FBI S.A. James Hosty had already put off interviewing Marina for six months. It was around this time, March 1963, that S.A. James P. Hosty was supposed to interview Marina Oswald, pursuant to a regular FBI practice of interviewing immigrants from Iron Curtain countries. S.A. Hosty received permission to handle OSWALD'S case as well. After reviewing OSWALD'S files, S.A. Hosty and his supervisor, Supervisor Kenneth C. Howe, reopened the OSWALD case, but S.A. Hosty did not interview Marina Oswald.

On March 25, 1963, Hosty wrote that on "March 4, 1963, Mr. Jeff Woosley, Supervisory Clerk, INS, Dallas, Texas, advised that Mrs. Marina Oswald was, as of January 1963, resided at apartment two, 602 Elsbeth Street, Dallas, Texas." Hosty would later state: "I determined on March 4, 1963, through Immigration and Naturalization Service records that she had moved from Fort Worth to the Dallas area."

Hosty: "On March 11, 1963, Mrs. M.F. Tobias, Apartment Manager, 602 Elsbeth, advised that on March 3, 1963, OSWALD and his wife Marina moved from that apartment building to another apartment building in Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Tobias advised that they had considerable difficulty with Mr. OSWALD, who apparently drank to excess and beat his wife on numerous occasions. Mrs. Tobias advised that they had a small child and that Mrs. Oswald apparently spoke little or no English and seldom associated with any other individuals. They had had numerous complaints from the other tenants due to OSWALD'S drinking an beating of his wife." Hosty would later state:"On March 11, 1963, I made inquiry at this Elsbeth address, and determined from the landlady, that she had evicted LEE and Marina Oswald on March 3, 1963. On that same date, I was able to determine from the postal authorities that they had changed their address to 214 Neely Street..."

There was no evidence that OSWALD drank to excess. Scott Malone: "The reason he beat her was because she was fucking other guys." Marguerite Oswald: "There may be time a woman needs to have a black eye."

Hosty: "On March 14, 1963, I verified that the OSWALDS were residing at this address when I found the mailbox with LEE and Marina Oswald at this address...Now, because of the alleged marital difficulties they were having, I, in my judgment, decided this was not the time to interview Mrs. Oswald, but to allow a certain cooling off period. So then I checked OSWALD'S file, at which time I determined that he had a contact with New York office of The Worker. I noticed it, and then because of the domestic difficulty and the fact that I knew I would be interviewing his wife in the near future, I requested that the case be reopened. I requested the Dallas supervisor reopen the case to me...So I set it up that I would go back and recheck in 45 days."

On March 17, 1963, Marina Oswald sent a signed request for an entry visa to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., a completed two-page questionnaire for persons desiring an entry visa and a one-page autobiography. No letter transmitting these documents was found.

On March 25, 1963, S.A. Hosty sent a letter to the FBI Headquarters stating that "conditions promising a successful interview did not exist as of that time, thus justifying a 'cooling-off' period prior to again making an effort to interview Marina Oswald." That same day, S.A. Hosty received a lead on Marina Oswald. Gordon Shanklin, the Dallas SAC, questioned S.A. Hosty about this lead after the assassination: "There has been no report concerning the lead on March 25, 1963, to interview Mrs. Oswald. Explain why not." Hosty: "Upon careful review of the Manual of Instructions, Section 105-E, it was noted that it would be necessary to utilize a friend or sponsor of Marina Oswald for interpreter and that the atmosphere of the interview would have to be conducted in such a manner as not to cause any undue emotional stress or strain on the person being interviewed. In view of the reported marital difficulties between the OSWALDS, it was decided to wait a suitable period to determine whether the domestic situation had been sufficiently clarified, so as to permit a proper interview as desired in Section 105-E of the manual." [FBI To SAC Dallas from Hosty 12.6.63] J. Edgar Hoover commented: "Certainly an asinine excuse." FBI Inspector J.H. Gale wrote: "Inspector feels this entire facet of investigation mishandled. OSWALD definitely should have been interviewed and Inspector feels best time to get information from her would be after she was beaten up by her husband as it is felt she would be far more likely to cooperate when angry at OSWALD than otherwise." J. Edgar Hoover commented: "This certainly makes sense."[FBI Memo Gale to Tolson 12.10.63]

FBI S.A. James P. Hosty had begun his 45-day cooling off period in relation to interviewing Marina Oswald on March 14, 1963. At the end of this period S.A. Hosty was to interview Marina Oswald. About 70 days later, on May 27, 1963, S.A. Hosty checked the OSWALDS last known Dallas residence and found they had moved three weeks ago. On May 28, 1963, Hosty sent this memo to SAC Gordon Shanklin. "On May 27, 1963, an attempt to interview subjects under pretext reflected that they had moved from their residence. A check with the former Postmaster reflects that the subjects have moved and left no forwrding address. The owner of subjects former residence at 214 Neely, Dallas, M.W. George, will be interviewed for information regarding subjects as well as subjects Brother in Fort Worth." [FBI 105-1435-4; FBI DFO 100-10461-35, 36, 37]

S.A. Hosty testified to the Warren Commission that after the 45-day freeze on interviewing Marina Oswald was over, "I went back to check again in May, the middle of May, I found they had moved from their Neely Street address and had left no forwarding address." This was untrue: He went back to the Neely Street address at the end of May - on May 27, 1963.

Hosty commented, "That's not ironclad. Remember I was working on the General Walker case. Anyway, it wasn't a freeze. It was still active. Where does it say freeze? 'Freeze' is their wording. The letter was written March 31, 1963, and that is when the cooling off period started. Not March 14, 1963. That would make it a 57-day cooling off period. What's the big deal? What's the point? I had 40 cases and his case was one of the lowest priorities at that time. Walker's case was the number one priority. It's not like in the movies or on the T.V., when you have one case and that's all you do. I had 40 cases at that time. The trouble is, you people don't understand our system."

S.A. Hosty had put "a freeze" on Marina Oswald's case on March 14, 1963, because that was when he stopped actively investigating her. When S.A. Hosty visited 602 Elsbeth Street, he missed OSWALD by about a week, and when he visited Neely Street, he missed OSWALD by two to three weeks. S.A. Hosty was deliberately avoiding OSWALD. He waited five months, until OSWALD'S arrest in New Orleans, before he added any new data to the OSWALD file. These reports concerned OSWALD'S employment and whereabouts; yet even then, S.A. Hosty never spoke to the Subject of his investigation, nor approached him for an interview. Hosty commented, "He'd been interviewed twice when he returned from the Soviet Union." HEMMING told this researcher: "The FBI should have been on him like flies on shit. ANGLETON convinced the Bureau not to go near this guy cause he's a fucking asset." James Hosty denied he even heard the name ANGLETON "until his name appeared when he got canned that time. Because I'm pretty far down the totem pole. I'm a field agent. I wouldn't know about top CIA people."

Most FBI reports contained the signatures of two Agents. James Hosty commented, "This was after the assassination. You don't know the system. You're jumping ahead and making up things." Bardwell Odum, contacted in July 1993, commented: "Agents used to work individually." HEMMING told this researcher: "They never interview Lone Ranger style. There are always two agents. Hoover was trying to keep the corruption down." James Hosty: "I was a staunch Kennedy supporter and I would have prevented it. If you were going to have a conspiracy, I'd be the last person you'd want to have involved. I'm a registered Democrat. A Mayor Daley Democrat. These records are public."

S.A. Hosty was not accused of being part of the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy, however, the fact that S.A. Hosty worked the OSWALD security case alone, or in the company of an agent-in-training, suggested S.A. Hosty suspected or knew that there was more to LEE HARVEY OSWALD that first met the eye. The safest thing for Hosty to do was to stay away.

In 1963 HEMMING visited Washington, D.C., after which the FBI sent reports to the Director and Deputy Director for Plans of the CIA; and to the Attorney General and his Deputy; to Army, Navy, and Air Force Intelligence. [FBI 105-86406-10] HEMMING claimed they concerned "conversations, at the White House, during March 1963, with General Clifton, military aide to President Kennedy...briefing at the Pentagon with Victor Krulak, U.S.M.C...under-Secretary of State Sterling J. Cottrell." [HEMMING ONI FOIA/PA Req. 12.22.76] HEMMING complained about the lack of action against Fidel Castro. HEMMING told this researcher: "They wanted to know why CIA was not doing what we were doing, and why CIA was badmouthing us. Kennedy was enthusiastic. He went nuts about this crazy covert shit. I was there, book reader." On March 12, 1963, the FBI in Washington, D.C. generated a highly deleted Letterhead Memorandum about HEMMING, copies of which we sent to the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General J. Walter Yeagley, State, CIA and the military agencies and Kenneth O'Donnell at White House. HEMMING'S case number was now 105-86406, which indicated he was being investigated for Internal Security. [FBI 105-86406-10] HEMMING told this researcher: "The FBI thought I was checking out JFK'S routine and all that shit. They would check the United States Secret Service logs." On March 30, 1963, HEMMING advised the FBI "that as a result of press publicity and letters received in July 1961, he devised a form letter. This form letter was to give general information concerning INTERPEN, dissuade persons from coming to Miami to join INTERPEN, and eliminate people without specialized training. (Deleted) advised that INTERPEN no longer exists. Members of the Cuban Revolutionary Council consider HEMMING a mercenary a maintain no contact with him."

HEMMING'S letter:

"Dear Sir: Thank you for you letter requesting information concerning our organization. We have received many letters such as yours and we are pleased to find that there are thousands of young Americans that are anxious to actively participate in the fight against International Communism...As a self-supporting unit our present facilities are extremely limited, and we are accepting only those veterans that were in Special Forces trained as guerilla warfare instructors, survival, parachute qualified etc. Also we suggest that prior to an individual leaving his home he should have already purchased his own uniform, combat equipment, have a car and enough money to pay room and board until he can be placed with one of the units under our command Considering the aforementioned, should you still be interested in joining we suggest that prior to your departure to Miami you contact a local Sky Diver Club..."

On March 30, 1963, HEMMING advised the FBI he was unemployed and explained that he "did not consider the above letter in any way an instrument of recruiting or any attempt to defraud or use the mails to defraud."

