of the door so they were just about to return the fire and they said cool it. Valasquez comes out: 'Jesus Christ, what's going on here?' The neighbors called the cops and everybody was there, the FBI, the State Department, the whole goddamn crew was there that day. Well the first thing that happened as follow up was that the L.A. County Sheriff set up a command post in an adjacent home down the street with a couple of officers there because half the fucking neighborhood moved out real quick, The revolutions coming - Castro is gonna bomb Los Angeles."

"6:30 p.m. Thursday January 1, 1959. At approximately 5:00 p.m. officer Hector Guarara of the LAPD called Sgt. Ray Warner to report that he had tried to contact the Cuban Consul, Manuel Valasquez. A strange voice had answered the phone and he had not been permitted to speak to Valasquez. Sgt. Ray Warner and Officer Sweeny contacted Valasquez at his home. They were told that there was no trouble. There were 35 to 40 people at his house but they said they had come to wish him a Happy New Year. At 5:50 p.m. Warner received a call from Angel Alvarado, Consul of the Republic of Panama. He said that Mrs. Alexander and Mrs. Delgado feared that Valasquez was being held against his will. Officers again went to the house. The Consul General assured officers that the men were guests in his home and nothing was amiss. Adolfo Camarena, Consul General of the Dominican Republic, and Roberto Membrano, Nicaraguan Consul were, during this time, at the Santa Anita Race Track. They drove together to Dr. Rosenda Forteza's house...While they were visiting Dr. Forteza, Mrs. Alexander called saying she was worried about Valasquez. Mrs. Alexander, who police were unable to locate or identify, was evidently calling everyone she knew. Camarena and Membrano proceeded to the Valasquez home. Camarena had a .38 caliber revolver in the glove compartment of his car. He loaded the gun - put extra shells in his pocket.

"Armed with the revolver, Camarena pounded on the door of the Consul's house. The door was opened - a man asked, "What do you want?" Camarena screamed "You are all sons of bitches, what are you doing here? I am going to kill you all." The door was slammed in his face and Camarena immediately fired three shots through the door. He then ran around the back of the house, fired a shot in the air, returned to the front of the house, and fired two more shots. He reloaded his gun a fired into the air again. Possibly as many as four shots. An Alhambra Police Reserve Officer, Jack Yetinian, who lived across the street from the Consulate heard the shooting. He grabbed his revolver and ran out in the street, whereupon he fired a shot in the air and yelled at the enraged Camarena to calm down. The police were on their way. He later told police he was afraid that he would have to shoot somebody to stop the commotion."

This version of events was found among Bernard Fensterwald's files and was the result of an investigation by "JmcC." "JmcC" interviewed Captain Warner and told him that "Boris Yaro, a photographer for the L.A. Times had suggested I talk to Warner and that he had suggested that I might find information about a particularly newsworthy person contained in the police report. Warner said Yaro is the interested person, about whom he had been speaking, and that Yaro was looking for the name of one particular individual among the list of people present at the Consulate that evening, that Yaro did not find the name in the police report, but that there was an additional list of names of July 26th people who were present but who did not come to the station, and that list was missing from the police records. He further stated that Yaro had been assigned by the Times to research this story, and that Yaro had, through Warner, purchased copies of the photographs from Larry Bartell. Yaro never contacted Warner again to confirm whether or not the individual he sought was present that night. Boris Yaro told Fred and Marilyn Newcomb and me at our meeting prior to visiting Captain Warner that he thought LEE HARVEY OSWALD had been present at the Consul's home."

Frontline researcher Gus Russo was unable to locate the photographs of OSWALD and HEMMING at the consulate. HSCA investigator Al Gonzalez: "Some sergeant in the Monterey Park Police Department had photographs and I requested a trip out there to search for the sergeant and I was turned down by Blakey."

HEMMING stated in 1978: "So I'm in and out of the place on a daily basis and they told me look, you have diplomatic protection if you want it. So anyway I show up there just about every morning and on this day I got there one hour late. The first week in January and Topenez answers the door. Topenez and his brother headed the 26th of July Movement in Los Angeles. Everybody's happier than shit, said there was a Marine Officer here this morning. I said 'No shit.' These guys weren't sure whether I was Army or Marine or what have you. OSWALD stands up and comes on strong. The Cubans interpreted him to be an officer in the Marine Corps. He says 'I'm LEE.' I said, 'I thought you were OSWALD? 'That's me, I'm LEE OSWALD.' On Topenez's orders we took the door off the office and put it on the front door to get rid of the fucking bullet holes and Topenez said, 'Hey, Ger, we've got a lot of work to do here and everything, if you guys want to talk why don't you step outside? So we stepped out into the entre there, the dining room, and he's coming on strong like a fucking car salesman or something. This puts me on my guard. This guy's a razzle dazzle artist. Maybe he's nervous or something because of the shooting in the place. I wondered, 'What's his background?' Most investigators, CIC, CID, what have you, they come on razzle dazzle, pat you on the back, they're in charge of everything. So anyway I said, 'Well LEE, I understand you are an officer in the Marine Corps and are stationed nearby? 'Well, I'm a non-commissioned officer.' Well, I thought, these Cubans don't know the difference when you say officer and NCO. I said, 'How did you tell them?' And he said, 'In English.' And I said 'Well do you speak Spanish?' And he said, 'A little bit, come si come sa.' 'That's Italian,' I says. 'Oh I can understand it alright but I don't speak their dialect.' So I said, 'Well you're an NCO - what's your rank. That covers quite a few stripes. 'Corporal.' Okay he's with the fucking CID then. Maybe he is a lieutenant and he's playing corporal today. So I said 'What can I do?' 'Well I hear there is a flight coming up from Havana and you think there would be room for me?' 'Well,' I says 'How do you know there is a flight coming up from Havana?' He said, 'Well, you know we were talking about it.' 'So you understand Spanish? They don't speak English. They know seven fucking words, they were talking about the plane that morning.' Well this tells me where he was getting his information from. He's telling me about the plane coming in and nobody knows that shit. I'm the first fucking gringo in the 48 states that knows this - it was just decoded the night before - the fucking flight was canceled at a later date - that's why I took a fucking military flight out of there. So anyway I said 'You say there's a flight coming up here on what airlines are there flights every fucking day? I don't think there's flights into Havana there's shooting and stuff still going on down there.' He said, 'No, there's a special flight that's coming up, is there room on it for me? There's a special flight coming up from Havana through Mexico City and all that and will get in here probably tomorrow or the next day. If possible I would like to catch a ride on down there. I wanna join the revolution.' I said 'What revolution? We won.' He said 'Oh they'll be others maybe, they have not consolidated, or what have you.' I says 'You want to join the revolution? You just told me you were a corporal in the Marine Corps. What are you gonna do, desert?' 'Oh I can get away, they wouldn't know.' 'You got an out of bounds pass, are you stationed around here?' He says 'Yeah, I'm an LTA Max Nine.' Right there, clickety, click, he know's I'm a Marine, obviously, because he's saying LTA Max Nine and he knows I was stationed at the fucking place and he even knew the unit designation, so I'm tempted to pursue a little bit further. He was looking at a fucking Army man, judging from the way I was dressed, working with the Cubans, yet he knows I'm a Marine and I was stationed there and I was in fucking radar too. How does he know this shit? Even the Cubans don't know that. Nobody knows that shit. So the hair is standing up on the back of my neck. I figure, Jesus fucking Christ, what's going down here? What's he trying to do, approach me or what was happening? Yeah, 'I am LTA Max Nine' that tells me a lot. Where ever you're LTA Max Nine you can go wandering around the fucking world on your own. You know, I got people covering me on my watches, you know how they work. Yeah, I know how they work, I went around the world a couple of times knowing how the watches work. You can get away for two or three months at a fucking time because the radar you only work two days of the week at the most. FAA regs. You got to that three off for every one on. If you can get part of your fucking crew to stand watch for you can disappear from the fucking place for weeks. Everybody did it. You can get a free military flight to anywhere in the world. You got to have an out-of-bounds pass. That was the way the regs. were at the time, of course they changed them latter.

