Tippit Debate

[John Mytton]

So, I don't have to know you personally to establish that you are "stupid and crazy" and not to be taken seriously?

Unlike Hitler and Oswald who we know very well, outside of this Forum you have no idea of who I am, making your analogy pointless.

JohnM

[Martin Weidmann]

Unlike Hitler and Oswald who we know very well, outside of this Forum you have no idea of who I am, making your analogy pointless.

JohnM

You don't know Oswald very well.

Everything you know or think you know about Oswald has been told to you.

outside of this Forum you have no idea of who I am

That works both ways, yet you see fit to time after time make comments about me, like this most recent one;

Whereas the only highly successful businessmen Martin knows are the ones he sees on the telly!

Go figure....

[John Mytton]

You don't know Oswald very well.

You don't know this case very well.

JohnM

[Martin Weidmann]

You don't know this case very well.

JohnM

Another childish reply from a troll who hasn't got a reasonable come back after having been given a massive beating again!

The best indicator for when you know that you have lost the argument is that you either run away from the conversation or that you get nasty.

Let's see how your ego deals with this one   

[John Mytton]

Another childish reply from a troll who hasn't got a reasonable come back after having been given a massive beating again!

The best indicator for when you know that you have lost the argument is that you either run away from the conversation or that you get nasty.

Let's see how your ego deals with this one   

OMG, what an over the top, disproportionate reaction? Look Martin, it's clear you are having serious problems and if you need someone to talk to, I'm just a PM away!

Oswald's life and who he was has been extensively studied, here is just but one.

Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives
Introduction
The Early Years
New York City
Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps
Interest in Marxism
Defection to the Soviet Union
Return to United States
Personal Relations
Employment
Attack on General Walker
Political Activities
Interest in Cuba
Possible Influence of Anti-Kennedy Sentiment in Dallas
Relationship with Wife
The Unanswered Questions
Conclusion
THE EVIDENCE reviewed above identifies Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin of President Kennedy and indicates that he acted alone in that event. There is no evidence that he had accomplices or that he was involved in any conspiracy directed to the assassination of the President. There remains the question of what impelled Oswald to conceive and to carry out the assassination of the President of the United States. The Commission has considered many possible motives for the assassination, including those which might flow from Oswald's commitment to Marxism or communism, the existence of some personal grievance, a desire to effect changes in the structure of society or simply to go down in history as a well publicized assassin. None of these possibilities satisfactorily explains Oswald's act if it is judged by the standards of reasonable men. The motives of any man, however, must be analyzed in terms of the character and state of mind of the particular individual involved. For a motive that appears incomprehensible to other men may be the moving force of a man whose view of the world has been twisted, possibly by factors of which those around him were only dimly aware. Oswald's complete state of mind and character are now outside of the power of man to know. He cannot, of course, be questioned or observed by those charged with the responsibility for this report or by experts on their behalf. There is, however, a large amount of material available in his writings and in the history of his life which does give some insight into his character and, possibly, into the motives for his act.

Since Oswald is dead, the Commission is not able to reach any definite conclusions as to whether or not he was "sane" under prevailing legal standards. Under our system of justice no forum could properly make that determination unless Oswald were before it. It certainly could not be made by this Commission which, as has been pointed out above, ascertained the facts surrounding the assassination but did not draw conclusions concerning Oswald's legal guilt.

Indications of Oswald's motivation may be obtained from a study of the events, relationships and influences which appear to have been

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significant in shaping his character and in guiding him. Perhaps the most outstanding conclusion of such a study is that Oswald was profoundly alienated from the world in which he lived. His life was characterized by isolation, frustration, and failure. He had very few, if any, close relationships with other people and he appeared to have great difficulty in finding a meaningful place in the world. He was never satisfied with anything. When he was in the United States he resented the capitalist system which he thought was exploiting him and others like him. He seemed to prefer the Soviet Union and he spoke highly of Cuba.1 When he was in the Soviet Union, he apparently resented the Communist Party members, who were accorded special privileges and who he thought were betraying communism, and he spoke well of the United States.2 He accused his wife of preferring others to himself and told her to return to the Soviet Union without him but without a divorce. At the same time he professed his love for her and said that he could not get along without her.3 Marina Oswald thought that he would not be happy anywhere, "Only on the moon, perhaps." 4

While Oswald appeared to most of those who knew him as a meek and harmless person, he sometimes imagined himself as "the Commander" 5 and, apparently seriously, as a political prophet--a man who said that after 20 years he would be prime minister.6 His wife testified that he compared himself with great readers of history. Such ideas of grandeur were apparently accompanied by notions of oppression.7 He had a great hostility toward his environment, whatever it happened to be, which he expressed in striking and sometimes violent acts long before the assassination. There was some quality about him that led him to act with an apparent disregard for possible consequences.8 He defected to the Soviet Union, shot at General Walker, tried to go to Cuba and even contemplated hijacking an airplane to get there. He assassinated the President, shot Officer Tippit, resisted arrest and tried to kill another policeman in the process.

Oswald apparently started reading about communism when he was about 15. In the Marines, he evidenced a strong conviction as to the correctness of Marxist doctrine, which one associate described as "irrevocable," but also as "theoretical"; that associate did not think that Oswald was a Communist.9 Oswald did not always distinguish between Marxism and communism. 10 He stated several times that he was a Communist but apparently never joined any Communist Party.11

His attachment to Marxist and Communist doctrine was probably, in some measure, an expression of his hostility to his environment. While there is doubt about how fully Oswald understood the doctrine which he so often espoused, it seems clear that his commitment to Marxism was an important factor influencing his conduct during his adult years. It was an obvious element in his decision to go to Russia and later to Cuba and it probably influenced his decision to shoot at General Walker. It was a factor which contributed to his character

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and thereby might have influenced his decision to assassinate President Kennedy.

The discussion below will describe the events known to the Commission which most clearly reveals the formation and nature of Oswald's character. It will attempt to summarize the events of his early life, his experience in New York City and in the Marine Corps, and his interest in Marxism. It will examine his defection to the Soviet Union in 1959, his subsequent return to the United States and his life here after June of 1962. The review of the latter period will evaluate his personal and employment relations, his attempt to kill General Walker, his political activities, and his unsuccessful attempt to go to Cuba in late September of 1963. Various possible motives will be treated in the appropriate context of the discussion outlined above.