On March 12, 1963, OSWALD ordered a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle with a scope sight from the Klein's Sporting Goods Company of Chicago, Illinois, under the name of A.J. Hidell. HEMMING told this researcher: "We had reason to find out about Klein's Sporting Goods, their delivery times and the whole fucking thing. Whenever we wanted to tell people about gear, we referred them to Klein's. I drafted a form. The FBI complained in 1961 that we were telling people to go Klein's for their gear.

"Let's presume that he's been guided to order the weapon. Why would he have a weapon? He's got to go to a fucking training camp. He's got to practice marksmanship. Any number of things. He had to show some skill with a weapon to the right people." HEMMING said he saw an FBI document about his connection to Klein's Sporting Goods while visiting the Miami FBI Field Office. HEMMING alleged that S.A. Robert Dwyer allowed him to go through the FBI's file on him. This researcher was unable to locate this document. Wallace Shanley: "Dwyer had constant letters of reprimand and was constantly on the edge of being fired. He was a renegade, but he was brilliant." As stated, on HEMMING'S CIA employment application he listed "Klein's 227 W. Washington St. Chicago, Ill." as a financial reference.

HEMMING was asked if this was the same Klein's Sporting Goods where OSWALD ordered his rifle. HEMMING told this researcher: "I don't know what you're looking at. How the fuck would I know? Maybe they're trying to set me up? I don't know. Send me a copy. I had nothing to do with Klein's. My brothers had a credit thing with Klein's. It's a catalogue that covers sporting goods, clothing, the whole thing. I had a fat brother that bought fat man's clothes from them. It's probably the same Klein's where OSWALD got his rifle from. I didn't put nothing down for references. They told me what the fuck was going to go on the son-of-a-bitch. There was no Klein's on there. I didn't put Simpson, Spiegel or Klein's. I don't see who the fuck put that in there. They might have put it in there last week, how the fuck would I know? Nobody's that fucking stupid. You're telling me honestly that somebody put that, linked with my name? That just tells me a story. Ain't nothing new to me. I can give you more damaging shit than that, that I know is in the fucking files. They're worried, because I know who put it in the fucking file, and I know where their fucking children live. And they're scared shitless. They'd like to call a truce with me. I know what credit references I gave. CIA proprietary Andrew Hamilton fund which I drew $2,500 out of when I came back from Cuba and a couple of others. Number one, Klein's ain't got a credit operation. They have a lay-away-plan like Sears. Spiegel's the same way. You don't give those as credit references because they're not in the credit business. That tells me somebody didn't do their research. Now somebody else put something else down that tells me a fucking story. I doubt it, but I'd like to see it. I can go out and print up my own CIA forms and rubber stamps. I can create better documents then they can. And because it's post-1982, they're looking at ten years for doing that shit. If it's worth ten years to link me to something, good. And I'll put their fuck ass away, and I'll know where their kids live."

After HEMMING was confronted with documentation of his connection to Klein's Sporting Goods he denied having told me that he had referred people there: "You transcribed the tape wrong. I had no dealings with Klein's. The FBI was after me for Neutrality Act violations. That's why I saw the inside of so many jails then. I was arrested half a dozen times. I would never tell people where to get weapons."

HEMMING goofed when he used Klein's Sporting Goods as a reference in his CIA employment application and then had OSWALD order his weapon from them. If you want to see HEMMING'S application for employment with the CIA and OSWALD'S invoice from Klein's Sporting Goods, double click here. [Hemapp.JPEG] After I brought this to HEMMING'S attention he lost his temper and threatened the children of CIA employees.

OSWALD had the weapon mailed to Post Office Box 2915, Dallas. After November 22, 1963, the FBI authenticated the signatures on OSWALD'S application for Post Office Box 2915, Dallas, and two forwarding orders. According to Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes, in the event A.J. Hidell was unauthorized to receive mail at this box, OSWALD could have received any packages addressed to A.J. Hidell by bringing the package notice from his box to the appropriate window. The weapon, which in the future would be used in the assassination, would not be traceable to anyone else, except OSWALD, because OSWALD himself had procured it.

OSWALD was manipulated into further linking himself to A. J. Hidell. Among the identification cards found in OSWALD'S wallet after November 22, 1963, was a Selective Service Classification Notice, and a Selective Service Registration Card, in the name of A. J. Hidell. OSWALD'S photograph appeared on the classification notice. A U.S. Marine Corps Service Certificate in the name of Alex James Hidell was also found. These linked the rifle directly to OSWALD.

Government experts on questioned documents testified that OSWALD'S false ID was a counterfeit photographic reproduction made by photographing and retouching negatives to insert into blank spaces where it appeared information had been. A print was made from the retouched negative; new information was typed or written on the second print. This print was then photographed and printed. The Warren Commission admitted this was not a simple process: "The preparation of the negative, apart from retouching, would probably have required a very accurate camera, such as would be found in a photographic laboratory or printing plant." The Report stated that OSWALD "probably produced them at Jagger-Chiles-Stovall." Someone had taught OSWALD the trade craft necessary to produce these documents. One CIA intelligence analyst wrote: "Technical Services Division analysis of this document would undoubtedly help decide whether this card was a transparent phony made by OSWALD himself, or by some small-time operator, or whether it was professionally produced. The elaborate A.J. Hidell fabrication, complete with phony draft card, may be more than just the devious clandestinity of OSWALD himself." [CIA "Indications of Witting Intelligence Involvement by OSWALD"]

HEMMING told this researcher: "I had also put a photograph on a draft card. It was trade craft, and it was to accomplish a scheme. My associates didn't have any alias ID, so I built it on the spot. I had blank Selective Service Cards. There's no place there for a photograph, except for a little square where they stamp in your Selective Service address. Then, when I see OSWALD puts a photograph on a Selective Service card a few months later, he's doing this shit a few months later, I thought to myself, 'What the fuck is this?'"

On July 29, 1962, Clarence Archie Abbott, a male Caucasian, born June 24, 1926, at Warren's, Wisconsin, admitted to an FBI agent the theft of a 1958 or 1959 Mercury automobile at Monterey Park, California, and transportation thereof to Biloxi, Mississippi. In a signed statement to the FBI, Clarence Archie Abbott advised that GERRY PATRICK HEMMING JR. was aware of the manner he had obtained the Mercury in California and had accompanied him from California to Mobile, Alabama, and to Biloxi, Mississippi, where HEMMING received a portion of the money from the sale of the Mercury. On February 22, 1962, Clarence Archie Abbott also advised that HEMMING was in possession of blank United States Navy and United States Air Force identification cards and a United States Navy Identification Card filled out in another name. On September 18, 1962, Assistant United States Attorney Donald Strange advised that he did not feel the evidence in these matters was sufficient to obtain a conviction, and would therefore decline prosecution of HEMMING on both violations. [FBI 62-109060-5583] After the assassination, a group of retouched negatives was found in Ruth Paine's garage, among which were retouched negatives of the original identification cards. HEMMING denied having instructed OSWALD to make the draft card photo I.D.

OSWALD picked up both the Mannlicher-Carcano he had ordered on March 12, 1963, and the 38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver he had ordered from George Rose and Company in Los Angeles on January 27, 1963, on March 25, 1963. Both had been shipped on March 20, 1963. The rifle was at the Post Office and the pistol was at the REA Express office. Had he been instructed to order these weapons by someone familiar with the shipping schedules of both companies? HEMMING told this researcher: "I am familiar with George Rose and Company. They are an Import-Export firm in Los Angeles, my home town." HEMMING also said he had owned two Mannlicher-Carcanos in 1962: "I had those guns since I was 13 years old. I bought them around 1950. Piece of shit fuckin' weapons. Strange isn't it, both of those were taken by Saul Sagué, the guy in Hugh C. McDonald's book, to Honduras in 1962. When he came back, I asked him for the rifles back. He may have given them to the niggers down there. I don't know." Hugh C. McDonald claimed that an assassin named "Saul" was responsible for the death of President John F. Kennedy. HEMMING claimed this was Saul Sagué. A Mario Tauler Sagué took part in an assassination attempt against Fidel Castro: "Summer 1960. Armando Cubria Ramos and Mario Tauler Sague, members of the counter-revolutionary organization La Cruz, were put ashore in the area of Punta Hicacos in Matanzas. CIA had instructed the two to assassinate Fidel Castro and at the same time commit other acts of terrorism and sabotage. When the two hired assassins were arrested they had on them a whole arsenal of equipment provided by the CIA." [Parakal, P. Secret Wars of CIA, 1984 p54 KGB Press]

OSWALD had Marina photograph him with the revolver, the rifle and a Communist paper. He was photographed holding the March 24, 1963, issue of the Worker, and the March 11, 1963, issue of The Militant.

It has been suggested that these photographs were created by splicing OSWALD'S head on someone else's body. This procedure was unnecessary. It was OSWALD'S idea to take these pictures. When questioned about the photographs after the murder, OSWALD realized he made a mistake, and he advised the Dallas Police Department they were doctored and his head had been spliced on. Michael Paine: "When I went over to pick him up for the first time we invited them over to supper with us, the first thing he showed me was that picture of himself taken outside the house there with a rifle and the two documents in his hands." HEMMING told this researcher: "The photographs are unusual. I go along with the proposition that the photos exist. He voluntarily had his picture taken. But it doesn't look like trade craft there. It looks like a fucking stupidity. It doesn't sound like somebody into trade craft...When you start talking guns, you start talking bombs. It's the kind of shit that can blow an operation. It was more of his idea, than someone else telling him to do it. But it kind of fell in. Taking those pictures helped cost him his life. If he connects himself up with a weapon, then he was through dealing." Marina Oswald: "I took the pictures. But the pictures had been tampered with. Guess whose body was on the picture? Roscoe White. [White was a Dallas Police Officer whose son claimed was involved in the assassination.] There was more to it, but it was quickly hushed up."

During World War II, General Edwin A. Walker, a West Point graduate, commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade. It was an elite formation of 900 Americans and 900 Canadians. Soldiers in the unit were demolition experts, parachutists and skiers. In Korea, he commanded the 24th Infantry Division, holding the center of the United Nations line, during some of the heaviest fighting of the Korean war. In 1957 he led federal troops to force school integration in the Little Rock, Arkansas, public schools. A racist, Walker did this only after General Eisenhower refused to accept his resignation from the Army. Walker cited "the fifth column conspiracy and its influences on the home front" as the reason for his resignation. In 1961 General Edwin Walker returned to the news, when it was learned he passed out John Birch Society literature which stated that President Kennedy was a traitor to troops under his command. General Edwin Walker was relieved of his post in Germany by President Kennedy in 1961.

