WHO WAS LEE HARVEY OSWALD?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404810003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: November 22, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16 :CIA-RDP9O-005528000404810003-3
WALL STREET JOURNAL
22 November 1983
Who Was Lee Harve 0 swald ?
~
By Eiiwnxo Jar Erst'etx from home. In October 19x9,
aftet' a twa
The endless tangle of questions about year stint as a radar operator, Oswald
boilers, trajectories, wounds, time se- ended any lingering doubts about his loy-
quences and inconsistent testimony that airy by becoming the first Marine to defect
has surrounded the assassination of Presi- to the Soviet Union. In Moscow, he deliv-
dent John F. Kennedy for 20 years-and Bred a letter stating, "I affirm that my
obsessively fascinated, . if not entirely allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Social-
blinded, a generation of assassination ~ Republics."
buffs-probably never will be resolved.
Within this morass of facts, however, there
is a central actor: Lee Harvey Oswald. His
rifle, which fired the fatal bullet into the
president, was found in the sniper's nest.
His cartridge cases were also found a few
feet away from the body of a murdered
policeman on the route of his flight. He
etsl, Oswald, now joined by a Russian
wife, retained his militant convictions.
In Dallas, where he: settled, he pur-
chased arifle with telescopic sights and a
revolver from email-order house under a
false name. He also lectured his more lib?
eral acquaintances on the need for violent
action rather than mere words.
Gen
Edwin A
Walker
an
-
t
.
.
,
ex
reme con
Not oNy did he publicly renounce his servative, who had been active in Dallas ;
American citizenship but he told the U.S.. organizing anti-Castro guerrillas, became
consul that be intended to turn over to the in the spring of 1963 a particular focus of
..Soviet Union all the. military secrets that ~ Oswald's attention.. He repeatedly sug? ~
he had acquired while serving in the Ma? ` . gested to a German geologist. Volkmar
nines, adding that he had data of "special Schmidt and other friends, that Gen. ~
interest" to the Russians. Since he indeed
had exposure to military secrets, such as
the U-2 spy plane and radar identification
systems, and since be may have collected
data while still on active duty, his defec-
tion had serious espionage implications.
Oswald thus effectively compromised the
security of all he had come th contact with
in the Marines. He also, through this act,
irrevocably put himself in the hands of his
hosts. He was now completely dependent
on the Soviets for financial support, legal
status and protection.
On May 1, 1960, less than. six months
after Oswald's defection, a U-2 was shot
down over the Soviet Union and its pilot,
Francis Gary Powers, was captured. Os-
wald wrote his brother that he had seen
Mr. Powers-a claim that was to greatly
intrigue the pilot after he was returned to
the U.S. During his lengthy interrogation
in Moscow, Mr. Powers wss confronted
with a wealth of information about previ-
ous flights of his spy plane. Since his inter-
rogators. laced each successive question
with new details, he became convinced
that Soviet intelligence must have had a
readily available and knowledgeable
source.
Before disappearing into the Soviet hint-
erland for a year, Oswald spelled out his
operational creed th a long letter to his
brother. From Moscow, he wrote pre-
sciently of his wUlingness to commit mur-
der for. a political cause: "I want you to
understand what I say now, I do not say
lightly, or unknowingly, since I've been in
the military.... In the event of war I
woWd kill any American who put a uni-
form on~ in defense of the American Gov-
ernment-," and then ominously added for
emphasis, "Any American." Although his
__ letter was routinely intercepted by the CIA
and microfilmed, no discernable attention
was paid to the threat contained in it
When he returned from the Soviet Union
in June 1962 (with a little help from a State
Department eager to demonstrate that it
could win back a defector from the Sovi-
was captured shortly thereafter; resisting ,
arrest, aith the loaded murder revolver in
his hand.
In light of this overwhelming evidence,
the issue that ought to have concerned
Americans was not Oswald's technical .
guilt, but his dangerous liaisons abroad.
Only eight weeks before the assassination,
be had excited FBI and CIA interest in his
activities by renewing his contacts with
Cuban and Soviet KGB officials in Mexico
Clt)~. However, although these foreign con?
nections remained of great concern to the
two L'.S. intelligence agencies, they were
considered far too sensitive to be aired
publicly in the emotional aftermath of the
president's slaying.
Oswald was not a "loner" in the.con-
ventional sense. Ever since handed a pam-
phlet about the Rosenberg prosecution at
15 years old in New York City, he had
sought out affiliations with political organi-
nations, front groups and foreign nations
that opposed the policies of the L`.S. V4fien
he was 16, he a-rote the Socialist Party "I
am a Marxist and have been studying So-
cialist Principles for well over fifteen
months," and he requested information
about joining their "Youth League." He
also attempted to persuade a friend to join
the local youth auxiliary of the Communist
Party. He subsequently made membership
inquiries to such organizations as the So?
cialist Workers Party, the Socialist Labor
Party. the Gus Hall-Bertjamin Davis De-
fense Committee, the Daily Worker, the
Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the
Communist Parry, U.S.A.-correspondence
that eventually brought him under surveil-
lance by the FBI.
Compromised U.S. Security
Vsfiile still in the early stages of his flir-
tation v~th political causes, Oswald joined
the Marine Corps-primarily to get away
Walker should be treated like a "murderer
at large." He did not stop at fierce words.
For weeks, he methodically stalked Gen.
Walker's movements, photographing his
residence from several angles.
He then had his wife photograph him,
dressed entirely in black, with his revolver
strapped in a holster on his hip, his
sniper's rifle in his right hand, and two
newspapers-the Worker and the MUi-
tant-in his left hand. He made three cop?
ies of the photograph-one of which he in-
scribed, dated "5-IV-63" and sent to a
Dallas acquaintance, George De Mohrens?
childt. He left that same night with his ri-
fle wrapped in a raincoat, telling his wife
he was off to "target practice," but his
target, Gen. Walker, was out of town. Five
nights later, Oswald returned to Gen.
WaBeer's house, and fired a shot at him
that missed his head by inches, demon? .
strafing that he had the capacity as well as
the willingness to kill "Any ~rr-erican."
When Mr. De Mohrenschildt heard news
of the Walker shooting on the radio, he fig-
ured that Oswald had probably been the
rifleman. The next day, he asked Oswald
whether he had taken a "pot shot" at Gen.
Walker, but Oswald avoided answering.
Mr. De Mohrenschildt had probably seen
more of Oswald during this time than any-
one else, including his _ wife, Marina, and
had attempted to piece together what Os?
weld had been doing in the Soviet Union.
Only hours before he committed suicide
in 1977, Mr. De Mohrenschildt explained to
me that he had been asked to keep tabs on
Oswald by the CIA officer in Dallas re-
sponsible for debriefing businessmen on
their trips to communist countries. Since
Oswald was presumed to be unfriendly, the ~
CIA officer suggested that it would be use-
ful to place a "friend" in Oswald's path.
Mr. De Mohrenschildt agreed to talk to Os-
wald in hopes the CIA man might help him
in future ventures. The Walker shooting,
however, was more than he had bargained
for; he immediately parted company with
Oswald.
,~Q1VTL'VLiED
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16 :CIA-RDP9O-005528000404810003-3