The Early Years

Significant in shaping the character of Lee Harvey Oswald was the death of his father, a collector of insurance premiums. This occurred 2 months before Lee was born in New Orleans on October 18, 1939.12 That death strained the financial fortunes of the remainder of the Oswald family. It had its effect on Lee's mother, Marguerite, his brother Robert, who had been born in 1934, and his half-brother John Pic, who had been born in 1932 during Marguerite's previous marriage.13 It forced Marguerite Oswald to go to work to provide for her family.14 Reminding her sons that they were orphans and that the family's financial condition was poor, she placed John Pic and Robert Oswald in an orphans' home.15 From the time Marguerite Oswald returned to work until December 26, 1942, when Lee too was sent to the orphans' home, he was cared for principally by his mother's sister, by babysitters and by his mother, when she had time for him.16

Marguerite Oswald withdrew Lee from the orphans' home and took him with her to Dallas when he was a little over 4 years old.17 About 6 months later she also withdrew John Pic and Robert Oswald.18 Apparently that action was taken in anticipation of her marriage to Edwin A. Ekdahl, which took place in May of 1945.19 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 1948.20 Lee Oswald remained with his mother and Ekdahl,21 to whom he became quite attached. John Pic testified that he thought Lee found in Ekdahl the father that he never had.22 That situation, however, was short-lived, for the relations between Marguerite Oswald and Ekdahl were stormy and they were finally divorced, after several separations and reunions, in the summer of 1948.23

After the divorce Mrs. Oswald complained considerably about how unfairly she was treated, dwelling on the fact that she was a widow with three children. John Pic, however, did not think her position was worse than that of many other people.24 In the fall of 1948 she told John Pic and Robert Oswald that she could not afford to send them back to the military school and she asked Pic to quit school

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entirely to help support the family, which he did for 4 months in the fall of 1948.25 In order to supplement their income further she falsely swore that Pic was 17 years old so that he could join the Marine Corps Reserves.26 Pic did turn over part of his income to his mother, but he returned to high school in January of 1949, where he stayed until 3 days before he was scheduled to graduate, when he left school in order to get into the Coast Guard.27 Since his mother did not approve of his decision to continue school he accepted the responsibility for that decision himself and signed his mother's name to all his own excuses and report cards.28

Pic thought that his mother overstated her financial problems and was unduly concerned about money. Referring to the period after the divorce from Ekdahl, which was apparently caused in part by Marguerite's desire to get more money from him, Pic said: "Lee was brought up in this atmosphere of constant money problems, and I am sure it had quite an effect on him, and also Robert." 29 Marguerite Oswald worked in miscellaneous jobs after her divorce from Ekdahl.30 When she worked for a time as an insurance saleslady, she would sometimes take Lee with her, apparently leaving him alone in the car while she transacted her business.31 When she worked during the school year, Lee had to leave an empty house in the morning, return to it for lunch and then again at night, his mother having trained him to do that rather than to play with other children.32

An indication of the nature of Lee's character at this time was provided in the spring of 1950, when he was sent to New Orleans to visit the family of his mother's sister, Mrs. Lillian Murret, for 2 or 3 weeks. Despite their urgings, he refused to play with the other children his own age.33 It also appears that Lee tried to tag along with his older brothers but apparently was not able to spend as much time with them as he would have liked, because of the age gaps of 5 and 7 years, which became more significant as the children grew older.34

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New York City

Whatever problems may have been created by Lee's home life in Louisiana and Texas, he apparently adjusted well enough there to have had an average, although gradually deteriorating, school record with no behavior or truancy problems. That was not the case, however, after he and his mother moved to New York in August of 1952, shortly before Lee's 13th birthday. They moved shortly after Robert joined the Marines; they lived for a time with John Pic who was stationed there with the Coast Guard.35 Relations soon became strained, however,36 so in late September Lee and his mother moved to their own apartment in the Bronx.37 Pic and his wife would have been happy to have kept Lee, however, who was becoming quite a disciplinary problem for his mother, having struck her on at least one occasion.38

The short-lived stay with the Pics was terminated after an incident in which Lee allegedly pulled out a pocket knife during an argument

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and threatened to use it on Mrs. Pic. When Pic returned home, Mrs. Oswald tried to play down the event but Mrs. Pic took a different view and asked the Oswalds to leave. Lee refused to discuss the matter with Pic, whom he had previously idolized, and their relations were strained thereafter. 39

On September 30, 1952, Lee enrolled in P.S. 117,40 a junior high school in the Bronx, where the other children apparently teased him because of his "western" clothes and Texas accent.41 He began to stay away from school, preferring to read magazines and watch television at home by himself. 42 This continued despite the efforts of the school authorities and, to a lesser extent, of his mother to have him return to school. 43 Truancy charges were brought against him alleging that he was "beyond the control of his mother insofar as school attendance is concerned." 44 Oswald was remanded for psychiatric observation to Youth House, an institution in which children are kept for psychiatric observation or for detention pending court appearance or commitment to a child-caring or custodial institution such as a training school. 45 He was in Youth House from April 16 to May 7, 1953,46 during which time he was examined by its Chief Psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, and interviewed and observed by other members of the Youth House staff. 47

Marguerite Oswald visited her son at Youth House, where she recalled that she waited in line "with Puerto Ricans and Negroes and everything." 48 She said that her pocketbook was searched "because the children in this home were such criminals, dope fiends, and had been in criminal offenses, that anybody entering this home had to be searched in case the parents were bringing cigarettes or narcotics or anything." 49 She recalled that Lee cried and said, "Mother, I want to get out of here. There are children in here who have killed people, and smoke. I want to get out." 50 Marguerite Oswald said that she had not realized until then in what kind of place her son had been confined. 51

On the other hand, Lee told his probation officer, John Carro, that "while he liked Youth House he miss[ed] the freedom of doing what he wanted. He indicated that he did not miss his mother." 52 Mrs. Evelyn D Siegel, a social worker who interviewed both Lee and his mother while Lee was confined in Youth House, reported that Lee "confided that the worse thing about Youth House was the fact that he had to be with other boys all the time, was disturbed about disrobing in front of them, taking showers with them etc." 53