"I said, 'Well, look, maybe you haven't got enough money for a commercial flight, you probably could get in on a commercial flight, I understand you want me to use some leverage to get you on the plane. I said, 'Well, I'm not going on the plane, its a diplomatic flight from what I understand. I don't know shit about it. And they've assured me that I would probably get on the plane and check with you.' Well, that's interesting and he wanted to change the subject real quick and he says its kinda strange for a jarhead - a word Marines don't use - its kinda strange for a jarhead to wear an Army jump suit and Ridgeway hat. And I was about to say 'Who the fuck told you I was a Marine?' And I'm waiting for him to say, - we're standing out in the street - 'Aren't you worried that the M.P.'s will catch you out of uniform or something?'...'The (unintelligible) that dropped me off here may not be able to find their way back so I'll go down to this boulevard down here and give them a call.' I said, 'Well, its only three blocks down the hill. You see there was no cars in the driveway, everybody who's coming here is being dropped off.' OSWALD says, 'Well, you think anybody will be coming by I don't mind waiting for awhile.' 'They'll probably mind you waiting.' He says, 'Okay.' Well, later on, I found out that clickety fucking clickety pictures of me and OSWALD were taken just standing there and the FBI was clicking away. Well, copies went to some other people and they still got them. I took a pretty good picture back in the old days."

In 1992 HEMMING stated: "He showed up working for somebody - he seemed to know quite a bit about me and was asking me pointed questions. He was trying to get me on the plane that was coming down from Havana to fly the 26th of July people back down. And the Cubans were leery of him so they run him off. At that time I figured he was Navy Intelligence. They'd been a shooting incident there two days before. He'd read about, supposedly, in the paper and that's why he showed up. OSWALD told the Cubans he was a non-commissioned officer which caused them to think he was an officer. And I asked him: 'You're an officer?' and he says, 'No, I'm an NCO.' He was a private at the time. And he had been working in the same unit I had been working in a year and half before. So ah, this is strange - the guys been to the same schools, he's from the base, he's in Santa Ana, I've been at El Toro. What's the program here? He seemed to know a lot about me too. Asking pointed questions. So I took him out of the house and stood out in front and chatted with him and run his ass off and he came back again. I knew there were pictures being taken because I knew it was policy at the time. They'd been an international incident."

HEMMING said he told OSWALD that he couldn't help him, and OSWALD left with some friends. The diplomatic flight was canceled. It was stopped in Mexico City. HEMMING told the HSCA: "Right after Castro took power in Cuba, I was in the Cuban Consulate in Monterey Park and OSWALD arrived. OSWALD seemed to know a lot about my background, and I was suspicious. Some one might have thought I knew him better then I did." In 1994 HEMMING said that the local police department photographed everyone that went in and out of the Consulate, and took down automobile license plate numbers: "Anybody taking those pictures, anybody looking at those pictures, would presume we were buddies. I made a call back to the East Coast on the same day of the OSWALD incident. I asked somebody back there, 'Are you puttin' a counterpart on me?' If the guy had been of senior rank and older than me and had been in the old corps I might have taken a counterpart. I got a guy, similar background, claims he's Marine Corps, looks familiar and has made an approach to get in on the Cuban thing. It's a counterpart set up. Get me the fuck out of here. Nobody called back for a day."

In a later interview HEMMING elaborated: "What happened is - what makes it interesting is OSWALD tells Nelson Delgado that he's in touch with the Cubans and he was. It was obvious he had read about or had been shown - became aware of the shooting incident at the Cuban Consulate in Monterey Park which is about 11 miles east of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills. It's a place almost impossible to find. My old man's T.V. shop was about three miles down the road back in the suburban foothills. And if OSWALD had a guy drive him there -- now you'll see later on that he walked away from there. This is what aroused my attention and he wanted to get a ride and I wasn't leaving there for awhile." HEMMING was asked if he was working for the Cuban Consulate? "I had some business there, yeah. I was working with the Cubans at the time."

HEMMING told this researcher: "I gave OSWALD some encouragement in Monterey Park. He asked me a couple pertinent questions. I relaxed for a minute and I said a couple of things that might have encouraged him to go to Cuba. Then I caught myself. He stumbled and he made a couple of mistakes. We were talking about aircraft that I would be flying in Cuba. World War II type aircraft. This was a tremendous opportunity. I was into that kind of thing. I was slipping. I'm encouraging this motherfucker to desert. I had to back track real quick. But he made a mistake. He knew I was a rated fucking pilot. This guy is standing in the driveway in Monterey Park. How the fuck does he know that? This would cause a fucking warning bell to go off when I was talking to him. And I've never mentioned that to anybody before. I didn't know him. He must have known me. He must have been peeking through the shithouse door. If I'd of fucking encouraged him and had gone out there and talked to him that night and said, 'Hey guy get a dependency discharge, come on down to Cuba, I'll make a space for you.' If I trusted the fucker, he might not have been used as the patsy and the assassination might not have gone down. He might not have fallen into that trap. But I know that ain't fucking true. It would have gone down with or without him. If I had let him go to Cuba and play like a little fucking John Wayne down in Cuba and got that shit out of his fucking system, who knows? But if it was an engineered operation, and the indications are that it was, they'd have found another patsy."