On October 1, 1962, General Edwin Walker was arrested for assault and for resisting or otherwise opposing federal officers, for conspiracy to prevent a federal officer from discharging his duties, and for insurrection and conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. Government, after he led a riot at the University of Mississippi. The University had admitted James Meredith, an Afro-American student. It took 3,000 troops to put down this riot. When General Edwin Walker could not post $100,000 bail, he was committed to the mental ward of the Federal Medical Hospital, Springfield, Missouri, by the Chief Psychiatrist of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who diagnosed Walker as having a paranoid mental disorder. United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy approved this unusual procedure. General Edwin Walker gave the authorities his name, rank and serial number, then issued a statement through his aid, Robert S. Surrey. Walker was soon released on $50,000 bail.

General Edwin Walker was represented by Dr. Robert Morris, a former Counsel with the McCarran Committee (the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee), who later became a prominent Republican and a member of the American Security Council. Dr. Robert Morris was also a former president of the University of Dallas and a unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Senator from New Jersey in 1960. Dr. Robert Morris was the candidate of the John Birch Society for U. S. Senate on the Republican ticket. Morris called Walker "America's first political prisoner."

General Edwin Walker became a legendary hero to the far right. In 1962 Walker ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas against John Connally and others. He received nearly 150,000 votes.

General Edwin Walker knew HEMMING and raised funds for INTERPEN. He flew to Miami and met some of INTERPEN'S members. A letter HEMMING wrote to General Edwin Walker in the Spring of 1963 stated:

GERRY PATRICK

c/o Davis

3350 N.W. 18 Terr.

Miami, 35, Fla.

General Edwin A. Walker June 28, 1963

4011 Turtle Creek Blvd.

Dallas, 19, Texas.

Dear General Walker:

Please convey my best wishes to your family and friends, and I hope this letter finds you enjoying good health and work.

On behalf of the men of that serve in our Instructor Teams, and many others that serve in supporting roles, I want to convey the sincere gratitude of the entire Para-Military Liaison Group (volunteer) for your rapid response to call for assistance.

I received the six hundred dollars via Western Union later in the evening of the same day of my telephone call. Yesterday I received your check of the same amount which I am enclosing for return.

Allow me to elaborate on last weeks happenings. Four of my instructors were arrested by federal agents Wednesday night (June 19, 1963) and subsequently have languished in the hot, humid and badly ventilated Country Jail. These young men were well aware of the risks involved when they volunteered for a difficult and distasteful job. All four have been serving as volunteer instructors and liaison operative for the past three years, without pay, and with great personal sacrifice and hazard.

Of these men, Richard Whatley, a veteran of the U.S. Special Forces (Airborne), was captured by Mexican authorities last year, while on a mission to the Yucatan Peninsula. He and one other instructor were destined to be starved, tortured and degraded for a period of seven months before they were finally released. The Mexicans handed them over to the FBI at the border and they were again jailed at San Antonio, Texas, on a trumped up charge of auto theft. This charge was finally dropped three weeks later because the FBI "discovered" that the legal owner of the alleged stolen car was Howard K. Davis, my colleague and fellow senior instructor. Davis is a former Airborne Ranger, Korean veteran, Paramedic and is a veteran of the Sierra Maestre fighting in Cuba (1957 - 1958).

The aforementioned ex-Special Forces operative was present the night of our detention by Customs agents at Marathon Key, Florida, (December 3, 1962). He held no desire to return to confinement after only two short months of freedom from a Mexican prison. He did successfully avoid capture, and accompanied by his partner from Mexico, made his way safely to another island and later traveled to our camp at No Name Key.

Two months later, during February this year, Dick Whatley and three other instructors were assigned a mission that again involved crossing Mexico to Honduras. None of these men hesitated for a moment in accepting this assignment, even though it meant that should the Mexicans intercept them, they would, without doubt, spend many more months inside a Mexican prison. During four months they moved all over Central America and Mexico. They established excellent new contacts and reaffirmed old ones, and thus will benefit our future operations in those areas.

That mission cost them greatly in personal health, and hard earned funds. One of them required hospitalization on return to Miami. They all required medical treatment for skin ulcers, malnutrition, dysentery and other intestinal disorders, but only one, James Lewis, required surgery to remove fissures aggravated by the dysentery.

You can image what our moral problems are here. A great percentage of the men that serve as volunteer instructors to the Cuban Freedom Fighters usually are forced to quit after two or three embittered months. These men are mostly former Special Forces G/W instructors or are veterans of the Army Airborne, Marine Corps Para-Recon and other branches of the service and have received equivalent instruction. Men of this caliber are hard to come by, and harder to keep on the job once they find what the situation is.

Most of these men leave their homes, jobs and benefits to serve as volunteers without pay, plus they must purchase their own arms and equipment, which very often is later confiscated by the U.S. authorities. A man can take just so much of that and then he disobeys his own conscience and decides that Cuba and the fight against Communists is not worth it. Many of the volunteer instructors bring their hard earned savings with them and donate their all to the cause.

It is hard enough to instruct, go hungry for days, live like an animal for weeks, without having the added discomfiture of knowing the monthly wages you could have earned, are gone down the drain forever. The instructor that underwent surgery, James A. Lewis, since has been on a mandatory rest leave for two months. Jim is a licensed sailing skipper and is at present earning $650 per month, enjoying himself at his favorite hobby. He is Captain of a windjammer that hauls tourists around the Bahamas on the delightful ten day cruises. He is a typical salary level for our men. We have six others that are on rest leave at present. Normal procedure dictates that we require all our instructors to acquire seaman's papers so that if they need a vacation, they don't have to leave the general area in order to earn a good salary. This means they can go to sea for a month or two and earn an average of $475 per month. The lowest-salary man in the group is a mechanic that earns $455 per month at Miami Airport. Quite routinely they donate their earnings towards maintaining the camp, arms, equipment, gasoline, and in many cases they aid a Cuban group...

Much of our personal equipment, arms, clothing, etc. has been sent or delivered by us to the guerillas inside Cuba. At Marathon we lost about $6000 worth of arms and equipment confiscated by the authorities, not including the value of two automobiles, medicine and drugs, gasoline, charts, tools, spare parts etc.

We, as a group, feel that it is for a good cause, Our Country. We plan to continue as before, a small group contributing a small effort towards a big cause. Some of our men, Americans and Cubans, have in the past been captured and executed by Castro. Some are still in Cuban prisons. We cannot forget them or turn our backs and ignore their great contribution, their loss of life or liberty. I expect we will be arrested and jailed many more times before Castro is overthrown. We undoubtedly will lose more men on future operations, but we know this; when the Cuban prisoners are freed, when the mothers of the dead are to be faced, the first question on their lips will be: "What did you do during the fight against Castro?" I feel that when that day arrives, our group can answer, "Very little, but we were there."

Once again I want to thank you and reiterate that your loan of assisting funds will be returned shortly. Must close now, but hoping to hear from you soon, and with best personal wishes, I am,

GERALD PATRICK HEMMING Jr.

(JERRY PATRICK)

On April 10, 1963, OSWALD witnessed, what he believed to be, an assassination attempt against General Walker by HEMMING. Actually HEMMING planned to deliberately miss his target. OSWALD had supplied HEMMING with information on Walker and HEMMING used OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano rifle during the phony assassination attempt. OSWALD'S "homework" in regard to General Walker was to photograph the residence of General Edwin Walker and some nearby railroad tracks, check nearby buildings, bus schedules, etc. OSWALD hid the rifle in some railroad tracks later on.

The purpose of the Walker Incident from HEMMING'S point of view was two-fold. The first was to create a history of violent behavior for OSWALD that would be discovered after the Kennedy assassination. HEMMING had OSWALD create the evidence against himself in the Walker incident. The second was to pay back General Walker for the help he had given INTERPEN because having been shot at by OSWALD would make him into a hero after the Kennedy assassination. HEMMING convinced OSWALD that the assassination of Walker would somehow be advantageous to the right.

HEMMING'S method of operation often involved shots that missed. During my association with him in 1977, HEMMING told two members of his crew (in Spanish) to pull up alongside the car of a man who had arrived at Miami's International Airport, and shoot at him - but miss. About two hours later, a Latin American male entered HEMMING'S office, and told HEMMING, in Spanish, about the incident.

An FBI document confirmed that HEMMING was in Dallas in April 1963 just before someone took a pot shot at General Walker on April 10, 1963. On April 11, 1963, the FBI generated a document titled "FBI, Dallas, Texas. Subject: GERALD PATRICK HEMMING, Lorenzo Hall, Dallas, Texas 2-65 (field) 2-1693 (Bureau)." HEMMING denied being in Dallas at this time and said he wasn't there until July 1963.

In mid-April 1963, HEMMING wrote to President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes and asked for permission to train anti-Castro fighters in Guatemala. HEMMING told this researcher: "BERNARDO De TORRES reviewed the memo. The letter was hand-delivered to Ydigoras at his home in Miami Beach." On March 10, 1963, Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes met with Miro Cardona: "Miro said that Ydigoras complained about President John F. Kennedy and the U.S. Government in general, saying that neither have conducted themselves well with Guatemala and with him. He was critical of U.S. weakness in dealing with the Communist problem, particularly in respect to Cuba...Ydigoras said that in his own country, Guatemala, only a strong position and continual vigilance has prevented the Communist from striking a successful blow and taking over his country." [CIA Report # TDCS DB-3/653,704 3.10.63]

The FBI reported that "(Deleted) on April 17, 1963, advised that HEMMING is presently working part time as a gardener and continues to reside in Miami and continues to maintain his training camp at No Name Key Florida. (Deleted) explained there are only about six Cuban Nationals presently training at the camp. (Deleted) said that HEMMING is losing his desire to go on a military expedition against Cuba and is now more interested in the political aspect of Cuban revolutionary activities."

