Legend
The endless tangle of questions about bullets, trajectories, wounds, time sequences & inconsistent testimony that's surrounded the JFK assassination & has fascinated generations of self-styled investigators, probably never will be satisfactorily resolved. Each new release of documents from the various bureaucracies involved in the half century old investigation may only deepen apparent contradictions. Within this morass of facts. however, there's a central actor, Lee Harvey Oswald. His rifle, which fired the fatal bullet, was found in the Book Depository. So was his palm print. He'd bought the ammunition. His cartridge cases were found near the body of a murdered policeman on the route of his flight. In light of the evidence, the issue that ought to have concerned people wasn't Oswald's technical guilt but whether he was involved with others. He wasn't a loner. Ever since he was handed a pamphlet about the Rosenbergs at age 15, he was a joiner, seeking affiliations with groups at home & abroad. At 16 he wrote the SP "I am a Marxist & have been studying Socialist Principles for well over 5 years" requesting information about joining their Youth League. He later made membership inquiries to the SWP, SLP, The Gus Hall-Benjamin Davis Defense Committee, The Fair Play for Cuba Committee & the CP—correspondence bringing him under FBI surveillance. He also joined the Marines. After a 2-year stint as a radar operator, he sought still another affiliation: in 10/59 he became the 1st Marine to defect to the USSR. In Moscow, he delivered a letter stating "I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." Not only did he publically renounce his citizenship but he told the US consul he intended to give the Soviets military secrets he'd acquired while serving in the Marines, adding he'd data of "special interest" to the Russians. Since he indeed had exposure to secrets such as the U-2, his defection had serious espionage implications. He thus hadn't only compromised the secrets he'd come in contact with, but put himself in the hands of another country. He was now dependent on Russia for financial support, legal status & protection. Before disappearing into the Soviet hinterland for a year, he spelled out his operational creed in a long letter to his brother. From Moscow, he wrote presciently of his willingness to kill 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 would kill any American who put a uniform on in defense of the American Government" & then ominously added for emphasis, "Any American." His willingness to act as an assassin was now known to anyone who read the letter, which included not only his Russian hosts but US intelligence, since his letter was intercepted by the CIA & microfilmed. He returned to the USA in 6/62, joined by his Russian wife Marina, settling in Dallas. He then purchased a rifle with telescopic sights & a revolver from a mail-order house under a false name. He lectured a few friends on the need for violent action rather than mere words. His particular focus was extreme conservative Gen. Edwin A. Walker, who'd been active in Dallas organizing anti-Castro guerrillas. For example, he suggested to a German geologist, Volkmar Schmidt that Walker should be treated like a "murderer at large". He didn't stop at fierce words. For weeks, he stalked Walker's movements, photographing his residence from several angles. He then had his wife photograph him, dressed entirely in black, with a revolver strapped on a hip holster, a sniper's rifle in his right hand & two newspapers, The Worker & The Militant, in his left. He made 3 copies--one of which he inscribed, dated "5-IV-63" & sent to a Dallas acquaintance, George De Mohrenschildt. He then left with his rifle wrapped in a raincoat, telling Marina he was off to "target practice", but his target, Walker, was out of town that night. He retur