HEMMING 1995: "OSWALD didn't single me out, he was there talking to the Cubans. I took him outside the building. I told the Cubans, 'Don't think this guy is with me. You've already been instructed not to deal with any Americans, not to give any press conferences, you've got this guy inside the fucking house, he sees what's going on, you don't know whether he speaks Spanish or not, you're not supposed to be giving out any visas or anything like that, you don't have the authority to do a goddamn thing so what is this guy doing in the house? ...Here's this gringo wants to join the revolution and he's not being specific as to who...but he's using all these Marine Corps words...I'm wearing an army uniform...I'm in my rebel uniform."

When Fidel Castro took power in January 1959, OSWALD was stationed at the El Toro, California Marine Air Base. The Warren Report: "Another Marine, Nelson Delgado, met OSWALD soon after the latter arrived at El Toro. They were about the same age and had similar interests; OSWALD enjoyed trying to speak Spanish with Delgado, who spoke it fluently. Delgado regarded him as a 'complete believer that our way of government was not right' but did not think he was a Communist. Their discussions were concerned more with Cuba than Russia. They both favored the Castro Government and talked 'dreaming' Delgado said, about joining the Cuban Army or Government and perhaps leading expeditions to other Caribbean islands to 'free them too.' OSWALD told Delgado that he was in touch with Cuban diplomatic officials in this country; which Delgado at first took to be one of his lies but later believed." [WR p687] Nelson Delgado told the Warren Commission:

Delgado: After a while he told me he was in contact with them...I seen this envelope in his footlocker, and it was addressed to him, and they had an official seal on it, and as far as I could recollect that mail was from Los Angeles, and he was telling me there was a Cuban Consul. And just after he started receiving these letters - you see he would never go out, but stay near the post all the time ...he had one visitor. It was a man, because I got the call from the MP guard shack and they gave me a call that OSWALD had a visitor at the front gate. This man had to have been a civilian, otherwise they would have let him in. So I had to find somebody to relieve OSWALD, who was on guard, to go down there to visit this fellow and they spent about an hour and a half, two hours, talking. I guess I came back. I don't know who the man was or what they talked about, but he looked nonchalant about the whole thing when he came back. He never mentioned who he was, nothing.

Liebler: How long did he talk to him, do you remember?

Delgado: About an hour and half, two hours.

Liebler: You never asked OSWALD who this fellow was that he talked to?

Delgado: No, no.

Liebler: Did you connect this visit that OSWALD had at the time with the Cuban Consulate?

Delgado: I did, because I thought it funny for him to be receiving a caller at such a late date - time. Also, up to this time he hardly ever received mail; in fact he seldom received mail from home because I made it a policy, I used to pick up the mail for our unit and distribute it to the guys in there, and very seldom did I ever see one for him. But every so often, after he started to get in contact with these Cuban people he started getting letter pamphlets and newspapers...he also started receiving letters, you know, and no books, maybe pamphlets, you know, little like church things we get in church, you know but it wasn't a church.

Liebler: Were they written in Spanish any of them?

Delgado: Not that I recall.

Liebler: Did you have any reason to believe that these things came to OSWALD from the Cuban Consulate?

Delgado: Well I took it for granted that they did after I seen the envelope you know...something like a Mexican eagle, with a big impressive seal, you know. But I can't recall the seal. I just knew it was in Latin, United, something like that. I couldn't understand. It was Latin.

The CIA: "Delgado's testimony has the cast of credibility. Granting that, it is of basic importance to focus attention on the male visitor who contacted OSWALD at El Toro Camp and talked with him for between one and two hours. The event was unique in Delgado's recollections and actually there is nothing like it - on the record - in everything else we know about OSWALD'S activity in the United States before or after his return to the United States. The record reflects no identification of El Toro contact. Delgado's presumption was that he was from the Cuban Consulate in Los Angeles. Delgado's presumption is that he was from the Cuban Consulate in Los Angeles." Nelson Delgado, 53, died on January 17, 1993. The cause of death was cancer. [Interview with Mrs. Delgado]

HEMMING told this researcher: "I was the man who made this visit. OSWALD was planning on deserting and going to Cuba and that night I'm picking up a military flight at El Toro. I told him to get a dependency leave and to stay away from Monterey Park cause he was just going to draw heat on himself. I was also making sure that I've got a little bit of evidence that I made an effort not to recruit the guy for a foreign conflict. I figured this guy is somebody that will cause me problems, you know. I figured this guy is dogging me. I figured I'd stop by and say 'Hey, you wanna go to Cuba - you can't desert - forget about this revolutionary bullshit.' He's gonna be testifying against me at a fucking federal trial. As I see it now, somebody is trying to use my connections to get OSWALD in. And a lot of other Marines. This took place almost five years after I [first] met ANGLETON. I met him in 1954. I'd been to Cuba several times running guns, and he, like a good federal employee, said 'Watch your ass. I can't condone this kind of shit. We're not in the law enforcement business. If you get nailed, you're through dealing. You don't work for us, you aren't under our umbrella.' I did a couple of weekends of courier duty for him toting shit around like in the old temporary buildings. But never an employee, never on the payroll." No records that indicated HEMMING was the man who visited OSWALD have surfaced.

HEMMING stated that OSWALD did not tell him his name or address when he encountered him at the Consulate. HEMMING was asked "If you didn't know who OSWALD was when you met him at the Consulate, how did you locate him at El Toro?" HEMMING 1995: "The second time he came I said, 'Hey, let me see your ID, I saw his ID.' He came back a second time after I ran him off. Some one calls me and says he's over there. 'Hey your friends back.' Friend, I said 'I ain't got fucking friends here.' They didn't know where I lived, they didn't know my real name. I went back there in my mother's car and said 'What the fuck is up sports?' Took him out to the driveway again. I figured, 'Well they got this place under surveillance - they're gonna get a goddamned picture. I said, 'Look, what is the thing? I told you these people can't do a damn thing for you. Number one, you say you're in the Armed Forces, your an LTA. What makes you think I would know what LTA is? What makes you think I'm a fucking Marine? These Cubans don't know if I'm a soldier or boy scout or fucking Marine. Who the fuck are you, you know?' I asked to see his dog tag. So we parted a little bit hot. I figure he's on my fucking trail for the stolen guns. So there's an additional charge. Remember Marines had deserted from Guantanamo to go into the mountains with Fidel. They nailed two guys on the base for causing that shit."