Evidence that linked OSWALD to the Walker Incident included the fact that the name and telephone number of General Edwin Walker were found in OSWALD'S address book. OSWALD was aware of Walker and mentioned him frequently to Michael Paine. Like Philbrick, OSWALD idolized Edwin Walker. In an essay entitled "Speech Before..." OSWALD wrote: "Americans are apt to scoff at the Idea, that a military coup in the US, as far as often happans in Latin american countries, could ever relplace our goverment. but that is an idea that has grounds for consideration. which military organization had the potenitialities of executing such action? Is it the army? with its many constripes, its unwieldy size it score of bases scattered across the world? The case of Gen. Walker shows that the army, at least, is not fertail enough ground for a far right regime to go a very long way. for the same reasons of size and disposition - the navy and air force is also to be more or less disregarded. Which service than, can quilalify to launch a coup in the U.S.A. Small size, a permenent hard core of officers and a few bases is necscary only one outfit fits the description and the US Marine Corps a right wing infiltrated organization of dire potential consequences to the freedoms of the U.S. I agree with former President Truman when he said that the Marine Corps should be abolished." [FBI DL 100-10,461 WRH/gm] (Former President Truman never said the Marine Corps should be abolished. He said the CIA should be abolished; however, this was in December 1963: "The operational duties of the CIA should be terminated)." [Wash. Post 12.22.63]

"Before the incident with General Walker I know that LEE was preparing for something. He took photographs of that house and he told me not to enter his room. I didn't know about these photographs, but when I came into the room once in general he tried to make it so I would spend less time in that room. I noticed that quite accidentally one time when I was cleaning the room he tried to take care of it himself. I asked him what kind of photographs are these, but he didn't say anything to me." [WC Vol. 1 pg. 14 2.3.64]

"Marina stated that she had originally seen these photographs about two or three days after the Walker shooting. On this occasion, she smelled smoke in the house which they rented on Neeley Street. She investigated and found LEE HARVEY OSWALD in the bathroom burning pages from a loose leaf notebook. OSWALD identified the paper he was burning as being the plans for the shooting of General Walker. Marina stated these pages came from a loose leaf notebook with a blue cover. She has seen this loose leaf notebook about the house since the Walker incident and knows that OSWALD did not destroy the notebook also. She also recalls seeing a bus timetable in the notebook at the time he was burning the pages. At this time OSWALD had in his hand some photographs. She asked to see the photographs and then asked OSWALD what they were. He identified them as being photographs he had taken of the Walker home. Marina is of the opinion that OSWALD developed and printed the photograph himself as he had available material for such work at his place of employment, and because he did not trust anybody else to do the development and printing." [FBI 2.18.64; CE 1156]

Marina Oswald told S.A. Wallace Heitman that OSWALD showed her a notebook containing photographs of General Edwin Walker's home, and a map of the area where his house was located, three days after the Walker incident. She claimed she told LEE it was a bad idea to keep this book; subsequently she said she smelled smoke in their Neely Street home. When she investigated, she found "OSWALD burning pages from a loose-leaf notebook. OSWALD identified the paper he was burning as plans for General Edwin Walker's shooting. She also recalls seeing a bus timetable in the notebook, at the time he was burning the pages. At this time, OSWALD had in his hand some photographs. She asked to see the photographs, and then asked OSWALD what they were. He identified them as being photographs he had taken of the Walker home." [WCE 1156]

The Warren Commission asked Marina Oswald: "Did you ask LEE why he had not destroyed the book before he actually went to shoot General Edwin Walker?" She answered: "It never came to me myself, to ask him that question...I asked him what for he was making all these entries in the book and he answered that he wanted to leave a complete record, so that all the details would be in it."

From this testimony, the Warren Commission concluded: "OSWALD was not particularly concerned about his continued possession of the most incriminating sort of evidence," because he left it for historical purposes. OSWALD had turned his report over to HEMMING and HEMMING did not return it to him until after the Walker shooting.

On December 3, 1963, Marina Oswald identified five photographs of the Walker residence and some nearby railroad tracks, found among OSWALD'S possessions in Ruth Paine's home, to the FBI and United States Secret Service. The photographs depicted the wall through which the bullet aimed at General Edwin Walker passed, the spot where his assailant stood, and the fencepost upon which the shooter's rifle rested. (The Dallas Police Department found a chipped edge on this fencepost, which indicated something had been laid on it.). A fourth photograph that showed a stretch of railroad tracks was identified by Marina Oswald as having been taken by her husband in connection with the General Edwin Walker shooting. The FBI determined this photograph was taken approximately seven-tenths of a mile from General Edwin Walker's house. Another photograph of railroad tracks found among OSWALD'S possessions was taken from a point slightly less than one-half mile from the house of General Edwin Walker. The Bureau ascertained these photographs were taken with OSWALD'S Imperial Reflex camera.

OSWALD forgot to burn these photographs.

"She does recall she had asked OSWALD when he returned home and confessed he had attempted to assassinate General Walker that night what he had done with the rifle because she was afraid the rifle might be found and traced to OSWALD. In answer to her query, OSWALD told her he had buried the rifle in the ground or in the bushes far away from the actual spot of the shooting. She recalls OSWALD mentioned a field and also a railroad track and she has the impression OSWALD might have meant he hid the rifle in a field near a railroad track. Marina said she recalled OSWALD showing her photographs he had taken of the General Walker home. She also recalled OSWALD had shown her some photographs he had taken which depicted a railroad track. It is her recollection that these railroad tracks were near the Walker house...Marina was asked if OSWALD had mentioned being associated with any other person in connection with the attempted assassination of Walker. She said OSWALD had never mentioned another person in this connection. She said she was sure in her own mind he had planned and attempted the assassination completely alone. She said it was not like OSWALD to be associated with anyone else in such an endeavor...She does recall OSWALD mentioned on one occasion, when they were discussing the Walker incident, a gathering at a church near the Walker house. He told her he had postponed his assassination attempt until the evening of the gathering at this church." [WC CD 1124]

The fact that Marina knew that there was a church meeting on the night of the Walker Incident indicated that OSWALD had discussed this event with her.

On Friday, April 5, 1963, OSWALD was fired from his job at Jagger-Chiles-Stovall for reading a Russian-language Communist newspaper. Robert Surrey, an aide to General Edwin Walker, reported that on Saturday, April 6, 1963, at about 9:00 p.m., "two white men in a 1963 Ford [four door Sedan], dark purple or dark brown, parked in the alley directly behind the complainant's [General Edwin Walker] house. These persons were witnessed getting out of the car and walking up to the property line and smoking the place over." They were dressed in suits. Robert Surrey followed them for thirty minutes as they left the alley and stated: "There was no license plate on this car, either front or rear." On Monday April 8, 1963, Robert Surrey had seen "two men around the house peeking in windows" of the Walker residence. [WR p183; HSCA R p98] When Kennedy came to Dallas in November 1963, Surrey and Walker had "Wanted For Treason" leaflets printed. The Secret Service reported: "Mr. Robert A. Surrey is known to be associated with General Edwin Walker. Information at the (Deleted) indicates that Mr. Surrey is an aide to General Walker." Surrey was President of the American Eagle Publishing Company which was "believed to be controlled by Edwin Walker. Lt. Jack Revill, Criminal Intelligence Section, Dallas Police Department, reports that he has received numerous complaints that the American Eagle Publishing Company is anti-Jewish and anti-Negro. Lt. Revill reports that some organizations from the opposite end of the spectrum try to keep tabs on what the American Eagle Publishing Company is doing. For this reason, it is possible that Mr. Surrey did not want to print the 'Wanted For Treason' leaflets at the American Eagle Publishing Company. (Deleted)." [USSS CO-2-34,030-1505]

Scott Hansen, a Mormon, aged 15, advised that on the night of April 10, 1963, he was attending a Scout meeting at a church that was nearby the Walker residence. "Hansen stated that he recalls observing a 1958 black over white Chevrolet parked along the fence next to Major General Edwin A. Walker's property on the night of April 10, 1963. He stated that he recalled seeing the same automobile parked along this fence on a previous Wednesday, but has not seen the car in the church lot since April 10, 1963." [FBI DL 100-10461 6.4.64 Barrett and Lee]

A Dallas Police report stated: "A witness by ear, Kirk Coleman, w/m 14 states he was sitting in the back room of his home and heard what sounded like a shot. (Illegible) up over the backyard fence and he looked onto the church parking lot he saw some unknown white male speed down the driveway towards Turtle Creek, in either 1949 or 1950 Ford, light green. He then noticed what appeared to be (illegible) with the door open on a 1953 Chevrolet, black with white stripe side down, states this person (illegible) pushed up and was leaning over as if he was putting something into the floorboards. This person got inside the Chevrolet and sped away from the lot. (There was a meeting of some sort at the church and the lot of was full of cars but at the time the witness looked out there they were the only people on the lot)."

When Dallas policeman W.E. Chambers contacted Kirk Coleman, Coleman stated: "that he was in the back room and heard a noise. He thought it was a blowout. The boy who was with him, Ronald Andries said it was a gun shot. Kirk stated that he then ran out the back and climbed the back fence and saw a man getting into a 1949 or 1950 Ford, Light Green or Light Blue and take off. This was on the parking lot of the church next to General Walker's home. Also on further down the parking lot was another car, unknown make or model and a man was in it. He had the dome light on and Kirk could see him bend over the front seat as if he was putting something back in the floorboard. The only description Kirk could give on this car was the fact that it was black with a white stripe. The other boy, Ronald, did not climb the fence, so he did not see this. The only description the boy could give on the person who got into the Ford was that he was middle size and had long, black hair. There were several other cars on the parking lot because some function was in process at the church. The church has lights for the parking lot but Kirk stated the lights were not on. The person that was in the Ford took off in a hurry but the person in the other car did not seem to be in a hurry."