Contrary to reports that appeared after the assassination, the psychiatric examination did not indicate that Lee Oswald was a potential assassin, potentially dangerous, that "his outlook on life had strongly paranoid overtones" or that he should be institutionalized.54 Dr. Hartogs did find Oswald to be a tense, withdrawn, and evasive boy who intensely disliked talking about himself and his feelings. He noted that Lee liked to give the impression that he did not care for other people but preferred to keep to himself, so that he was not bothered and did not have to make the effort of communicating. Os-

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wald's withdrawn tendencies and solitary habits were thought to be the result of "intense anxiety, shyness, feelings of awkwardness and insecurity." 55 He was reported to have said "I don't want a friend and I don't like to talk to people" and "I dislike everybody." 56 He was also described as having a "Vivid fantasy life, turning around the topics of omnipotence and power, through which he tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations." 57 Dr. Hartogs summarized his report by stating:

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 which brought him into Youth House. No finding of neurological impairment or psychotic mental changes could be made. Lee has to be diagnosed as "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive--aggressive tendencies." Lee has to be seen as an emotionally, quite disturbed youngster who suffers under the impact of really existing emotional isolation and deprivation, lack of affection, absence of family life and rejection by a self involved and conflicted mother.58
Dr. Hartogs recommended that Oswald be placed on probation on condition that he seek help and guidance through a child guidance clinic. There, he suggested, Lee should be treated by a male psychiatrist who could substitute for the lack of a father figure. He also recommended that Mrs. Oswald seek "psychotherapeutic guidance through contact with a family agency." The possibility of commitment was to be considered only if the probation plan was not successful. 59

Lee's withdrawal was also noted by Mrs. Siegel, who described him as a "seriously detached, withdrawn youngster." 60 She also noted that there was "a rather pleasant, appealing quality about this emotionally starved, affectionless youngster which grows as one speaks to him." 61 She thought that he had detached himself from the world around him because "no one in it ever met any of his needs for love." 62 She observed that since Lee's mother worked all day, he made his own meals and spent all his time alone because he didn't make friends with the boys in the neighborhood. She thought that he "withdrew into a completely solitary and detached existence where he did as he wanted and he didn't have to live by any rules or come into contact with people." 63 Mrs. Siegel concluded that Lee "just felt that his mother never gave a damn for him. He always felt like a burden that she simply just had to tolerate." 64 Lee confirmed some of those observations by saying that he felt almost as if there were a veil between him and other people through which they could not reach him, but that he preferred the veil to remain intact. He admitted to fantasies about being powerful and sometimes hurting and killing people, but refused to elaborate on them. He took the position that such matters were his own business. 65

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A psychological human figure-drawing test corroborated the interviewer's findings that Lee was insecure and had limited social contacts. Irving Sokolow, a Youth House psychologist reported that:

The Human Figure Drawings are empty, poor characterizations of persons approximately the same age as the subject. They reflect a considerable amount of impoverishment in the social and emotional areas. He appears to be a somewhat insecure youngster exhibiting much inclination for warm and satisfying relationships to others. There is some indication that he may relate to men more easily than to women in view of the more mature conceptualisation. He appears slightly withdrawn and in view of the lack of detail within the drawings this may assume a more significant characteristic. He exhibits some difficulty in relationship to the maternal figure suggesting more anxiety in this area than in any other.66
Lee scored an IQ of 118 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. According to Sokolow, this indicated a "present intellectual functioning in the upper range of bright normal intelligence." 67 Sokolow said that although Lee was "presumably disinterested in school subjects he operates on a much higher than average level." 68 On the Monroe Silent Reading Test, Lee's score indicated no retardation in reading speed and comprehension; he had better than average ability in arithmetical reasoning for his age group. 69

Lee told Carro, his probation officer, that he liked to be by himself because he had too much difficulty in making friends. 70 The reports of Carro and Mrs. Siegel also indicate an ambivalent attitude toward authority on Oswald's part. Carro reported that Lee was disruptive in class after he returned to school on a regular basis in the fall of 1953. He had refused to salute the flag and was doing very little, if any, work. It appears that he did not want to do any of the things which the authorities suggested in their efforts to bring him out of the shell into which he appeared to be retreating.71 He told Mrs. Siegel that he would run away if sent to a boarding school. On the other hand he also told her that he wished his mother had been more firm with him in her attempts to get him to return to school. 72

The reports of the New York authorities indicate that Lee's mother gave him very little affection and did not serve as any sort of substitute for a father. Furthermore she did not appear to understand her own relationship to Lee's psychological problems. After her interview with Mrs. Oswald, Mrs. Siegel described her as a smartly dressed, gray haired woman, very self-possessed and alert and superficially affable," but essentially a "defensive, rigid, self-involved person who had real difficulty in accepting and relating to people" and who had "little understanding" of Lee's behavior and of the "protective shell he has drawn around himself." 73 Dr. Hartogs reported that Mrs. Oswald did not understand that Lee's withdrawal was a form of "violent but silent protest against his neglect by her and represents his reac-

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tion to a complete absence of any real family life." 74 Carro reported that when questioned about his mother Lee said, "well I've got to live with her. I guess I love her." 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." 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. In view of his experiences when he visited his relatives in New Orleans in the spring of 1950, and his other solitary habits, Lee had apparently been experiencing similar problems before going to New York, and as will be shown below, this failure to adapt to. his environment was a dominant trait in his later life.