HEMMING was asked what the real nature of his relationship with OSWALD was: "I don't know. I would have to go jack my dick and think about that and invent some new bullshit story." HEMMING was asked why he failed to come forward and tell this to the Warren Commission or the FBI: "How come I didn't whip out my fucking dick at the goddamn school bus stop, asshole? Come forward? I'll come forward in your fucking mouth. Come forward?"

Jerry G. Brown joined the Office of Security in 1956. Ron Kessler reported that as of 1994 Brown headed the CIA's Office of Security's Clearance Division. Jerry Brown worked with KGB "defector" Yuri Nosenko in 1964. Brown gave new recruits lectures on defectors. Since the CIA had no training program for handling defectors, such talks were the only formal indoctrination CIA officers received on the subject. Brown would say that Americans want to believe that Soviets defect for ideological reasons, to overcome tyranny and oppression. Not so, Brown would tell them. Soviet defectors do no really care about the political system. Nor do they experience any real difficulties in the United States because they are in an alien environment and have to learn a new language and culture. Rather the problems lie in their own psychological make up: "These people have a distorted sense of their worth, and they think they are entitled to more than they have been given." Brown cited Nosenko as a good example of this.

In 1984 Brown worked on the case of Karl and Hanna Koecher. Karl Koecher was a Czech Intelligence Service (STB) officer who had the distinction of being the only deep-penetration agent placed within the CIA. Koecher orchestrated a fake defection, and arrived in the U.S. from Czechoslovakia, in transit from Austria. He became a naturalized United States citizen, and applied for a post at the CIA in April 1972. After passing a polygraph test, Koecher was hired by the CIA in February 1973 as a translator. With his wife, Hana, Koecher attended sex orgies and wife-swapping parties in Washington and New York. At the parties, Hana Koecher, also a Czech Intelligence Service officer, would take on four to five men at the same time. Many of the party goers were fellow CIA employees who swamped classified information as well as sex with the popular couple. The Koechers also frequently the S & M Hell Fire Club and the partner-swapping Plato's Retreat. He supplied the KGB with information which caused Alekandr Ogorodnik, a key CIA asset in Moscow, to commit suicide after his apprehension by the KGB. Ogorodnik used CIA-supplied poison hidden in a fountain pen to commit suicide. For more than 20 months, ANGLETON was unable to detect Koecher's presence within the CIA. Author Ronald Kessler interviewed ANGLETON in April 1987, and brought up the subject of Koecher. ANGLETON showed no interest in the case. In 1982 a Czech working for the FBI turned Koecher in. The FBI followed him for two years without developing enough evidence to prosecute him. Just before the Koechers were about to move to Austria, Jerry Brown, and other intelligence officers, talked him into confessing by telling him that he was going to be doubled, which was simply untrue. Kessler reported: "Fierer asked Geide about Brown's statement that the couple would be free to go about their business. Did he tell Koecher that was untrue?

A. No, sir, I did not.

Q. And Hana Koecher says 'It sounds great, really great.' And Jerry Brown says, 'And I promise.' Did you at the time say to Koecher or Hana Koecher that he had no authority to promise, did you say that?

A. No sir.

Q. Did you tell him that promise was a lie?

A. No sir."

Because of this false promise of immunity from prosecution, after one month in prison, in February 1986, Koecher was traded in an East-West spy exchange for Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky. [Kessler, Spy vs. Spy page 128]

On April 8, 1977, Jerrold G. Brown, the Deputy Chief of the Security Analysis Group of the CIA stated:

1. Reference is made to the attachment which is a copy of a memorandum contained in Subject file dated November 7, 1960, from Chief, Contact Division/00 to Chief, Personnel Security Division/Office of Security captioned 'Jerry P. Henning, Jr. Ex-U.S. Marine who served in Cuban Army and Air Force 00-A-3170536,' a copy of which was sent to WH Division and Counter-Intelligence Staff. It is apparent that the HENNING referred to therein is identical with GERALD PATRICK HEMMING.

2. Of pertinence for the purposes of instant memorandum is that information contained in paragraphs four and five of the reference and related by HEMMING voluntarily to the Contact Division/ Los Angeles Office between October 11, 1960, to October 21, 1960, to wit: 'HENNING returned to California in October 1958...He left for Cuba by air via Miami on or about February 18, 1959, arriving in Havana on February 19, 1959. He claimed to have contacted officials in the Cuban Consul's office in Los Angeles prior to his departure.'

3. In substance relative to the above, the HEMMING file reflects that he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from April 19, 1954, to October 17, 1958. (The 201 file concerning HEMMING reflects that he served in Japan with a U.S. Marine Air Wing.) He then returned to the Los Angeles area for discharge and then left for Cuba February 19, 1959, and joined Castro's forces. He claimed to have contacted officials in the office of the Cuban Consul in Los Angles prior to his departure.

4. The pertinence of the foregoing is that OSWALD served with a U.S. Marine Air Wing in Japan, and when OSWALD returned to the U.S., he was assigned to Santa Anna, California (Los Angles area). Extensive testimony contained in the Warren Commission Hearing by OSWALD'S fellow Marines at Santa Ana contain the theme that OSWALD was interested in going to Cuba to join Castro (upon his discharge) in early 1959 and that in early 1959 OSWALD allegedly made some contact with the Cuban Consul's Office in Los Angeles.

5. The above, as well as the Office of Security file concerning HEMMING, which is replete with information possibly linking HEMMING and his cohorts to OSWALD, was brought to the attention of the Inspector General on April 6, 1977. Mr. Leader advised he would pursue the matter. [CIA Memo c/SAG from JGB re JPH OS #429 229]

On April 8, 1977, Jerry G. Brown sent the above document to Chief, Security Analysis Group, to Raymond M. Reardon, to the Deputy Chief, Security Analysis Group, and "Hunt, J." (James Hunt?) "This was prompted by a separate discussion with Mr. Leader on the OSWALD matter. Jerry G. Brown." On April 8, 1977, John Leader stated: "From a perusal of Agency files, which are meager, I have been unable to corroborate a possible relationship between OSWALD and HEMMING. A comparison of their (limited) records did not produce any matches. John Leader, Inspector General Staff." [CIA R. & R. Sheet 4.8.76 Doc 929] HEMMING told this researcher: "It may appear to an outside observer that I had more than one contact with OSWALD. They know I'm fucking around with the Cubans in 1958. Someone has spotted him around me. They wanted me to insert him in Cuba. This fucking late-comer!!"