General Edwin Walker believed OSWALD had accomplices: "There were two people in the alley and they were seen by a 15-year-old boy, that was a-carpenterin' with his daddy. The kid saw them sitting in the church parking lot, the two men got into their cars and sped away." [FBI DL-100-10461-6.8.64 Barrett & Lee; 11WH404; WCD 1124]

The HSCA stated: "It is possible that OSWALD'S associates in the Kennedy assassination had been involved with him in earlier activities. The committee conducted a limited investigation to see if leads could be developed that might assist in identifying these possible associates. No leads were developed and this line of inquiry was abandoned." [HSCA R p61]

According to the Warren Commission: "At approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 10, 1963, Major General Edwin A. Walker...narrowly escaped death when a rifle bullet fired from outside his home passed near his head as he was seated at his desk." Marina Oswald related that on Wednesday April 10, 1963, OSWALD left their Neely Street apartment shortly after dinner. He said he was going to typing class at Crozier Technical High School; he last attended Crozier Technical High School on Monday April, 8, 1963. [FBI 62-109090-1859]

The Dallas Morning News reported:

CLOSE CALL

Rifleman Takes Shot at Walker

by Eddie Hughes

A gunman with a high powered rifle tried to kill former Major General Edwin Walker at his home Wednesday night, police said, and missed the controversial crusader by less than an inch. Walker was working on his income tax at 9:30 p.m. when the bullet, identified as a 30.06 crashed through a rear window and slammed though a wall next to him. Police said a slight movement by Walker apparently saved his life. 'Some one had a perfect bead on him,'said Detective Ira Van Cleave, 'Whoever it was certainly wanted to kill him.'

"Walker dug out several fragments of the shell's jacket from his right sleeve and was still shaking glass and slivers of the bullet out of his hair when reporters arrived. Walker said he returned to his Dallas home Monday after an extensive coast-to-coast crusade which he called 'Midnight Alert.' It was on Monday night that one of his assistants noticed a late modeled unlicenced car parked without lights in the alley behind the Walker house at 4011 Turtle Creek. The car remained there for about 30 minutes while several occupants once walked up to the back door to look in, then left. Asked if he had any idea who shot at him, Walker replied: 'There are plenty of people on the other side. You don't have to go overseas to earn a Purple Heart. I've been saying the front was right here at home. When I saw the hole in the wall I went upstairs and got my gun, then went outside to take a look. I didn't see anybody so I went back in the house and notified police."

In May 1977 I questioned General Edwin Walker: "I don't think the Warren Commission would have found out if it was OSWALD unless they had to and were sure of that. He did not deliberately miss. He was dead on me with a telescopic sight. I didn't move. He hit the window framework and the bullet was deflected. There were two people in the alley and they were seen by a kid out in the alley 15 years old that was carpentering with his daddy and he told the police there were two men in the alley...there were two cars. The kid saw them sitting in the church parking lot, the two men got in the cars and drove away. I never heard of OSWALD or knew he was at a DRE meeting."

In 1970 General Edwin Walker recalled, "In my home window today there is a perfect bullet hole through a copper strip." [ltr. Walker/Russell 3.11.70] Dallas Police photographs revealed the bullet nicked the window frame. The trajectory of the high powered bullet would have been changed as a result of this. No tests were ever conducted by the Warren Commission on General Edwin Walker's windows, so it was difficult to determine precisely what role they played. Double click here to see a photo of Walker's window. [Walker.JPEG] The bullet whizzed by General Edwin Walker's arm (he said he had been hit in the right arm by wood, glass or bullet fragments), passed through a wall, then landed on a stack of packages of papers in an adjoining room. The gunman rested his rifle on a wooden fence, slightly chipping it in the process, and had a clear downhill shot at General Edwin Walker. General Edwin Walker could have been easily killed, but only one shot was fired.

On June 6, 1963, S.A. Hosty was informed by an ex-employee of General Walker, William MacEwan Duff, that he was involved in an arrangement to kill General Edwin Walker, with two other men. William MacEwan Duff had received an Undesirable Discharge from the Army on June 2, 1964, by reason of unfitness due to Fraudulent Entry in the Army (concealment of other service). His record contained a letter entitled: "Fraudulent Entry" that stated: "During the entire period of time EM has been assigned he continually cause trouble because of his refusal to tell the truth." Duff came to Dallas where he married Frances Barnard. The marriage was annulled after two weeks.

In June 1963 two private investigators hired by General Edwin Walker told the Dallas Police Department that Duff was planning to kill Walker. These were the two men named by Duff as plotting to kill Walker. Duff was arrested and polygraphed. The polygraph test indicated he had no knowledge of the Walker Incident.

The FBI reported: "Dallas report of S.A. WARREN C. DeBRUEYS dated December 8, 1963, on pages 284 and 285 set out interviews of Marina Oswald on December 3, 1963, and December 4, 1963. She advised during the Spring of 1963 they resided on Neeley Street. One evening in the Spring of 1963 her husband indicated he was going to typing class at the Dallas evening school (Crozier Technical High School where OSWALD last attended on April 8, 1963) where he normally attended two or three times a week. On this particular evening he was very late and arrived home about midnight, very pale, agitated and excited at which time he admitted trying to kill General Walker by shooting at Walker with a rifle. Marina Oswald stated her husband normally would depart the Neeley Street address sometime between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. returning home about 9:00 p.m."

In 1964 Marina told the Bureau: "When he came back, I asked him what happened. He was very pale. I don't remember the exact time, but it was very late. And he told me not to ask him any questions. He only told me he had shot at General Edwin Walker." OSWALD went on that he did not know if he had hit General Edwin Walker; when he learned from the newspapers the next day that he had missed, he told her he was "sorry that he had not hit him." Marina Oswald told the HSCA: "[When he returned late that evening] he turned the radio on and he was very pale and he was listening to the news, changing from station to station. I ask him what it was all about, and he said that he tried to shoot General Edwin Walker. I told him, how dare you take somebody's life and you should not do things like that, I mean you have no right to do it. He said well if somebody shot Hitler at the right time you will do justice to humanity so since I do not know anything about the man I should not talk about it." [Marina's HSCA Test. pg. 383] In 1994 Marina Oswald told this researcher: "All I can tell you is what he told me when he came home. And people have pointed out how nervous he was after that, and he was cool as cucumber after Kennedy? Are you asking me, did I make this up? No. He came home from work, it was late, I found the note in one of the little closets. I confront him when he came what it was all about? Then he turned the radio on. He told me he shot at Walker."

If OSWALD shot at General Edwin Walker he would have known immediately if he hit him or missed him. Marina Oswald pointed out to this interviewer that all she had was her husband's word he shot at General Edwin Walker. She was not a witness to the event. HEMMING was the shooter and knew the outcome of the Walker incident. OSWALD was exaggerating his importance in the event to his wife. He had not done the shooting. If he had, he would have known that he missed.

DeMohrenschildt told the Warren Commission that while he and his wife were visiting the OSWALDS one evening at Neely Street, Marina Oswald remarked that LEE bought a gun and showed it to Mrs. DeMohrenschildt. George DeMohrenschildt told the FBI that this visit occurred on Saturday, April 13, 1963. That year Easter Sunday fell on April 14, 1963. The purpose of the visit was to deliver an Easter present to OSWALD'S daughter. In 1964 Marina Oswald stated "when she had asked her husband what he had done with the rifle, he replied that he had buried it in the ground or had hidden it in some bushes. He also mentioned a railroad track in this connection. She testified that several days later, OSWALD recovered his rifle, and brought it back to the apartment." Marina Oswald stated that OSWALD did not retrieve his rifle until April 14, 1963.

Nonetheless, George DeMohrenschildt claimed he and OSWALD stood in the front room talking, and Marina Oswald opened a closet to show Mrs. DeMohrenschildt the gun; Mrs. DeMohrenschildt called out to her husband in the next room. He did not get a look at it, but remembered a telescopic sight. Marina Oswald told them LEE used it for target shooting. George DeMohrenschildt noted he then "jokingly" asked LEE if he had taken the shot at General Edwin Walker. LEE became tense, "sort of shriveled," and made a face in answer to the question without specifically answering it.

In a State Department interview at the American Embassy, Haiti, on December 1963 the DeMohrenschildts claimed they had seen the rifle in the Fall of 1962, and not the following Spring. In that interview, they claimed the last time they had seen the OSWALDS was in January 1963, not April 1963; they were too busy preparing for their forthcoming trip to Haiti to see LEE and Marina Oswald after that. [HSCA V12 p52] The HSCA asked Marina Oswald whether she exhibited the rifle to the DeMohrenschildts: "I cannot tell you that, not because I am hiding, but because I cannot recall." [HSCA V12 p301]

In George DeMohrenschildt's unpublished manuscript, he blamed the Walker incident on a Jew: "There is another thing which makes me believe that LEE possibly tried to shoot General Edwin Walker. A man, whose name I do not recall, a Jewish man, whom LEE met at Ford's Christmas party, described General Edwin Walker as the most dangerous man in the United States, a potential neo-fascilst [sic] leader. I noticed that LEE kept on asking why. And the other fellow explained clearly his reasons. LEE might have been influenced by this statement." Marina Oswald told this interviewer in 1994: "I think he waited two days before recovering the rifle. They did come and bring that. If it was Easter it had to be Sunday. I liked DeMohrenschildt very much."

OSWALD left a note for Marina Oswald in Russian with practical instructions in case the Walker mission ended in failure. Marina Oswald testified she became agitated the night of the Walker incident when she found the note in OSWALD'S room; she entered the room contrary to his instructions when she began to worry about his absence. She allegedly kept the note, to turn over to the authorities "if something like that should be repeated again." When asked whether LEE requested she return the note, she claimed: "He forgot about it." Marina Oswald did not bring the note to the attention of the Dallas Police Department, but kept the note in a Russian book entitled Useful Advice. Ruth Paine accidentally turned the note over to the Dallas Police Department on December 2, 1963. Michael Paine: "I accept that he took a shot at Walker and nothing came of it. I think he probably meant to kill him, but Walker had the good fortune to duck at the right moment. He wrote a letter and left it with Marina Oswald just before he went out that night. My wife was raked over the coals by the FBI when she quite unwittingly sent that letter to Marina Oswald. Ruth was sending Marina things she thought Marina would like, and this was a book written by Doctor Spock on babies. The FBI came back thinking she was trying to smuggle important information to Marina. So they grilled her, brought her to tears, and she was totally ignorant of that letter being in the book. She had never seen it. And she was very angry at Marina for keeping from her that LEE had done that. Later on, I remember discussing with Ruth why she had done that: Marina Oswald was afraid of being deported back to Russia." Ruth Paine: "This was a book that Marina had read to me from. It was child raising manual. After she left on November 23, 1963, I expected her to come back, but she didn't. So every day or so I would send something the baby that might need - a change of clothing, etc. Mail began to come for her. I would give it to the police. The FBI had overlooked it. Later, I understood Marina had hidden a note in a book. First I heard about it, two guys from the Secret Service came and asked if I knew anything about it. They presented it as if I did know something about it. I said, 'I just sent a book to her.'" The text of the note:

(1) This is the key to the mailbox which is located in the main post office in the city on Ervay Street. This is the same street where the drugstore, in which you always waited is located. You will find the mailbox in the post office which is located 4 blocks from the drugstore on that street. I paid for the box last month so don't worry about it.