It would be incorrect, however, to believe that those aspects of Lee's personality which were observed in New York could have led anyone to predict the outburst of violence which finally occurred. Carro was the only one of Oswald's three principal observers who recommended that he be placed in a boy's home or similar institution. 77 But Carro was quite specific that his recommendation was based primarily on the adverse factors in Lee's environment--his lack of friends, the apparent unavailability of any agency assistance and the ineffectualness of his mother--and not on any particular mental disturbance, in the boy himself.78 Carro testified that:

There was nothing that would lead me to believe when I saw him at the age of 12 that them would be seeds of destruction for somebody. I couldn't in all honesty sincerely say such a thing. 79
Mrs. Siegel concluded her report with the statement that:
Despite his withdrawal, he gives the impression that he is not so difficult to reach as he appears and patient, prolonged effort in a sustained relationship with one therapist might bring results. There are indications that he has suffered serious personality damage but if he can receive help quickly this might be repaired to some extent.80
Lee Oswald never received that help. Few social agencies even in New York were equipped to provide the kind of intensive treatment that he needed, and when one of the city's clinics did find room to handle him, for some reason the record does not show, advantage was never taken of the chance afforded to Oswald. When Lee became a disciplinary problem upon his return to school in the fall of 1953, and when his mother failed to cooperate in any way with school authorities, authorities were finally forced to consider placement in a home for boys. Such a placement was postponed, however, perhaps in part at

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least because Lee's behavior suddenly improved. Before the court took any action, the Oswalds left New York 81 in January of 1954, and returned to New Orleans where Lee finished the ninth grade before he left school to work for a year. 82 Then in October of 1956, he joined the Marines. 83

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Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps

After his return to New Orleans Oswald was teased at school because of the northern accent which he had acquired.84 He concluded that school had nothing to offer him. 85 His mother exercised little control over him and thought he could decide for himself whether to go on in school.86 Neighbors and others who knew him at that time recall an introverted boy who read a great deal.87 He took walks and visited museums, and sometimes rode a rented bicycle in the park on SaPersonay mornings.88 Mrs. Murret believes that he talked at length with a girl on the telephone, but no one remembers that he had any dates. 89 A friend, Edward Voebel, testified that "he was more bashful about girls than anything else." 90

Several witnesses testified that Lee Oswald was not aggressive. 91 He was, however, involved in some fights. Once a group of white boys beat him up for sitting in the Negro section of a bus, which he apparently did simply out of ignorance. 92 Another time, he fought with two brothers who claimed that he had picked on the younger of them, 3 years Oswald's junior. Two days later, "some big guy, probably from a high school--he looked like a tremendous football player" accosted Oswald on the way home from school and punched him in the mouth, making his lip bleed and loosening a tooth. Voebel took Oswald back to the school to attend to his wounds, and their "mild friendship" stemmed from that incident.93 Voebel also recalled that Oswald once outlined a plan to cut the glass in the window of a store on Rampart Street and steal a pistol, but he was not sure then that Oswald meant to carry out the plan, and in fact they never did. Voebel said that Oswald "wouldn't start any fights, but if you wanted to start one with him, he was going to make sure that he ended it, or you were going to really have one, because he wasn't going to take anything from anybody." 94 In a space for the names of "close friends" on the ninth grade personal history record, Oswald first wrote "Edward Vogel," an obvious misspelling of Voebel's name, and "Arthor Abear," most likely Arthur Hebert, a classmate who has said that he did not know Oswald well. Oswald erased those names, however, and indicated that he had no close friends.95

It has been suggested that this misspelling of names, apparently on a phonetic basis, was caused by a reading-spelling disability from which Oswald appeared to suffer.96 Other evidence of the existence of such a disability is provided by the many other misspellings that appear in Oswald's writings, portions of which are quoted below.

Sometime during this period, and under circumstances to be discussed more fully below, Oswald started to read Communist litera-

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ture, which he obtained from the public library.97 One of his fellow employees, Palmer McBride, stated that Oswald said he would like to kill President Eisenhower because he was exploiting the working class. 98 Oswald praised Khrushchev and suggested that he and McBride join the Communist Party "to take advantage of their social functions." 99 Oswald also became interested in the New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association, an organization of high school students. The association's then president, William E. Wulf, testified that he remembered an occasion when Oswald

... started expounding the 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 he said that he couldn't find any that would show any interest in him as a Communist, and subsequently, after this conversation, my father came in and we were kind of arguing back and forth about the situation, and my father came in the room, heard what we were arguing on communism, and that this boy was loud-mouthed, boisterous, and my father asked him to leave the house and politely put him out of the house, and that is the last I have seen or spoken with Oswald. 100
Despite this apparent interest in communism, Oswald tried to join the Marines when he was 16 years old.101 This was 1 year before his actual enlistment and just a little over 2.5 years after he left New York. He wrote a note in his mother's name to school authorities in New Orleans saying that he was leaving school because he and his mother were moving to San Diego. In fact, he had quit school in an attempt to obtain his mother's assistance to join the Marines.102 While he apparently was able to induce his mother to make a false statement about his age he was nevertheless unable to convince the proper authorities that he was really 17 years old.103 There is evidence that Oswald was greatly influenced in his decision to join the Marines by the fact that his brother Robert had done so approximately 3 years before. 104 Robert Oswald had given his Marine Corps manual to his brother Lee, who studied it during the year following his unsuccessful attempt to enlist until "He knew it by heart." 105 According to Marguerite Oswald, "Lee lived for the time that he would become 17 years old to join the Marines--that whole year." 106 In John Pic's view, Oswald was motivated to join the Marines in large part by a desire "to get from out and under ... the yoke of oppression from my mother." 107

Oswald's inability or lack of desire to enter into meaningful relationships with other people continued during this period in New Orleans (1954-56). 108 It probably contributed greatly to the general dissatisfaction which he exhibited with his environment, a dissatisfaction which seemed to find expression at this particular point in his

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intense desire to join the Marines and get away from his surroundings and his mother. His study of Communist literature, which might appear to be inconsistent with his desire to join the Marines, could have been another manifestation of Oswald's rejection of his environment.109

His difficulty in relating to other people and his general dissatisfaction with the world around him continued while he was in the Marine Corps. Kerry Thornley, a marine associate, who, shortly after Oswald's defection, wrote an as yet unpublished novel based in considerable part on Oswald's life, testified that "definitely the Marine Corps was not what he had expected it to be when he joined." He said that Oswald "seemed to guard against developing real close friendships." 110 Daniel Powers, another marine who was stationed with Oswald for part of his marine career, testified that Oswald seemed "always [to be] striving for a relationship, but whenever he did ... his general personality would alienate the group against him." Other marines also testified that Oswald had few friends and kept very much to himself. 112