HEMMING told this researcher: "I took the Guantanamo flight, then entered Cuba. Then I went back to Miami, got a visa, and went back in. They weren't handing out visas to everyone. It was waiting for me when I got there. I made contact with Felix Pena's people, who I had delivered guns to, and said: 'Here I am.' And that's where the story starts."

In Cuba, HEMMING worked with William Alexander Morgan. William Morgan was born in Toledo, Ohio, on April 19, 1928. He was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy and taught offensive hand-to-hand fighting as a member of the 35th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Division in Japan. He was court martialed in 1947 for armed robbery. Sentenced to five years at hard labor, William Morgan escaped from confinement and was a fugitive until 1950, when he was apprehended, dishonorably discharged, and imprisoned. CIA documents indicated that a "Wm. A. Morgan MS 2001-M" was the Subject of an Army Loyalty Investigation in 1943 and that "W.S. Morgan MS-3547 was given a CIA orientation course on September 8, 1956, but was not interviewed - see above. This man was identifiable with the Subject." HEMMING told this researcher: "W.S. Morgan could be the William Morgan. He was in the Escambray Mountains in 1957. How does a guy from Toledo end up in the mountains? He was a truck driver in Florida who got hooked up with hauling some guns that went to Menoyo's people."

In February 1958, William Morgan went to Cuba. He soon became Commander of the Rebel Army in the Escambray Mountains, working with Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo. Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo was a former Havana bar owner whose brother, a Spanish Civil War veteran, was killed by Batista's troops in the unsuccessful attack on the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957. On November 10, 1957, Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo formed the Second National Front of Escambray. By October 1958, his forces reportedly numbered 3,000 men. William Morgan was married on November 17, 1958, to Olga Rodriguez Farinas, a Cuban school teacher from Santa Clara, who had joined the rebel forces in the Escambray mountains, and later served as his secretary while he was Chief of the General Staff.

On March 26, 1959, Leo Cherne, Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee, told Rudolph E. Gomez, Acting Chief, W/H Division, that "he had been in Cuba about a week before...While in Varadero he met a Mr. William Fidelston, (phonetic), a New York lawyer and a friend of his who was in Cuba on business. He told Fidelston that he would like to see Fidel Castro and Fidelston said that a friend of his, Commandante William Alexander Morgan [could help]...Upon his return to Havana Cherne saw Morgan at the Hotel Capri where Morgan is staying. Mr. Cherne said that Morgan was a most impressive person...Morgan claims 2,000 of his former troops are now in the Cuban Army and still loyal to him. Ché Guevara is very envious of Morgan, and had instructed Cienfuegos to have Morgan liquidated. Cienfuegos sent a person whose name began with 'B' and who was his second in command to liquidate Morgan. However, Morgan found out about the plot, was going to kill 'B,' but was stopped from doing so by Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, who said he did not approve of killing a rebel. Morgan then came to Havana and met an American from Cleveland, Dominick Bartone, who is a well-to-do American businessman and who is trying to sell some Globemasters to Fidel Castro. Dominick Bartone befriended Morgan, and was paying for his room at the Capri. Cherne felt Morgan could be very valuable as he is on excellent terms with Fidel Castro. He knows something about the plans Fidel Castro has to invade Panama, and is willing to give information in return for advice regarding how his status will affect his American citizenship...Morgan told Cherne that he wanted to do something to help the 3,000 families in the Escambray Mountains who have been bombed out. Cherne says it would cost about $600,000 to rehabilitate these people and probably the IRC could provide quite a bit of this money. Also, that in his opinion, whatever committee undertook this enterprise could gain access to and probably develop Castro with the objective of eventually putting it in the position that it could influence Castro...Cherne said that Morgan had given him a recognition signal which is a Cuban five cent piece dated 1946 with an indenture on the edge of the coin. That anyone who presented this coin to Morgan would know that he was a person in whom Cherne had confidence and his would establish his bone fides."

Leo Cherne was an economist who ran the Research Institute of America, Vice Chairman in 1972 of Democrats for NIXON and was associated with the Free Cuba Committee, the Council Against Communist Aggression and the Citizens Committee for Peace and Freedom in Vietnam. In 1963 or 1964 the International Rescue Committee received $15,000 in CIA funding. When President Gerald Ford appointed Leo Cherne to his Intelligence Oversight Board, John Crewdson of The New York Times reported this. Crewdson retracted some of the charges in his article the next day. The CIA released this document in 1993:

TO: Chief, Contact Division

FOR: Support (Crowley)

SUBJECT: Mr. Leo Cherne, Research Institute of America, New York, New York.

1. We had a long talk with SAC about one thing and another which included his contacts with Cuban refugee revolutionary leaders. He spoke of a lunch and long discussion he had recently with Raul Chibas. (See New York Report No. 3383-1). In addition he spoke of his close connections with Sanchez Arrango, and the fact that he had other good relationships with other leaders of the Frente.

2. After reviewing his contacts with various revolutionary Cuban exile leaders and the fact that they seem to have complete respect for his knowledge of Cuba and Cuban affairs (in 1960 (illegible - document ripped) on the platform with Fidel at the 26 July celebration, he (illegible) that he felt certain that within a period of 90 days he could (illegible) a solid revolutionary front out of several groups and movements.

3. Although it was not stated, we felt the remark (illegible) tossed into the conversation to see what reaction it might be. Our reply was that we thought it was very interesting and that we (illegible) that he could probably bring it off. We suggested that he might (illegible) want to talk to others about it. He said that he had dealt with (illegible) Rudy Gomez, the DCI and the DDP people before, but he felt that Rudy Gomez had been transferred to a post in Chile. He may as a result apply to either the DDP or the DCI sometime soon. We also felt that even if the remark was provocative that he has been giving the matter considerable thought and may very well decide to do just that.