(2) Send the information as to what has happened to me to the Embassy and include newspaper clippings (should there be anything about me in the newspapers). I believe that the Embassy will come quickly to your assistance upon learning everything.

(3) I paid the house rent on the second so don't worry about it.

(4) Recently I also paid for water and gas.

(5) The money from work will possibly be coming. The money will be sent to our post office box. Go to the bank and cash the check.

(6) You can either throw out or give my clothing etc. away Do not keep these. However I prefer you hold on to my personal papers (military, civil etc.)

(7) Certain of my documents are in the small blue valise.

(8) The address book can be found on my table in the study should you need same.

(9) We have friends here. The Red Cross also will help you. (Red Cross in English). [sic]

(10) I left you as much money as I could, $60 on the second of the month. You and the baby (apparently) can live for another two months using $10 per week.

(11) If I am alive and taken prisoner, the city jail is located at the end of the bridge though which we always passed on going to the city (right in the beginning of the city after crossing the bridge).

The note referred to the Walker Incident.

1. "This is the key to the mailbox which is located in the main post office in the city on Ervay Street. This is the same street where the drugstore, in which you always waited is located. You will find the mailbox in the post office which is located 4 blocks from the drugstore on that street. I paid for the box last month so don't worry about it."

OSWALD gave Marina Oswald the key to his post office box for the first time. He had previously withheld it from her. OSWALD had Marina Oswald wait in a drugstore rather than accompany him into the main post office on Ervay Street, where OSWALD rented Box 2915 from October 9, 1962, to May 14, 1963. What was he up to at the Post Office?

The Warren Commission: "Although the possibilities of investigation in this area are limited, there is no evidence that any of [OSWALD'S three boxes] were ever used for the surreptitious receipt of messages...The single outstanding key was recovered from OSWALD immediately after he was taken in custody." [WR p312] In 1994 Marina Oswald did not recall having been told to wait in the drugstore while her husband went to the post office: "It was just to remind me where it was."

2. "Send the information as to what has happened to me to the Embassy and include newspaper clippings (should there be anything about me in the newspapers). I believe that the Embassy will come quickly to your assistance upon learning everything."

OSWALD feared his action might escape notice not only by the Washington newspapers, where the Soviet Embassy was located, but by the local media in Dallas. General Edwin Walker was headline news in 1963; even the anonymous pot shot made the front page of the Dallas Morning News. OSWALD was incredibly stupid.

OSWALD was about to commit a political act which would be viewed sympathetically by the Soviets. According to Marina Oswald: "LEE said he was a very bad man, that he was a fascist, that he was the leader of a fascist organization...if someone had killed Hitler in time it would have saved many lives." [WR p406]

3. "I paid the house rent on the second so don't worry about it. Recently I also paid for water and gas. The money from work will possibly be coming. The money will be sent to our post office box. Go to the bank and cash the check." The reference to OSWALD'S check having been mailed to his Post Office Box meant the letter was written sometime after April 5, 1963, when he lost his job at Jagger-Chiles-Stoval.

4. "You can either throw out or give my clothing etc. away Do not keep these. However I prefer you hold on to my personal papers (military, civil etc.) Certain of my documents are in the small blue valise. The address book can be found on my table in the study should you need same." OSWALD was about to commit a crime that could result in a stiff prison sentence.

5. "We have friends here. The Red Cross also will help you. (Red Cross in English). [sic] I left you as much money as I could, $60 on the second of the month. You and the baby (apparently) can live for another two months using $10 per week. If I am alive and taken prisoner, the city jail is located at the end of the bridge though which we always passed on going to the city (right in the beginning of the city after crossing the bridge)." OSWALD was going after a former General , a tough customer. He could have been killed or taken prisoner. [DeMohrenschildt/W WR p282; WR pp. 416, 738, 592; HSCA R pp. 98, 60, 62]

Marina Oswald told this researcher 1994: "If he was apprehended as you said, but something more will be printed, then identify people who tried to shoot at Walker as it was in newspapers, you follow me? Maybe the Embassy would help me to go back to Russia? He was giving instructions where to go if he doesn't come home. Maybe he was with a group and maybe they would kill him. It's unlikely Walker would have killed him. The police aren't going to kill him. The message of the thing was that he had a mission or had another second life. He did not indulge in a explanation to me. I knew nothing about it. So, if something happened to me, he was just giving directions to go to get help. Maybe somehow also he betrays himself by saying it. That's a giveaway without him realizing that. The note did not say he was going to kill Walker. He came home without that rifle. What was all that about? If HEMMING put my husband up to this, the main thing was to show LEE was a killer."

The Warren Commission Report stated: "Specimen Q188 was fired from a barrel rifled with four lands and grooves, right twist. Mannlicher-Carcano rifles of the type used in the Kennedy assassination are among those which produce general rifling impressions such as were found on specimen Q188." FBI ballistics expert Robert Frazier apprised the Commission that relatively few types of rifles could produce the characteristics found on the bullet. [WR p186]

The FBI's tests did not prove conclusively the bullet was fired from a Mannlicher-Carcano or was fired from OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to the exclusion of all others: "The FBI was unable to reach a conclusion as to whether or not the bullet recovered from the house of General Edwin Walker had been fired from the rifle found in the Texas School Book Depository." The FBI reported: "Bullet submitted as recovered from Walker's home has same physical characteristics as the bullet and bullet fragments recovered in connection with the assassination of President Kennedy. Walker bullet is 6.5 MM caliber bullet fired from a four land and groove, right twist barrel Mannlicher-Carcano rifles of type used in the assassination are among those which produce rifling characteristics such as on Walker bullet. Not possible to determine whether or not Walker fired from rifle used in assassination due to extreme distortion and mutilation and because individual microscopic marks produced by barrel may have changed subsequent to time Walker bullet fired." [Memo R.H. Jevons to Conrad 12.4.63] The FBI Lab Report that this document was based on stated: "The copper jacket and the lead core of the Q188 bullet were determined to be slightly different in compositions from the copper jackets and lead cores of the Q1 and Q2 bullets. Although the differences in composition between the Q-188 and the Q-1 and Q-2 bullets were small and do not indicate that these bullets came from the same box. It is to be noted that there is no assurance in the fabrication of ammunition that all the ammunition ending up in one box possesses bullets from the same batch of metal, that is, with the same composition." [NARA HSCA 180-10100-10288]

The HSCA: "The firearms panel of the committee examined the bullet fragment that was removed from the wall in the home of General Edwin Walker and found that it had characteristics similar to bullets fired from OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano rifle. In addition, neutron activation analysis of this fragment confirmed that it was probably a Mannlicher-Carcano [6.5 millimeter] bullet."

HEMMING used OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to shoot at Walker. Any tests conducted on the bullet would show that it was fired from a rifle whose barrel had the same or similar rifling characteristics to OSWALD'S.

In the original story about the Walker shooting in the Dallas Morning News, Q188 was identified as a 30.06: "Walker was working on his income tax at 9:30 p.m. when the bullet, identified as a 30.06 crashed through a rear window and slammed though a wall next to him."

An early police report described the bullet as "of unknown caliber, steel jacketed." [Supp. Offense Report 4.10.63]

General Edwin Walker did not believe that the bullet fired at him was in the possession of the HSCA and he sent this Mailgram to Robert Blakey: "The bullet before your Select Committee called the Walker bullet is not the Walker bullet. It is not the bullet that was fired at me and taken out of my house by the Dallas City Police on April 10, 1963. The bullet you have was never gotten from me, or taken out of my house, by anyone at any time."

The FBI investigated General Edwin Walker's contention. Billy Gene Norvell discovered the bullet in the home of General Edwin Walker. On June 3, 1964, Norvell advised an FBI agent that "...he then picked up the bullet and scratched his initials 'B.N.' or his initial 'N' on the base of it." Norvell gave the bullet to B.G. Brown of the Crime Scene Search Section of the Dallas Police Department. Brown stated that he marked the bullet. On April 25, 1963, J.C. Day transported the bullet to the City/County Criminal Investigation Laboratory, where he turned it over to F.T. Alexander and Louie L. Anderson: "Lieutenant Day advised that he retrieved the Walker bullet from the CCCIL on December 2, 1963, and gave it to FBI S.A. Bardwell Odum on that date...S.A. Odum forwarded the Walker bullet to the FBI Laboratory."There, it was initialed JH and RF.

In June 1979 the FBI examined the bullet for the officers initials who were links in the chain of evidence: "Identifiable marks were found inscribed on varying portions of the bullet itself. It must be understood that certain markings are clearly discernible, others admit of more than one interpretation, while others may be obscured by oxidation or otherwise." The markings found were, "Q 188," and letters which appeared to be as follows: "HJ," "RF," "N," "B," "J," "D," "A," "O" or "D." The bullet was contained in an original Dallas Police evidence box: "The cover (top) of the box bears 'HJ, RF, April 10, 1963, 4011 Turtle. CK Burg by F.A. BGB Q 188. The inside bottom of the box bears 'Day 7640' and the outside bottom bears '7640 Day' as well as 'Q 188' and 'Rm.'" [FBI Director to Keuch 62-117290-144 7.3.79]

HEMMING owned a 30.06 rifle at this time, however, it was unlikely that he would have utilized it in the Walker attack, when he had OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at his disposal. The rationale behind the Walker attack was to create a history of violence for OSWALD by linking him to the Walker incident. Firing at Walker with OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano would further this end. The newspaper reporter who stated that the bullet was a 30.06 may have gotten his information from Walker. Walker was convinced the bullet the FBI had was not the one taken from his wall, however, Walker was a crackpot. The initials on the bullet matched those of the police officers who handled it.