While there is nothing in Oswald's military records to indicate that he was mentally unstable or otherwise psychologically unfit for duty in the Marine Corps, 113 he did not adjust well to conditions which he found in that service. 114 He did not rise above the rank of private first class, even though he had passed a qualifying examination for the rank of corporal.115 His Marine career was not helped by his attitude that he was a man of great ability and intelligence and that many of his superiors in the Marine Corps were not sufficiently competent to give him orders.116 While Oswald did not seem to object to authority in the abstract, he did think that he should be the one to exercise it. John E. Donovan, one of his former officers, testified that Oswald thought "that authority, particularly the Marine Corps, ought to be able to recognize talent such as his own, without a given magic college degree, and put them in positions of prominence? 117 Oswald manifested this feeling about authority by baiting his officers. He led them into discussions of foreign affairs about which they often knew less than he did, since he had apparently devoted considerable time to a study of such matters.118 When the officers were unable to discuss foreign affairs satisfactorily with him, Oswald regarded them as unfit to exercise command over him.119 Nelson Delgado, one of Oswald's fellow Marines, testified that Oswald tried to "cut up anybody that was high ranking" in those arguments "and make himself come out top dog.". 120 Oswald probably engaged his superiors in arguments on a subject that he had studied in an attempt to attract attention to himself and to support his exaggerated idea of his own abilities.

Thornley also testified that he thought that Oswald's extreme personal sloppiness in the Marine Corps "fitted into a general personality pattern of his: to do whatever was not wanted of him, a recalcitrant trend in his personality." 121 Oswald "seemed to be a person who would go out of his way to get into trouble" 122 and then used the "special treatment" he received as an example of the way in which

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he was being picked on and "as a means of getting or attempting to get sympathy." 123 In Thornley's view, Oswald labored under a persecution complex which he strove to maintain and "felt the Marine Corps kept a pretty close watch on him because of his 'subversive' activities." Thornley added: "I think it was kind of necessary to him to believe that he was being picked on. It wasn't anything extreme. I wouldn't go as far as to call it, call him a paranoid, but a definite tendency there was in that direction, I think." 124

Powers considered Oswald to be meek and easily led,125 an "individual that you would brainwash, and quite easy ... [but] I think once he believed in something ... he stood in his beliefs." 126 Powers also testified that Oswald was reserved and seemed to be "somewhat the frail, little puppy in the litter." 127 He had the nickname "Ozzie Rabbit." 128

Oswald read a good deal, said Powers, but "he would never be reading any of the shoot-em-up westerns or anything like that. Normally, it would be a good type of literature; and the one that I recall was 'Leaves of Grass,' by Wait Whitman." 129 According to Powers, Oswald said: "All the Marine Corps did was to teach you to kill and after you got out of the Marines you might be good gangsters." 130 Powers believed that when Oswald arrived in Japan he acquired a girlfriend, "finally attaining a male status or image in his own eyes." 131 That apparently caused Oswald to become more self-confident, aggressive and even somewhat pugnacious, although Powers "wouldn't say that this guy is a troublemaker." 132 Powers said "now he was Oswald the man rather than Oswald the rabbit." 133 Oswald once told Powers that he didn't care if he returned to the United States at all. 134

While in Japan, Oswald's new found apparent self confidence and pugnaciousness led to an incident in which he spilled a drink on one of his sergeants and abusively challenged him to fight.135 At the court-martial hearing which followed, Oswald admitted that he had been rather drunk when the incident occurred. He testified that he had felt the sergeant had a grudge against him and that he had unsuccessfully sought a transfer from the sergeant's unit. He said that he had simply wanted to discuss the question with the sergeant and the drink had been spilled accidentally. The hearing officer agreed with the latter claim but found Oswald guilty of wrongfully using provoking words and sentenced him to 28 days, canceling the suspension of a 20-day sentence that Oswald had received in an earlier court-martial for possessing an unauthorized pistol with which he had accidentally shot himself.136

At his own request, Oswald was transferred from active duty to the Marine Corps Reserve under honorable conditions in September of 1959, 3 months prior to his regularly scheduled separation date, 137 ostensibly to care for his mother who had been injured in an accident at her work.138 He was undesirably discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve, to which he had been assigned on inactive status following his transfer from active duty, after it was learned that he had

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defected to the Soviet Union.139 In an attempt to have this discharge reversed, Oswald wrote to then Secretary of the Navy Connally on January 30, 1962, stating that he would "employ all means to right this gross mistake or injustice."

Governor Connally had just resigned to run for Governor of Texas, so he advised Oswald that he had forwarded the letter to his successor.141 It is thus clear that Oswald knew that Governor Connally was never directly concerned with his discharge and he must have known that President Kennedy had had nothing to do with it. In that connection, it does not appear that Oswald ever expressed any dissatisfaction of any kind with either the President or Governor Connally.142 Marina Oswald testified that she "had never heard anything bad about Kennedy from Lee. And he never had anything against him." 143 Mrs. Oswald said that her husband did not say anything about Governor Connally after his return to the United States. She testified: "But while we were in Russia he spoke well of him. ... Lee said that when he would return to the United States he would vote for him [for Governor]." 144 Oswald must have already learned that the Governor could not help him with his discharge because he was no longer Secretary of the Navy, at the time he made that remark.

Even though Oswald apparently did not express any hostility against the President or Governor Connally, he continued to be concerned about his undesirable discharge.145 It is clear that he thought he had been unjustly treated. Probably his complaint was due to the fact that his discharge was not related to anything he had done while on active duty and also because he had not received any notice of the original discharge proceedings, since his whereabouts were not known.146 He continued his efforts to reverse the discharge by petitioning the Navy Discharge Review Board, which finally declined to modify the discharge and so advised him in a letter dated July 1963.147

Governor Connally's connection with the discharge, although indirect, caused the Commission to consider whether he might have been Oswald's real target. In that connection, it should be noted that Marina Oswald testified on September 6, 1964, that she thought her husband "was shooting at Connally rather than President Kennedy." In support of her conclusion Mrs. Oswald noted her husband's undesirable discharge and that she could not think of any reason why Oswald would want to kill President Kennedy.148 It should be noted, however, that at the time Oswald fired the shots at the Presidential limousine the Governor occupied the seat in front of the President, and it would have been almost impossible for Oswald to have hit the Governor without hitting the President first. Oswald could have shot the Governor as the car approached the Depository or as it was making the turn onto Elm Street. Once it had started down Elm Street toward the Triple Underpass, however, the President almost completely blocked Oswald's view of the Governor prior to the time the first shot struck the President.150 Furthermore, Oswald would have had other and more favorable opportunities to strike at the Governor than on this occasion

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when, as a member of the President's party, he had more protection than usual. It would appear, therefore, that to the extent Oswald's undesirable discharge affected his motivation, it was more in terms of a general hostility against the government and its representatives rather than a grudge against any particular person.

