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 Hartogs dated May 1, 1953, OSWALD was described as "a seriously detached withdrawn youngster of 13.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 think