Lee Harvey Oswald

“ During October and November of 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald lived in a roominghouse in Dallas while his wife and children lived in Irving, at the home of Ruth Paine,C4-115 approximately 15 miles from Oswald’s place of work at the Texas School Book Depository. Oswald traveled between Dallas and Irving on weekends in a car driven by a neighbor of the Paines, Buell Wesley Frazier, who also worked at the Depository.C4-116 Oswald generally would go to Irving on Friday afternoon and return to Dallas Monday morning. ”

“ Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald EARLY YEARS
Marguerite Claverie, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, was born in New Orleans in 1907,A13-1 into a family of French and German extraction.A13-2 Her mother died a few years after Marguerite was born, leaving her and five other young children in the care of their father, a streetcar conductor.A13-3 Although Marguerite describes herself as “a child of one parent,” she recalls being “one of the most popular young ladies in the [grammar] school,” and thinks of her childhood as a “very full happy” one.A13-4 Her older sister, Mrs. ”

“ This was a fairly coherent description of life in that country, basically centered around the radio and television factory in which he worked.C7-208 While it was apparently intended for publication in the United States, and is in many respects critical of certain aspects of life in the Soviet Union, it appears to be the work of a fairly well organized person. Oswald prefaced his manuscript with a short autobiographical sketch which reads in part as follows:
Lee Harvey Oswald was born in Oct 1939 in New Orleans La. ”

“ I guess I love her.”C7-75 It may also be significant that, as reported by John Pic, “Lee slept with my mother until I joined the service in 1950. This would make him approximately 10, well, almost 11 years old.”C7-76
The factors in Lee Oswald’s personality which were noted by those who had contact with him in New York indicate that he had great difficulty in adapting himself to conditions in that city. His usual reaction to the problems which he encountered there was simply withdrawal. Those factors indicated a severe inability to enter into relationships with other people. ”

“ Mr. Meyers. I would assume it is based on the fact that Sunday morning he shot Lee Oswald.
Now, he did a number of times mention, “those poor people, those poor people. I have got to do something about it, or I should do something about it.” And you see, you must understand, Mr. Griffin, that the assassination, of course, had occurred. The murder of Oswald, particularly by Jack Ruby, was—well I can only say the furthest thing from my mind. ”

“ Lee, what was that we were told today about, what was it today, about this FBI agent in Dallas who has gone to the police station shortly after the assassination and had said he knew Oswald because, and then he made some statement about having, he having been connected up with two known subversives a short time before, do you remember that conversation? Will you tell is [sic] , please.
Mr. Rankin. At the police station, just after the assassination, Hosty, the agent for the FBI in the Dallas area, said that he knew Oswald had been — had visited two known subversives.
Mr. Dulles. Said to whom? ”

“ Then she looked up wearily.
"You are right," she said, "in thinking there was something important in his giving it to me—though many people would not think it so. . . . But Oswald and I have always been close in spirit and we both knew his giving it meant something significant in our life—though we did not put it into words. . . . ”

“ Oswald wrote several times to V. T. Lee, then national director of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, telling him, sometimes in exaggerated terms, of his activities.A13-1093 He wrote also to the Communist Party and asked whether, in view of his prior defection, he should “continue to fight, handicapped as it were, by * * * [his] past record, [and] compete with anti-progressive forces, above-ground or * * * should always remain in the background, i.e., underground.” A13-1094 The Party replied that “often it is advisable for some people to remain in the background, not underground.” ”

“ Marguerite Oswald withdrew Lee from the orphans’ home and took him with her to Dallas when he was a little over 4 years old.C7-17 About 6 months later she also withdrew John Pic and Robert Oswald.C7-18 Apparently that action was taken in anticipation of her marriage to Edwin A. Ekdahl, which took place in May of 1945.C7-19 In the fall of that year John Pic and Robert Oswald went to a military academy where they stayed, except for vacations, until the spring of 1948.C7-20 Lee Oswald remained with his mother and Ekdahl,C7-21 to whom he became quite attached. ”

“ An employee of the U.S. Selective Service System has stated that an individual calling himself “Harvey Oswald” appeared at her office in Austin, Tex., immediately after lunch on September 25, and discussed with her the possibility of rectifying his undesirable discharge from the Marine Corps.A13-1133 Despite the employee’s reputability and apparent sincerity, all of the information which she furnished with respect to Oswald’s appearance and conversation could have been derived from news media, consciously or unconsciously, by the time she told the FBI her story. ”

“ They are interesting people. I have my own views on the President’s national policy. I have a right to express my views but because of the charges I do not think I should comment further.” Oswald said, “I am not a malcontent; nothing irritated me about the President.” He said that during 1962 he was interviewed by the FBI and that he at that time refused to take a polygraph and that he did not intend to take a polygraph test for the Dallas police. At this time Captain Fritz showed a Selective Service Card that was taken out of his wallet which bore the name of Alex Hidell. ”

“ Recorded also were notes on his stay in the Soviet Union, his early interest in Communist literature, his ability to speak Russian, his organization of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, his contact with police authorities in connection with his work for the Committee, and his experience in “street agitation,” as a “radio speaker and lecturer,” and as a photographer.A13-1119 The two pieces of luggage which Oswald took with him were a small, blue, zipper bagA13-1120 and a large, olive-colored bag,A13-1121 both made of cloth. ”

“ Oswald was a tall bony grizzled child of the Open.
Years ago he would have been dismissed briefly as a tramp, but we know better now; we have read our Georgian poets and we know that such folk do not perambulate the country stealing fowls and firing ricks from any dislike of settled labour, but because they have heard the call of far horizons, belles étoiles and great spaces. ”