An FBI document dated December 4, 1963, to the SAC, Dallas, from SA (Deleted), Subject, Edwin A. Walker, Information Concerning, stated: "Assistant Director William C. Sullivan called at 3:10 a.m. and instructed he receive a return telephone call and be filled in on the details relating to the alleged bullet being shot into the home of Edwin Walker. I returned the call and advised Mr. Sullivan that the General Walker shooting details are not contained within the Dallas files. However, I mentioned that a slug obtained from the Dallas Police Department had been sent to the Laboratory for examination, and the transmittal letter reflects the slug was recovered from Walker's home through a window and that no one has been identified as firing the bullet. Mr. Sullivan then instructed that Agents review Dallas newspaper morgues first thing Wednesday morning, November 4, 1963, and the details be obtained and furnished him by teletype. Mr. Sullivan cautioned this be done discreetly since no one knows of OSWALD'S possible involvement in the shooting. Lead (AM, November 4, 1963) Immediately review morgues for new articles on or about April 10, 1963 relating to General Walker shooting. Prepare detailed teletype, attention: Assistant Director Sullivan. Addendum: In connection with the Walker case, FBI S.A. Kenneth Howe advised that (deleted) called him (Howe) on evening of December 3, 1963, and said an unidentified (deleted) mentioned 'I suppose you (deleted) know about it - OSWALD taking a shot at Walker - he admitted to it in a letter to his wife. 2- Dallas (Deleted)'" [FBI 157-218-45 re. 1983]

OSWALD allegedly chose an enemy of President John F. Kennedy as his first target before assassinating President John F. Kennedy. The HSCA: "Kennedy and Walker hardly shared a common political ideology. As seen in terms of American political thinking, Walker was a staunch conservative, while the President was a liberal...It can be argued, however, that from a Marxist's perspective, they could be regarded as occupying similar positions." Most Communist Party-oriented Marxists believed that certain capitalist forces were more progressive than others and should be encouraged.

The Warren Report stated that OSWALD'S attack on General Edwin Walker betrayed a predisposition to take human life. Once the Warren Commission established this, the Walker attack became probative evidence OSWALD killed President John F. Kennedy. [WR p187] HEMMING told this researcher: "OSWALD didn't do the Walker shooting. The whole clownish story of the Walker shooting: he's gonna ride a bus with a rifle. Oh, he breaks it down, and rides the bus. Then he hides it somewhere in the railroad tracks and picks it up. Jesus Christ.

"Marina had the battered wife syndrome, as they call it today. Let me tell you, if he was doing that kind of shit, she would have blown the whistle in a heartbeat to keep her kids. Why should her kids suffer for this kind of activity? In the Soviet Union, whatever you do - your family is going to pay for it. You talk about deterrence of crime, police states have got it. She's gonna come over here, from that kind of society, and she's gonna look around and think this country's any goddamn different? How the fuck would she know? What would she have done in the Soviet Union if he started talking about hitting the Kremlin? She would have snitched him out. What was the difference in her frame of mind between living in Minsk and living in Dallas, Texas. No difference. Whatever she would have done there, she would have done in Dallas. So all this bullshit about her being aware, this was to dirty her up, to get her to admit that kind of shit.

"We got suspicious of Walker when he went out there just a short time after somebody took a shot at him, yet we were sitting in Walker's study with the curtains open, the lights on, bullshitting with Walker until 5:00 a.m. in the morning. We're thinking, 'What's gonna keep the rig from coming back?' And we're sitting there with him. He took no security precautions at all after the shooting. Either this guy's a total fucking nut or he knows something we don't know. Me and Howard Davis are kinda wondering if he must have had something to do with setting it up himself. This was May 1963. We were out there again in July and we were wondering, 'Maybe Walker's people set it up to promote Walker?' Or maybe some of the right wing people in Dallas, to promote Walker, conned OSWALD into you know, all speculation. Walker had already met with some of our Texas financial backers. The backers were backing Walker. We hadn't elected Walker our leader."

On April 18, 1963, the Soviet Embassy, Washington, sent Marina Oswald a letter requesting that she come in for an interview. If this was impossible, it suggested she furnish her reasons for beginning proceedings for permission to enter the Soviet Union for permanent residence in writing. Marina Oswald did not follow up on her request until June 1963. Then she informed the Soviets that her husband would be accompanying her back to the Soviet Union. Marina Oswald and LEE OSWALD had planned to separate, now they were back together again. HEMMING told this researcher: "It could have been a homesick thing, Cubans, Russians, everybody goes through this shit. But when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, where she's got to make the decision voluntarily - and he's talking about going back? We are led to believe that he's trying to convince her to go back because she's supposedly writing these letters for him to the Soviet Embassy in D.C. And he's going back? Bullshit. Did you get what I just said?" Marina Oswald told this researcher: "He made me to write letters to Embassy. Go away. He cannot tell me why."

The Warren Commission stated "Some time between April 12, 1963, and April 18, 1963, OSWALD distributed Fair Play for Cuba Committee materials in Dallas apparently uneventfully." OSWALD wrote a letter on April 19, 1963, to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New York, requesting literature and announcing he had already distributed Fair Play for Cuba Committee pamphlets in Dallas:

L.H. OSWALD

P.O. Box 2915

Dallas, Texas.

Dear Sirs: I do not like to ask for something for nothing but I am unemployed. Since I am unemployed, I stood yesterday for the first time in my life, with a placare around my neck, passing out fair play for cuba pamplets, ect. I only had 15 or so. In 40 minutes they were all gone. I was cursed as well as praised by some. My homemake placard said: 'HANDS OFF CUBA! VIVA Fidel. I now ask for 40 or (50) more of the fine, basic pamplets - 14."

HEMMING told this researcher: "Never happened. The White Russians wouldn't have stood for it. He never gave out the leaflets. There were no pro-Castro demonstrations in Dallas. He would have got his ass kicked.

The FBI had several informants in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and had burglarized the offices of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. On April 21, 1963, the FBI in New York City became aware of OSWALD'S letter.

The news about OSWALD'S contact with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee did not reach S.A. Hosty until early June 1963. The FBI: "A Special Agent in New York was censured for failing to promptly disseminate information on the Fair Play for Cuba to Dallas concerning OSWALD. Another Special Agent in New York was censured for failing to insure that Fair Play for Cuba information concerning OSWALD was more promptly disseminated to Dallas." S.A. Hosty had been instructed to be on the alert for Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities in Dallas, yet when he received the telex about OSWALD'S leafleting, he claimed the information was "stale." He made no attempt to verify OSWALD'S claim of having distributed leaflets: "When I got it, it was approximately six or seven weeks old, past the date it allegedly took place..."

S.A. Hosty refused to investigate OSWALD despite his contacts with the notorious and highly subversive Fair Play for Cuba Committee.

When the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was first formed, the CIA commented: "We bet this one winds up on the Attorney General's list." The announcement of the formation of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was made on April 5, 1960, at a cocktail party given by Cuban Consulate. On April 6, 1960, a full-page advertisement in The New York Times listed Richard Gibson, authors James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Jean Paul Sartre, Robert Taber (a Robert Taber born May 10, 1919; died in September 1981) and others as sponsors.

Robert Taber's CIA file reflected allegations that he served a term in the penitentiary in the 1930's for armed robbery. It was reported in 1950 he was a Communist. He became interested in Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement in 1957, when he served in the mountains with the Castro forces. A Passport Record check in 1962 noted that he may have lost his U.S. citizenship because of this. A 1960 Domestic Contacts Division report categorized him as a resentful, frustrated foreign correspondent. He received extensive publicity in 1961 when he defected to Cuba because he was facing a perjury charge in the United States: he had testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee that the full-page advertisement in The New York Times was paid through voluntary contributions, but the FBI developed evidence that Cuba's delegation to the United Nations advanced the money. [CIA F82-0489] Fifteen months later Robert Taber returned to the United States and was questioned in closed session by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. In March 1964 Robert Taber applied for employment with the CIA. The CIA's Office of Security rejected him because "In view of Subject's notorious background, which raises serious questions on his honesty, loyalty, integrity and (deleted) trustworthiness, (deleted). Leo J. Dunn." [CIA Memo 3.13.64 Chief, Personnel Security Division] HEMMING told this researcher: "Taber went up in the mountains for the Agency. He put out money for a hit on Fidel. St. George went up there. He was a stalking horse to take out Fidel. He had a price on his head."

The CIA believed the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was controlled and financed by Cuba. It uncovered evidence that a U.S. national in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee had been given the monopoly on the distribution of Cuban cigars. [CIA F82-0489/3] The Fair Play for Cuba Committee immediately came under intensive FBI investigation. [CIA F82-0489/28; F82-0489/2] By January 1961 the Justice Department solicited its registration as a Cuban Government agency. However, the organization advised through an attorney that it would not register. The Justice Department had already forced the 26th of July Movement to register, listing its foreign principal as the 26th of July Movement, Havana, Cuba. In April 1961 the Fair Play for Cuba Committee charged that the CIA organized troops to invade Cuba, and were training in Louisiana, Florida, and Guatemala, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations. [NYT 4.18.61] The CIA penetrated the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. According to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Richard Helms, to "monitor" a group was merely to attend its public meetings and hear what any citizen present would hear; to "infiltrate" a group was to join it as a member and appear to support its purposes in general; to "penetrate" a group was to gain a leadership position, and influence or direct its policies and actions. [RR fn p152] In 1979 Richard Helms was asked if he was familiar with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee: "I recall the name Fair Play for Cuba Committee, but I can't, for the life of me, remember whether it was pro-Castro or anti-Castro at this stage."