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Interest in Marxism

As indicated above, Oswald started to read Communist literature after he and his mother left New York and moved to New Orleans.151 He told Aline Mosby, a reporter who interviewed him after he arrived in Moscow:

I'm a Marxist, ... I became interested about the age of 15. From an ideological viewpoint. An old lady handed me a pamphlet about saving the Rosenbergs. ... I looked at that paper and I still remember it for some reason, I don't know why.152
Oswald studied Marxism after he joined the Marines and his sympathies in that direction and for the Soviet Union appear to have been widely known, at least in the unit to which he was assigned after his return from the Far East. His interest in Russia led some of his associates to call him "comrade" 153 or "Oswaldskovitch." 154 He always wanted to play the red pieces in chess because, as he said in an apparently humorous context, he preferred the "Red Army." 155 He studied the Russian language,156 read a Russian language newspaper 157 and seemed interested in what was going on in the Soviet Union.158 Thornley, who thought Oswald had an "irrevocable conviction" that his Marxist beliefs were correct, testified:

I think you could sit down and argue with him for a number of years ... and I don't think you could have changed his mind on that unless you knew why he believed it in the first place. I certainly don't. I don't think with any kind of formal argument you could have shaken that conviction. And that is why I say irrevocable. It was just--never getting back to looking at things from any other way once he had become a Marxist, whenever that was.159
Thornley also testified about an incident which grew out of a combination of Oswald's known Marxist sympathies and George Orwell's book "1984," one of Oswald's favorite books which Thornley read at Oswald's suggestion. Shortly after Thornley finished reading that book the Marine unit to which both men were assigned was required to take part in a SaPersonay morning parade in honor of some retiring noncommissioned officers, an event which they both approached with little enthusiasm. While waiting for the parade to start they talked briefly about "1984" even though Oswald seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. After a brief period of silence Os-

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wald remarked on the stupidity of the parade and on how angry it made him, to which Thornley replied: "Well, comes the revolution you will change all that." Thornley testified:

At which time he looked at me like a betrayed Caesar and screamed, screamed definitely, "Not you, too, Thornley." And I remember his voice cracked as he said this. He was definitely disturbed at what I had said and I didn't really think I had said that much. ... I never said anything to him again and he never said anything to me again.160
Thornley said that he had made his remark only in the context of "1984" and had not intended any criticism of Oswald's political views which is the way in which, Thornley thought, Oswald took his remarks.161

Lieutenant Donovan testified that Oswald thought that "there were many grave injustices concerning the affairs in the international situation." He recalled that Oswald had a specific interest in Latin America, particularly Cuba, and expressed opposition to the Batista regime and sympathy for Castro, an attitude which, Donovan said, was "not ... unpopular" at that time. Donovan testified that he never heard Oswald express a desire personally to take part in the elimination of injustices anywhere in the world and that he "never heard him in any way, shape or form confess that he was a Communist, or that he ever thought about being a Communist." 162 Delgado testified that Oswald was "a complete believer that our way of government was not quite right" and believed that our Government did not have "too much to offer," but was not in favor of "the Communist way of life." Delgado and Oswald talked more about Cuba than Russia, and sometimes imagined themselves as leaders in the Cuban Army or Government, who might "lead an expedition to some of these other islands and free them too." 163

Thornley also believed that Oswald's Marxist beliefs led to an extraordinary view of history under which:

He looked upon the eyes of future people as some kind of tribunal, and he wanted to be on the winning side so that 10,000 years from-now people would look in the history books and say, "Well, this man was ahead of his time." ... The eyes of the future became ... the eyes of God.... He was concerned with his image in history and I do think that is why he chose ... the particular method [of defecting] he chose and did it in the way he did. It got him in the newspapers. It did broadcast his name out.164
Thornley thought that Oswald not only wanted a place in history but also wanted to live comfortably in the present. He testified that if Oswald could not have that "degree of physical comfort that he expected or sought, I think he would then throw himself entirely on the other thing he also wanted, which was the image in history. ...

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I think he wanted both if he could have them. If he didn't, he wanted to die with the knowledge that, or with the idea that he was somebody." 165

Oswald's interest in Marxism led some people to avoid him, even though as his wife suggested, that interest may have been motivated by a desire to gain attention.166 He used his Marxist and associated activities as excuses for his difficulties in getting along in the world, which were usually caused by entirely different factors. His use of those excuses to present himself to the world as a person who was being unfairly treated is shown most clearly by his employment relations after his return from the Soviet Union. Of course, he made his real problems worse to the extent that his use of those excuses prevented him from discovering the real reasons for and attempting to overcome his difficulties. Of greater importance, Oswald's commitment to Marxism contributed to the decisions which led him to defect to the Soviet Union in 1959, and later to engage in activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in the summer of 1963, and to attempt to go to Cuba late in September of that year.

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Defection to the Soviet Union

After Oswald left the Marine Corps in September of 1959, ostensibly to care for his mother, he almost immediately left for the Soviet Union where he attempted to renounce his citizenship. At the age of 19, Oswald thus committed an act which was the most striking indication he had yet given of his willingness to act on his beliefs in quite extraordinary ways.