[CIA C/DCD 7.28.61 FOIA 07428]

On March 27, 1959, "CI/OA requested a search on William Morgan in connection with his contemplated use by the Cuban desk/Western Hemisphere for purposes of contact and debriefing." The results of this search were still withheld. On March 30, 1959, a Memo for the Chief, Western Hemisphere Division, read: "(Deleted) concurs in your proposal to use the above individual for the purpose indicated. In keeping with the requirement placed upon (deleted) to maintain an accurate register of current (deleted) you are specifically requested to advise (deleted) promptly by memorandum when Subject has been activated." Was William Morgan going to kill Fidel Castro on behalf of the CIA? The CIA stated: "Western Hemisphere/III/Cuba canceled the request as of May 5, 1959." On May 7, 1959, the CIA stated that "a psychiatrist has described him as an 'extreme example of a non-vicious type of psychopath.' His father describes him as emotionally disturbed and in need of psychiatric treatment. In Havana, Subject's reputation is extremely poor and he is described as a braggart and a little on the goofy side. Subject's sister, Marilyn Morgan, AKA Vicky, is reported to be the mistress of Ruben Miro Guardia, [Miro Cardona?] the Panamanian revolutionary." The FBI related: "Morgan has been described as a judo expert and claims he once was a bodyguard for Meyer Lansky. (Deleted) advised this Bureau that Morgan is emotionally disturbed and needs psychiatric help."

On August 13, 1959, the CIA reported that on July 27, 1959, or on July 30, 1959, William Morgan told the FBI in Miami that he had contacted the State Department and Kubark in Havana and furnished information to a State Department representative about middle July. The CIA: "Morgan withheld exact nature of information he claimed to have furnished. Request verification above statement. Western Hemisphere Division Comment: reported Morgan's presence in Miami, Florida, where he reported to (deleted) that he was the leader of a plot to assassinate Castro and that he had been interrogated by the FBI in Miami on July 28, 1959." William Morgan renounced his American citizenship on September 22, 1959. On September 30, 1959, an Indices Search Request, covert, was run on William Morgan. The dates and nature of six of these documents are withheld. On December 7, 1959, the CIA described Morgan as a "double agent for Fidel Castro." The CIA reported "There is a restricted (deleted) folder on the Subject of this 201 held under (deleted)."

Evidence suggested that on March 4, 1960, William Morgan had an anti-Castro dock worker plant an explosive device aboard the French freighter Le Coubre, which was waiting to be unloaded in the Port of Havana. The Le Coubre was carrying several thousand tons of munitions destined for Fidel Castro's army. When the bomb exploded, 75 people were killed and 300 were wounded. [FBI MM 97-4073-8 p4; NYT 3.5.60, 3,6,60] On March 4, 1960, Oklahoman Jack Leroy Evans fled Havana and arrived in Miami. He explained to newsmen: "The munition ship which blew up in Havana harbor with a loss of between 75 and 100 lives was sabotaged by an anti-Communist dockworker...Jack Lee Evans, 25, fled to Miami after the explosion, declaring that he was fearful that his knowledge of the plot might put him in a Cuban prison or before a Cuban firing squad. The unidentified dockworker, said Evans, carried a package containing six sticks of dynamite aboard the French freighter, Le Coubre. He was to light the fuse so that the explosion would occur at 5:00 p.m. Friday, after the dock workers quit for the day. Something went wrong, and the explosion came an hour and 21 minutes early causing heavy loss of life. Evans declared he had learned of the plot two days before the explosion, and actually saw the dockworker burn a three inch length of fuse to time it. It burned for 15 minutes. He claimed he also saw the package of dynamite. He said he went to Havana after an exchange of correspondence with William A. Morgan...Evans, a Navy veteran of the Korean War said he did odd jobs and was a bodyguard for Morgan until March 1, 1960, when he was given an assignment to buy cotton seed and machinery for beginning cotton cultivation in Cuba. He displayed a letter of introduction signed by Dr. Fidel Castro...Meanwhile, said Evans, he lived in Morgan's house on 16th Street in the Vedado section. Last Wednesday, said Evans, while visiting an oceanfront home in Havana he learned of the plot to blow up the munitions ship. Evans claimed he went to the ship with William Morgan and others before the explosion, and helped load machine guns and ammunition on a truck to take to the INRA (National Institute on Agrarian Reform) Building where he showed others how to assemble them...Evans said he made no effort to tell anyone the ship was to be sabotaged. Asked why he didn't tell Morgan, he said, 'Morgan never tells you anything and you never tell Morgan anything.' The Oklahoman said he was on the 18th floor of the INRA building when the explosion occurred...Ernesto Che Guevara was on the floor below us, and Morgan was downstairs somewhere. They all hopped into their cars and headed for the explosion scene. 'As soon as they were gone I went down and hurried to Morgan's house where I picked up my clothes and then went to the airport. I got aboard the next plane for Miami.' Asked if he thought Morgan was in on the sabotage plot, Evans replied: 'No I don't think so. He probably knew nothing about it...In Havana Morgan denied he had been aboard the ship with Evans commenting: 'The kid has to be out of his mind to say a thing like that. It's crazy.' Morgan said Evans came to Cuba two weeks ago looking for job 'to help the revolution.' He said Evans stayed at his home and he helped him get a job with INRA, but the young Oklahoman was in no way connected with his staff. Morgan said he last saw Evans at a government office Friday morning, the day of the explosion. He said his wife told him Evans returned to the Morgan home before noon, stayed until after the explosion and left shortly after for the airport. Morgan added that Evans left him a note saying he was going home to sell his horses and his cows and would return to Cuba in a week. Morgan said he himself did not go to the dock area until after the explosion. 'He appeared to be a nice boy and he made a good impression,' said Morgan, 'But he's off his rocker somewhere to say I was on the boat with him.'" [Miami Herald E.V.W. Jones] Evans had arrived in Cuba on January 5, 1959.

HEMMING told this researcher: "Jack Leroy Evans puts the finger on William Morgan for the Le Coubre thing. Everybody is waiting for the hammer to fall. I just came back from Saint Julian where Fidel was meeting with Mikoyan. Fidel ain't buying the story that nothing was done here because security was real tight. I told Morgan we should leave Cuba."