“ Whether he thought about assassinating the President over the weekend can never be known, but it is reasonably certain that over the weekend he did think about his wife’s request that he not come to Irving, which was prompted by the birthday party being held at the Paine home. Oswald had a highly exaggerated sense of his own importance, but he had failed at almost everything he had ever tried to do. He had great difficulty in establishing meaningful relations with other people. ”

“ On August 9, 1963, Oswald was arrested and jailed by the New Orleans Police Department for disturbing the peace, in connection with a street fight which broke out when he was accosted by anti-Castro Cubans while distributing leaflets on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. ”

“ He reentered high school but again dropped out after a few weeks and enlisted in the Marine Corps on October 24, 1956, 6 days after his 17th birthday. On December 21, 1956, during boot camp in San Diego, Oswald fired a score of 212 for record with the M-1 rifle—2 points over the minimum for a rating of “sharpshooter” on a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale. After his basic training, Oswald received training in aviation fundamentals and then in radar scanning.
Most people who knew Oswald in the Marines described him as a “loner” who resented the exercise of authority by others. ”

“ He took with him $13.87C7-472 and the long brown package that Frazier and Mrs. Randle saw him carry and which he was to take to the School Book Depository.C7-473
The Unanswered Questions
No one will ever know what passed through Oswald’s mind during the week before November 22, 1963. Instead of returning to Irving on November 15 for his customary weekend visit, he remained in Dallas at his wife’s suggestion because of the birthday party. He had argued with her over the use of an alias and had not called her after that argument, although he usually telephoned once or twice a day. ”

“ While living in Forth Worth the Oswalds had been introduced to a group of Russian-speaking people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Many of them assisted the Oswalds by providing small amounts of food, clothing, and household items. Oswald himself was disliked by almost all of this group whose help to the family was prompted primarily by sympathy for Marina Oswald and the child. Despite the fact that he had left the Soviet Union, disillusioned with its Government, Oswald seemed more firmly committed than ever to his concepts of Marxism. ”

“ Our ratings have skyrocketed everywhere," Oswald said in satisfaction. "What do you mean, don't overdo it? You get the world in a hatbasket, and then you want to throw it away?"
"Incidentally," he added in a calmer tone, "I got one crank call that's got me thinking. The guy got all the way through to me before he'd talk, and that takes some getting, what with the salaries I pay people to keep the cranks off my neck.
"He said that now we had the witches of the world united, why didn't we do some real cleanup work, like slums and insane asylums. ”

“ The Adjutant was for having Oswald moved on; we should be missing things presently, he warned—saddle-blankets, rifles, horses, perhaps the portcullis. However, the O.C. would have none of it; he maintained that this constant menace at our gates kept the sentries on the qui vive and accustomed them to practically Active Service conditions.
So all the summer the wigwam remained on the turf-patch and the sentries on the qui vive.
How Oswald existed is a mystery—probably on manna, for he toiled not neither span, and if he stole for a living it was not from us. ”

“ Oswald’s search for what he conceived to be the perfect society was doomed from the start. He sought for himself a place in history—a role as the “great man” who would be recognized as having been in advance of his times. His commitment to Marxism and communism appears to have been another important factor in his motivation. ”

“ I only should like, if possible, to have notice of his coming, that we may be prepared."
"You need no preparation, sir, if he should come," replied Oswald.
"Very true," said Edward; "we have nothing to conceal, and if he finds us in a pickle it is of no consequence."
"Rather the better, sir," replied Oswald. "Let your sisters be at the wash-tub, and you and your brother carting manure; he will then be more likely to have no suspicion of your being otherwise than what you assume to be."
"Have you heard any news from London, Oswald?" ”

“ I wish my lord would send you to parley with the ghost; for, without doubt, you are better qualified than we."
"My Lord," said Oswald, "I will go thither, with your permission; I will see that every thing is safe, and bring the key back to you; Perhaps this may help to dispel the fears that have been raised — at least, I will try to do it."
"I thank you, father, for your good offices — do as you please."
Oswald went into the outward room. "I am going," said he, "to shut up the apartment. The young gentlemen have been more frightened than they had occasion for ”

“ Oswald is a very modest boy, I believe, but even he would not deny that he has an active brain. The author has heard both his Father and Albert's uncle say so. And the most far-reaching ideas often come to him quite naturally—just as silly notions that aren't any good might come to you. And he had an idea which he meant to hold a council; about with his brothers and sisters; but just as he was going to unroll his idea to them our Father occurred suddenly in our midst and said a strange cousin was coming, and he came, and he was strange indeed! ”

“ He consulted with his supervisor and “it was determined that we should not undertake to furnish employment references for him.”C7-293 Ironically, he failed to get a job in another photographic firm after his return to Dallas in October of 1963, because the president of the photographic firm for which he had previously worked told the prospective employer that Oswald was “kinda peculiar sometimes and that he had some knowledge of the Russian language,” and that he “may be a damn Communist. ”

“ On April 6, 1963, Oswald lost his job with a photography firm. A few days later, on April 10, he attempted to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin14 A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army) , using a rifle which he had ordered by mail 1 month previously under an assumed name. Marina Oswald learned of her husband’s act when she confronted him with a note which he had left, giving her instructions in the event he did not return. That incident and their general economic difficulties impelled Marina Oswald to suggest that her husband leave Dallas and go to New Orleans to look for work. ”

“ Here Oswald looked the whole world in the face, proud indeed! One hand rested upon the beast's kneecap in a proprietary caress. Oswald looked too insufferably complacent. It was the look to be forgiven a man only when he wears it in the presence of his first-born. If snapshots tell anything at all, these told that Oswald was the father of a mammoth sauropod and had merely dug up the baby in a fossil bed somewhere.
"That's where the man's heart really lies," said his stern critic, "even if he does drivel about his little flower with bones and a voice! ”