While his defection resulted in part from Oswald's commitment to Marxism, it appears that personal and psychological factors were also involved. On August 17, 1963, Oswald told Mr. William Stuckey, who had arranged a radio debate on Oswald's activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, that while he had begun to read Marx and Engels at the age of 15, the conclusive thing that made him decide that Marxism was the answer was his service in Japan. He said living conditions over there convinced him something was wrong with the system, and that possibly Marxism was the answer. He said it was in Japan that he made up his mind to go to Russia and see for himself how a revolutionary society operates, a Marxist society.167

On the other hand, at least one person who knew Oswald after his return thought that his defection had a more personal and psychological basis.168 The validity of the latter observation is borne out by some of the things Oswald wrote in connection with his defection indicating that his motivation was at least in part a personal one. On November 26, 1959, shortly after he arrived in the Soviet Union, and probably before Soviet authorities had given him permission to stay indefinitely, he wrote to his brother Robert that the Soviet Union

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was a country which "I have always considered ... to be my own" and that he went there "only to find freedom. ... I could never have been personally happy in the U.S." 169 He wrote in another letter that he would "never return to the United States which is a country I hate." 170 His idea that he was to find "freedom" in the Soviet Union was to be rudely shattered.

Whatever Oswald's reasons for going to the Soviet Union might have been, however, there can be little doubt that his desire to go was quite strong. In addition to studying the Russian language while he was in the Marines, Oswald had managed to save enough money to cover the expenses of his forthcoming trip. While there is no proof that he saved $1,500, as he claimed, it would have taken considerable discipline to save whatever amount was required to finance his defection out of the salary of a low ranking enlisted man.171

The extent of Oswald's desire to go to the Soviet Union and of his initial commitment to that country can best be understood, however, in the context of his concomitant hatred of the United States, which was most clearly expressed in his November 26, 1959, letter to his brother Robert. Addressing himself to the question of why "I and my fellow workers and communist's would like to see the present capitalist government of the U.S. overthrown" Oswald stated that that government supported an economic system "which exploits all its workers" and under which "art, culture and the sprit of man are subjected to commercial enterpraising, [and] religion and education are used as a tool to surpress what would otherwise be a population questioning their government's unfair economic system and plans for war." 172

He complained in his letter about segregation, unemployment, automation, and the use of military forces to suppress other populations. Asking his brother why he supported the American Government and what ideals he put forward, Oswald wrote:

Ask me and I will tell you I fight for communism. ... I will not say your grandchildren will live under communism, look for yourself at history, look at a world map! America is a dicing country, I do not wish to be a part of it, nor do I ever again wish to be used as a tool in its military aggressions.
This should answer your question, and also give you a glimpse of my way of thinking.
So you speak of advantages. Do you think that is why I am here? For personal, material advantages? Happiness is not based on oneself, it does not consist of a small home, of taking and getting, Happiness is taking part in the struggle, where there is no borderline between one's own personal world, and the world in general. I never believed I would find more material advantages at this stage of development in the Soviet Union than I might of had in the U.S. °     °     °     °
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I have been a pro-communist for years and yet I have never met a communist, instead I kept silent and observed, and what I observed plus my Marxist learning brought me here to the Soviet Union. I have always considered this country to be my own.173
Responding to Robert's statement that he had not "renounced" him, Oswald told his brother "on what terms I want this arrangement." He advised Robert that:

In the event of war I would kill any american who put a uniform on in defense of the american government-- any american.
That in my own mind I have no attachment's of any kind in the U.S.
That I want to, and I shall, live a normal happy and peaceful life here in the Soviet Union for the rest of my life.
That my mother and you are (in spite of what the newspaper said) not objects of affection, but only examples of workers in the U.S.
Despite this commitment to the Soviet Union Oswald met disappointments there just as he had in the past. At the outset the Soviets told him that he could not remain. It seems that Oswald immediately attempted suicide--a striking indication of how much he desired to remain in the Soviet Union.175 It shows how willing he was to act dramatically and decisively when he faced an emotional crisis with few readily available alternatives at hand. He was shocked to find that the Soviet Union did not accept him with open arms. The entry in his self-styled "Historic Diary" for October 21, 1959, reports:

I am shocked!! My dreams! ... I have waited for 2 year to be accepted. My fondes dreams are shattered because of a petty official, ... I decide to end it. Soak fist in cold water to numb the pain, Than slash my leftwrist. Than plaug wrist into bathtub of hot water.... Somewhere, a violin plays, as I watch my life whirl away. I think to myself "How easy to Die" and "A Sweet Death, (to violins) ... 176
Oswald was discovered in time to thwart his attempt at suicide. 177 He was taken to a hospital in Moscow where he was kept until October 28, 1959.178

Still intent, however, on staying in the Soviet Union, Oswald went on October 31, to the American Embassy to renounce his U.S. citizenship. Mr. Richard E. Snyder, then Second Secretary and senior consular official at the Embassy, testified that Oswald was extremely sure of himself and seemed "to know what his mission was. He took charge, in a sense, of the conversation right from the beginning." He presented the following signed note:

I Lee Harvey Oswald do hereby request that my present citizenship in the United States of America, be revoked.
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I have entered the Soviet Union for the express purpose of applying for citizenship in the Soviet Union, through the means of naturalization.
My request for citizenship is now pending before the Surprem Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
I take these steps for political reasons. My request for the revoking of my American citizenship is made only after the longest and most serious considerations.
I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.180 (See Commission Exhibit 913, p. 261.)
As his "principal reason" for renouncing his citizenship Oswald stated: "I am a Marxist." 181 He also alluded to hardships endured by his mother as a worker, referring to them as experiences that he did not intend to have himself,182 even though he stated that he had never held a civilian job.183 He said that his Marine service in Okinawa and elsewhere had given him "a chance to observe 'American imperialism.'" but he also displayed some sensitivity at not having reached a higher rank in the Marine Corps.184 He stated that he had volunteered to give Soviet officials any information that he had concerning Marine Corps operations,185 and intimated that he might know something of special interest.186 Oswald's "Historic Diary" describes the event in part as follows:

I leave Embassy, elated at this showdown, returning to my hotel I feel now my enorgies are not spent in vain. I'm sure Russians will except me after this sign of my faith in them.187
The Soviet authorities finally permitted Oswald to remain in their country.188 No evidence has been found that they used him for any particular propaganda or other political or informational purposes. They sent him to Minsk to work in a radio and television factory as a metal worker.189 The Soviet authorities denied Oswald permission to attend a university in Moscow,190 but they gave him a monthly allowance of 700 rubles a month (old exchange rate)191 in addition to his factory salary of approximately equal amount 192 and considerably better living quarters than those accorded to Soviet citizens of equal age and station.193 The subsidy, apparently similar to those sometimes given to foreigners allowed to remain in the Soviet Union, together with his salary, gave Oswald an income which he said approximated that of the director of the factory in which he worked.194

Even though he received more money and better living quarters than other Russians doing similar work, he envied his wife's uncle, a colonel in the MVD, because of the larger apartment in which he lived. Reminiscent of his attitude toward his superiors in the Marine Corps, Oswald apparently resented the exercise of authority over him and the better treatment afforded to Communist Party officials.195 After he returned to the United States he took the position that the Communist Party officials in the Soviet Union were opportunists who

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were betraying their positions for personal gain. He is reported to have expressed the conclusion that they had "fat stinking politicians over there just like we have over here." 196

Oswald apparently continued to have personal difficulties while he was in Minsk. Although Marina Oswald told the Commission that her husband had good personal relationships in the Soviet Union,197 Katherine Ford, one of the members of the Russian community in Dallas with which the Oswalds became acquainted upon their arrival in the United States, stated that Mrs. Oswald told her everybody in Russia "hated him." 198 Jeanne De Mohrenschildt, another member of that group, said that Oswald told her that he had returned because "I didn't find what I was looking for." 199 George De Mohrenschildt thought that Oswald must have become disgusted with life in the Soviet Union as the novelty of the presence of an American wore off and he began to be less the center of attention.200

The best description of Oswald's state of mind, however, is set forth in his own "Historic Diary." Under the entry for May 1, 1960, he noted that one of his acquaintances "relats many things I do not know about the U.S.S.R.. I begin to feel uneasy inside, its true!" 201 Under the entry for August-September of that year he wrote:

As my Russian improves I become increasingly conscious of just what sort of a society I live in. Mass gymnastics, complusory afterwork meeting, usually political information meeting. Complusory attendance at lectures and the sending of the entire shop collective (except me) to pick potatoes on a Sunday, at a state collective farm: A "patroict duty" to bring in the harvest. The opions of the workers (unvoiced) are that its a great pain in the neck: they don't seem to be esspicialy enthusiastic about any of the "collective" duties a natural feeling. I am increasingly aware of the presence, in all thing, of Lebizen, shop party secretary, fat, fortyish, and jovial on the outside. He is a no-nonsense party regular.202
Finally, the entry of January 4-31 of 1961:

I am stating to reconsider my disire about staying the work is drab the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No night clubs or bowling allys no places of recreation acept the trade union dances I have have had enough.203
Shortly thereafter, less than 18 months after his defection, about 6 weeks before he met Marina Prusakova, Oswald opened negotiations with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow looking toward his return to the United States.204

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Return to the United States

In view of the intensity of his earlier commitment to the Soviet Union, a great change must have occurred in Oswald's thinking to

395

induce him to return to the United States. The psychological effects of that change must have been highly unsettling. It should be remembered that he was not yet 20 years old when he went to the Soviet Union with such high hopes and not quite 23 when he returned bitterly disappointed. His attempt to renounce his citizenship had been an open expression of hostility against the United States and a profound rejection of his early life. The dramatic break with society in America now had to be undone. His return to the United States publicly testified to the utter failure of what had been the most important act of his life.

Marina Oswald confirmed the fact that her husband was experiencing psychological difficulties at the time of his return. She said that "immediately after coming to the United States Lee changed. I did not know him as such a man in Russia." 205 She added that while he helped her as he had done before, he became more of a recluse, that "[he] was very irritable, sometimes for a trifle" and that "Lee was very unrestrained and very explosive" during the period from November 19, 1962 to March of 1963.206

After the assassination she wrote that:

In general, our family life began to deteriorate after we arrived in America. Lee was always hot-tempered, and now this trait of character more and more prevented us from living together in harmony. Lee became very irritable, and sometimes some completely trivial thing would drive him into a rage. I myself do not have a particularly quiet disposition, but I had to change my character a great deal in order to maintain a more or less peaceful family life.207
Marina Oswald's judgment of her husband's state of mind may be substantiated by comparing material which he wrote in the Soviet Union with what he wrote while on the way back to the United States and after his return. While in the Soviet Union he wrote his longest and clearest piece of work, "The Collective." This was a fairly coherent description of life in that country, basically centered around the radio and television factory in which he worked.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. the son of a Insuraen Salesmen whose early death left a far mean streak of indepence brought on by negleck. entering the US Marine corp at 17 this streak of independence was strengthed by exotic journeys to Japan the Philipines and the scores of odd Islands in the Pacific immianly

[Martin Weidmann]

OMG, what an over the top, disproportionate reaction? Look Martin, it's clear you are having serious problems and if you need someone to talk to, I'm just a PM away!

Oswald's life and who he was has been extensively studied, here is just but one.

Look Martin, it's clear you are having serious problems

So, this time it's the getting nasty approach....

Oswald's life and who he was has been extensively studied, here is just but one.

Exactly what I said; all you know about Oswald is what you have been told.

Thank you for proving my point 

[John Mytton]

Look Martin, it's clear you are having serious problems

So, this time it's the getting nasty approach....

Oswald's life and who he was has been extensively studied, here is just but one.

Exactly what I said; all you know about Oswald is what you have been told.

Thank you for proving my point 

So, this time it's the getting nasty approach....

You can't be serious, I made an innocuous observation and your pent up rage responded with a torrent of uncontrolled insults, Why Martin?
All I did was reach out and offer a peaceful hand because your attitude is completely unwarranted in proportion to my calm niceness.

Oswald's life and who he was has been extensively studied, here is just but one.

Exactly what I said; all you know about Oswald is what you have been told.

Thank you for proving my point 

You're not making your point very convincingly, Oswald's actions, contacts and interactions were widely investigated and therefore a comprehensive picture emerges of exactly who he was. For instance if my life was investigated and my actions were documented and my friends and enemies were interviewed, the man who I am would be revealed.

JohnM