The New York Times reported on March 13, 1960, that two Oklahomans [Roger Sharp and John Taylor] were arrested by Cuban authorities while they were photographing an agricultural exhibit at the INRA Building: "The Americans said it was apparent that the Cuban military authorities were attempting to establish some connection between them and a young Oklahoman, Jack Lee Evans...Major Morgan went to the Institute Building where Sharp and Taylor were being questioned. They told him they had never heard of Mr. Evans, it was reported. However, the two Americans were taken to military intelligence headquarters and questioned before being released about midnight." The Cuban Government reported: "A former CIA agent made public statements about this participation of the CIA in the criminal act carried out against the French steamship Le Coubre, where 100 Cubans were killed and about 200 seriously injured. He offers details about his accomplishments by blaming a slight damage in the mechanism of the blowing equipment which was used." [Opening Statement of GOC given to Sen. McGovern. Released 7.30.75] A document about William Morgan was titled, "FBI Current Intelligence Analysis March 6, 1959."

In a Freedom of Information Act Request to the FBI, HEMMING asked for documents on his "Activities with Major William Alexander Morgan, Cuban Rebel Army, from 1959 to 1960, with specific reference to anti-Trujillo (Dominican Republic) operations during the summer of 1959 and the S.S. Le Coubre steamship explosion in February 1960 at Havana Harbor."

According to Edward Epstein, OSWALD'S hero was "Major William Morgan...At one point, OSWALD suggested that Delgado accompany him to Cuba, where they both could emulate Morgan." In March 1960 the Second National Front of Escambray dissolved itself and became a part of the 26th of July Movement. Two of the signatories to this agreement were William Morgan and Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo.

In September 1959 HEMMING was detained for complicity in the plotting of a "Castroite" invasion of Nicaragua. HEMMING told this researcher: "At that point in time, in late 1959, Camillo Cienfuegos had set up a third invasion. We'd already done the Dominican thing, there was four days of fucking disaster. Then we did the Haitian thing with Andre Fortes. There was about five days of disaster, everybody got fucking slaughtered, and I barely got out of there myself. The third one was a Nicaraguan operation. It was all going to be done in Saint Julian. What I didn't know was that they were flying the B-26s out and filling them with bombs and unloading them, putting them in the bunker. All the bombs and the fifty caliber shells and rockets are being stored in the bunker. At Saint Julian we only had officially, we only had two F-51s, we had TDM that was being repaired, an AT-6 that we were putting together at Aeronautical technical school. But unbeknownst to me, all the Nicaraguans pilots and a bunch of Cuban pilots were getting everything ready at Saint Julian to get straight to fucking Puerto Cabazes [phonetic] and knock the shit out of them. A Nicaraguan named Francisco Frixione [phonetic] contacted a number of troopers in the Paratroop Regiment to recruit volunteers for a Nicaraguan expedition. About 15 of my paratroopers were involved."

In March 1960, "another Government agency that conducts personnel and intelligence investigations [the CIA]" made available to the FBI information concerning GERRY HEMING [sic], who was then residing in Havana, Cuba: "HEMING was described as an American with the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force, stationed in Pinar del Rio. It was reported that he claimed to be a T-33 jet pilot whose mission was to intercept United States-based airplanes which fly over Cuba to destroy sugar cane fields...This information indicated HEMING was an associate of Major William A. Morgan."

On April 4, 1960, HEMMING was mentioned in a CIA Intelligence Report titled: "Persons in Cuba Involved in Nicaraguan Revolutionary Affairs." The CIA reported: "In February 1960 Pastora Molina, Nicaraguan opposition leader who left Costa Rica about February 20, 1960, after leading guerilla attacks against Nicaraguan regime from Costa Rica border area for several months, was winning increasing support among Cubans who favored the overthrow of Nicaraguan President Luis Somoza. If Pastora initiated a campaign against the Nicaraguan Government, he could count on immediate substantial aid in arms and men from Cuba. The Cubans would arrange public demonstrations to seek aid for Pastora, ostensibly spontaneous, but in reality, pre-organized with governmental approval. Communists in Cuba would take advantage of the situation to penetrate the revolutionary movement, following the guidance of Che Guevara and Raoul Castro. Fidel Castro, Prime Minister, was not disposed to support foreign revolutions because he feared an invasion of Cuba, and wanted to be in a position to defend his country...Francisco Frixione, Nicaraguan revolutionary leader in Cuba had hoped to attend a meeting of opposition leaders but was unable to obtain a visa for the trip. Frixione and Enrique Lacayo Farfan, opposition leader in Costa Rica, were quarreling and no longer cooperated...The following paragraphs lists persons in Cuba in February 1960 who were participating in or supporting Nicaraguan revolutionary plans and gives known details of their activities: GERALD P. HEMING, a 23 year old United States citizen born in Los Angeles, California, was employed by the FAR at San Julian as a parachutist. HEMING was engaged in training Nicaraguans and said that there were only 25 parachutists in Cuba...all were willing to fight in Nicaragua and would go well armed. HEMING, also a flyer, was a Marine is (illegible) and at the (illegible) Naval Base, and had been warned when he was fighting with Castro that he could loose his citizenship, but it was not important to him. He said that the base at St. Julian could be used as a location from which to fly food and arms to rebels fighting within Nicaragua. He knew of a number of Belgium automatic rifles that could be made available to Nicaraguan rebels. According to HEMING, a Mexican island 150 miles from Cuba might be used as a base of operations for sending a plane or boat to Nicaragua, since it was poorly policed. He said he would furnish a C-47 aircraft when it was needed. Those associated with the revolutionary activities practiced discretion to avoid having rumors reach Fidel Castro, who did not favor the entire opposition movement, having become discouraged with the disagreements and lost faith among Nicaraguan rebel leaders. The Cuban Minister of Government was aware of these activities and was sympathetic to the cause...

"Concerning travel, HEMING said he would like to go to Costa Rica to co-ordinate activities between Cuban and Costa Rican groups. He also hoped to go to the United States, traveling on false name and Cuban passport. He had spoken to William Morgan and believed that Morgan could obtain the passport for him. In the United States HEMING wanted to sell Liberty Bonds in California and obtain arms and planes from a ranch in Texas. He claimed he could do this by using connections he used to obtain similar material when he was aiding Fidel Castro. He also claimed he had gone to Havana to talk with Frixione about the trip, and supplying arms to Pastora. He had wild schemes to steal two small planes from an Air Force base in Texas, possibly Brownsville, and he said he had friends in the Marine Corps who would obtain arms from corps arsenals. Another scheme was to hold up a truck carrying clothing and arms from Virginia to Indianapolis on a regular bimonthly trip...According to HEMING when Castro and Mikoyan visited San Julian they discussed Soviet aid to Cuba, including secret aid in men and arms." In a Freedom of Information Act Request to the CIA HEMMING asked for documents regarding: "Incident with Major Fidel Castro Ruz and Vice Premier of the USSR, Anastas Mikoyan, at Julian Air Force Base, Cuba, in 1960. Incident regarding United States Air Force C-54 aircraft with U.S. military personnel on board that illegally landed at San Julian Air Base, Cuba, 1960."

HEMMING told this researcher: "The first time they busted me, in July 1960, I was 79 days on death row, little monk cells, at La Cabana, where they were shooting people by accident in the middle of the night. They didn't have any room, so they put everyone in Gallery 14. JOHN MARTINO was there. William Morgan was there. The hardcore guys. I got out under another guy's name. When they transferred me to Secret Police Headquarters from La Cabana they called for this guy. I said, 'Hey, I'm him.' It was very fucking slick." HEMMING also said that Che Guevara persuaded Fidel Castro's intelligence agents (the G-2, later known as the DGI) to release him from military prison on July 15, 1960. A July 19, 1960, OUSARMA report stated: "In Havana there is a small group of Nicaraguans, Americans and Cubans who composed the Sandio Movement for the Liberation of Nicaragua. There immediate goal is the gathering of support in the form of materials of war and money from Cuba. And the recruitment of non-Cubans from Latin American countries and the United States to serve in the armed force with which they intend to invade the Republic of Nicaragua. Their ultimate goal is the establishment of their democratic form of government in Nicaragua the later expand to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

"This group had the support of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Government as well as Commandante William Morgan and the Second National Front of Escambray, who have promised them weapons, ammunition, clothing and medical supplies. There is also a tentative commitment of money from the 26th of July Movement. Because of the political implications Fidel Castro has refused to commit troops for the movement, saying these must come from elsewhere.

"Among the individuals identified as members of this group was JERRY [sic] HEMING, U.S. citizen. Age about 26. Caucasian Height 6' 7". Talkative, of average intelligence, claims to have served in the U.S. Marines. Fought in Cuban revolution, wears Cuban Air Force Uniform. Claims to be a Sergeant in the Cuban Air Force. Stationed at Air Force Base in Pinar del Rio. Presently believed to be in Los Angeles, California, visiting." [FBI HQ 105-86406-p8, Army Intel. Report #2146986: Subject: Sandino Movement. Sam Kail?] DAVID PHILLIPS was asked: "Now did there ever come a time to your knowledge when the Agency, around the time of the Cuban situation, was organizing bogus invasions of Nicaragua?" PHILLIPS refused to answer, citing his CIA secrecy oath.

HEMMING was arrested a second time in August 1960.

On March 4, 1959, OSWALD applied for admission to Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland. His application stated he wished to begin attending classes in April 1960. OSWALD noted that when he attended high school in New Orleans he participated in a "student body movement in school for control of Juvenile Delinquency. Member Y.M.C.A. and A.Y.H. Associations" and was interested in "Science, English, woodworking, civics, mechanical, art, math (in H.S) ." OSWALD'S special interests were "Philosophy, Psychology, Ideology, Football, baseball, tennis, stamp collecting." The extent and nature of OSWALD'S private reading included: "Jack London, Darwin, Norman Vincent Peale, Scientific books, Philosophy ect." OSWALD wanted to be a "short story writer on contemporary American life." [CIA 1291-1021] He wrote that he wished to attend Albert Schweitzer College to "broaden my knowledge of German and to live in a healthy climate and a Good moral atmosphere." Gerald Posner reported that OSWALD was expected to remain in the Marine Reserves for three years following his discharge and needed a valid reason to leave the country, like attending a Swiss school. OSWALD, however, never sent a copy of his application to the Marines. The CIA reported: "A search of CIA files has revealed no CIA knowledge of an Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland." [Unmarked CIA doc.]

At the same time OSWALD was reported to have displayed pro-Communist leanings by his fellow Marines, OSWALD characterized himself as pro-American when he applied to Albert Schweitzer College. OSWALD never mentioned Karl Marx - he stated that he read the works of Norman Vincent Peale. OSWALD was a Juvenile Delinquent in New York City. In his letter to Albert Schweitzer College he said he was against Juvenile Delinquency. Which was the real OSWALD? A buddy of HEMMING, a Marine & as American as apple pie or a dirty little commie? Whatever the answer, one thing was clear: OSWALD had two identities.

The fact that OSWALD applied to this school indicated he was not yet been made aware of his mission by ANGLETON, or had not come into contact with him at this point.

OSWALD received a letter from his mother in June 1959, complaining of being incapacitated from an accident she had in December 1958: "I was getting candy from a storeroom and had to reach up and get a carton from up on a shelf and a number of signs on top of the carton fell and hit me in the face and head...I was knocked to the floor. I sustained permanent injuries to my head, neck and face which have totally disabled me up to the present time." OSWALD waited seven months before deciding he wanted to leave the Marines so he could help his allegedly disabled mother.

The HSCA acknowledged that OSWALD'S Marine Corps discharge was somewhat odd. Although he was obligated to serve on active duty until December 7, 1959, he applied for a hardship discharge to support his mother on August 17, 1959. Two weeks later, OSWALD'S application was approved, and he was transferred from active duty to the Marine Corps Reserves under honorable conditions. The Marine Corps also approved dependency payments for his mother. The HSCA stated: "It appeared that OSWALD'S application for a hardship discharge [and request for dependency payments] was processed so expeditiously because it was accompanied by all the necessary documentation."

OSWALD had to prove that he sent his mother money while in the Marines to qualify for a dependency allowance. In truth, he never sent his mother any money before August 1959, when he sent her $40. This was the month he applied for the hardship discharge and dependency allotment. [WR p688] OSWALD lied on the application, and wrote that he sent his mother support payments, but could not "...submit all of the supporting affidavits." In addition, the affidavit of Marguerite Oswald contradicted the sworn statements of her son. She wrote in her affidavit he had not sent her any money. The HSCA: "The unusual aspect of OSWALD'S discharge application was that, technically, his requisite application for a quarter's allowance for his mother should have been disallowed since Marguerite Oswald's dependency affidavit stated that OSWALD had not contributed any money to her during the preceding year." [HSCA R p221]

It was unlikely that ANGLETON pulled any strings to facilitate OSWALD'S discharge. The Marine Corps did not object to giving OSWALD a dependency discharge and so he was granted one despite the inconsistencies in his case. What is significant is that OSWALD could not wait until December 1959 to leave the Marines. He had to be somewhere else before then.

END OF NODULE.