A member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee National Office was recruited as a CIA asset during the CIA's investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When Richard Gibson was questioned at the American Embassy, Paris, he explained his motivation for working in an organization like the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was purely economic. In 1994 the CIA released a document that indicated Richard T. Gibson had been indirectly hired by the Agency. [CIA Memo 10.7.76 Joel Keys to Rod Brooks; CIA ltr. 10.20.76] Richard Gibson headed the New York Office of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee before he was replaced by V.T. Lee. This researcher met V.T. Lee circa 1977. V.T. Lee was a violent individual who believed the Jews had exaggerated the holocaust. [CIA F82-0489/9; FBI 105-82555-124, 355; CIA 637-799, 416-755, 387-738, 102, 375-155; WCE 799; WCD 137, 6; WCE 1154; WR pp.729, 407, 14, 435] HEMMING told this researcher: "OSWALD got the name of V.T. Lee from Senator Eastland's publication, Castro's Network in the U. S. V.T. Lee's testimony had been taken in 1961 and kept secret until April 1963. In there he's got a guide manual and addresses of people targeted by Eastland. He's given this shit before it's made public. They give it in the galley format and he's reading this stuff before it's available to the public. He focused on Lee because of the hearings. Who ever heard of V.T. Lee in our circles? I never heard of the son-of-a-bitch. The highest priority was to nail V.T. Lee, the insolent son-of-a-bitch, who, while giving testimony, snitched out Eastland for taking bribes from Trujillo and Somoza. So OSWALD gets recruited in the fucking deal. 'Pro-Castro' people with guns taking a shot at Walker. 'Pro-Castro' people with guns taking a shot at the President. Get the picture. This is what OSWALD'S going along with. Somebody's gonna pop a couple of caps. They are going to be labeled pro-Commie. There going to have pamphlets and histories, they're going to be connected with V.T. Lee and they are going to bust V.T. Lee for running an armed group of pro-Castro Cuban agents. That's where the whole assassination thing got fucked up. Too many fucking people trying to do crazy shit for their own fucking agenda. That's why the cover up was so sloppy. Because there was so much to cover up. Everybody was stumbling over everybody else."

After the assassination Marina Oswald was instructed to say that NIXON was one of OSWALD'S targets in April 1963, when NIXON was scheduled to travel to Dallas.

During an interview with the FBI Robert Edward Oswald advised that on January 13, 1964, James Herbert Martin had told him that Marina Oswald said that when RICHARD NIXON visited Dallas, date not indicated, OSWALD intended to shoot him. Robert Edward Oswald said that Marina Oswald related the same story to him on January 13, 1964, when they visited OSWALD'S grave. Marina Oswald told this researcher: "What did I know about NIXON matter? Don't forget I'm only 23 years old. My husband is an accused assassin. You think I'm going to tell everything about him when he's in hot water? You defend your husband. I told them all eventually, but I did not tell them immediately."

In January 1964 Marina told the FBI:"Approximately two weeks after the Walker incident, and while they resided on Neely Street, [between April 10, 1963 and April 22, 1963] some time between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. OSWALD dressed himself in a suit and tie and put a pistol under his jacket. OSWALD was unemployed. Marina Oswald asked where he was going and OSWALD replied, 'NIXON is coming, and I'm going to take a look.'"

A. I was scared because he was going with the gun and he said, "Mr. NIXON is coming to town and I am just going to look around." I said, "Well, I said, how can you look around? Why do you need a gun just to look around?" So we were having a big argument and fight.

Q. Did you know who Mr. NIXON was?

A. Yes, I heard of him in Russia, yes.

Q. And you knew that was the same Mr. NIXON that you heard of?

A. Yes.

Q. What started the fight between you and LEE?

A. Well, I didn't want him to leave the house with a gun.

Q. What happened?

A. Well he stayed home all day, he didn't go out.

Q. Did he just voluntarily stay home?

A. Well I already told you before that everybody asked him the same silly question, how does a small woman lock him in the bathroom and things like that. I did not know. He wanted to provoke me. I just now can speculate about his state of mind, what the reasons were for it. Maybe just to punish me.

Q. How did he get into the bathroom?

A. Well we fought and I cannot give you the details right now. First there was a struggle and I guess I pushed him in, so somehow he went there, and I held the door for a long time, but I could not go on holding the door, so I finally begged and pleaded with him and he said he would not go and I believed him. So then I told him to take the clothes off. I know that he cannot go without the clothes, so he sat and read the books then.

Q. Was he trying as hard as he could?

A. Before I said I didn't hold the gun. Well, if I asked him to give me the gun then, for example, during the fight, I could have held it and hidden it somewhere so he would not leave.

Q. How did he give you the gun? Was he still in the bathroom?

A. Could be. It was a second floor and there were stairs. There was a little like a platform there or a small hall. I don't know if he gave it to me or I took it, I don't remember.

Q. Was he trying as hard as he could, do you think, to get out of the bathroom.

A. Well, at the beginning he would have probably have tried but, well, it was quite loud and I was embarrassed that the neighbors that lived below would hear us fighting and fussing...LEE took off his shoes, pants, and shirt, gave me his pistol, remained in the bathroom for three hours, then came out and sat around the apartment in his underwear the rest of the day.

Marina Oswald told the Warren Commission that she went into the bathroom and called her husband. When he was in the bathroom, she jumped outside and held the door shut behind her, holding onto the doorknob and bracing her feet against the wall so her husband could not push the door open. The Warren Commission did not believe Marina Oswald. First, the bathroom door opened from the inside, so OSWALD would be pulling the door open, not pushing it as Marina Oswald described. Secondly, there was no lock on the outside of the door. OSWALD could have pulled on the doorknob and gotten out.

Even the FBI did not believe this tale: "The Director had indicated it seemed a little incongruous that she had been able to lock her husband in a bathroom for all, or part of, a day when he was supposed to be a man of violent temper and one would think he would have broken down the door..." J. Edgar Hoover: "I stated why she did not tell us about this NIXON matter, I did not know, as she told us about the General Edwin Walker matter. I stated my reaction about this business of locking LEE in the bathroom is that there is something fishy here because she would not be able to do this because he beat her up on occasion...I stated it was a fact NIXON was there the day before the assassination and it will be a sensational story because he is former Vice President and very anti-communist." [FBI Hoover to Tolson 2.24.64]

HEMMING told this researcher: "OSWALD was a macho guy. Arguing with people. Slapping his old lady around. He ain't gonna kick the door down, then beat the shit out her, then fuck her? In our group you're talking about heavy testosterone Rambo types. There ain't no fucking wimps in our group. He had the Marine Corps razz-a-matazz behind him too. The killing machine shit." Marina Oswald said "No one could dominate [my husband]." [CIA 673-280]

HEMMING told this researcher: "I don't think he said anything to her about NIXON and she wouldn't remember anyway who the fuck NIXON was. Where would she get a picture of him or an article or anything to lock into her memory banks who the son-of-a-bitch was? Everybody carried a gun in Texas. 'Take a look' don't mean shit. Most of it would be to show a psychological profile of a guy who was down on anybody in a leadership capacity, regardless of his political party. The whole gist of the psychological profile is 'This guy kills leaders.' That's the profile they want to push. He didn't say anything about Kennedy to her, when he says something about NIXON? If it is true, someone must have told him NIXON'S coming. Only NIXON'S friends would know. How does OSWALD get to one of his friends? Anyone who's friendly to RICHARD NIXON, what the fuck are they doing talking to OSWALD? With his reputation as a defector? She was programmed. When you've been threatened by government people, you think it ever goes away? When you've been raised in a police state? It could be someone told her to make up that story."

The FBI reported Marina Oswald did not know who NIXON was when this incident occurred, and did not recall OSWALD ever mentioning NIXON'S name prior to the incident. During and after the incident, NIXON was not discussed. Marina Oswald told the Warren Commission, she knew NIXON once ran for the Presidency, but still claimed to know little about him. When Marina Oswald testified before the HSCA in 1978 she changed her story: "I had heard of him [NIXON] in Russia." She was then asked, "You knew that that was the same Mr. NIXON that you had heard of?" She answered, "Yes."

James Hosty said, "Some people think OSWALD was talking about Johnson and that she didn't know the difference between Johnson and NIXON. Vice President Johnson, Vice President NIXON." In 1994 Marina Oswald told this researcher that she knew who NIXON was at the time: "I am from Russia and I am not idiot. He was a political figure in America."

The FBI checked with a close associate of NIXON in Dallas, Maurice Carlson, President, Reliance Life and Accident Insurance Company, who advised the Bureau that NIXON had been invited to Dallas in April 1963, by the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce, to receive its annual "Good American" award. At the last minute NIXON was unable to attend.

Maurice Carlson later advised the FBI: "He was previously confused as to the South and East Dallas Chamber of Commerce inviting RICHARD NIXON to speak in April 1963 to their annual banquet. He stated efforts were made to get Barry Goldwater but they did not work out...Carlson stated to his knowledge NIXON was not in Dallas in 1962 and was here only once in 1963, on November 21, 1963." Maurice Carlson, 75, died on December 28, 1989.

The FBI questioned Robert R. Parks who was a member of the South and East Dallas Chamber of Commerce. Robert R. Parks was in charge of finding a speaker for the annual banquet. Robert R. Parks said to his knowledge, "at no time was NIXON ever invited to speak before the South and East Dallas Chamber of Commerce and particularly he was not invited to do so in April 1963. Check at newspaper morgue at Dallas Morning News for period March 16, 1963 to May 16, 1963 last negative regarding NIXON visit to Dallas." [NARA 124-10169-10365] Peter O'Donnell, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas knew of no invitation or publicity concerning Mr. NIXON in 1963 other than the time he was in Dallas in November 1963. [FBI 105-82555-2652]

The FBI checked all the Dallas media but there was no publicity anywhere about NIXON'S Dallas trip.

February 26, 1964.

TO: Mr. Sullivan

FROM: Mr. Branigan

On a teletype from the Dallas Office which reported the results of the interview of Marina Oswald concerning the alleged threat of OSWALD to shoot former Vice President Richard Nixon, the Director inquired, "Approximately what date would NIXON incident be?"

The Dallas office reported that Marina Oswald put the date at approximately two weeks after the Walker incident. Since the Walker incident occurred April 10, 1963, the date of the NIXON incident would be approximately April 24, 1963.

Information developed by the Dallas Office casts considerable doubt on the validity of the story related by Marina Oswald. It will be noted that Mr. Maurice Carlson, President of the Reliance Life and Accident Company, had previously indicated that former Vice President RICHARD NIXON was scheduled to appear in Dallas, April 1963, to receive an award from the Chamber of Commerce. On recontact Carlson admits he was mistaken in furnishing his first information. A check at the newspaper morgue of the Dallas Morning News for the period of March 16, 1963, to May 16, 1963, was negative as to any publicity concerning a visit of former Vice President NIXON to Dallas. It is inconceivable that a person of the public stature of former Vice President NIXON could visit Dallas without some public notification. We have furnished the available information on the NIXON incident to the President's Commission and we will have to completely run this out until we are satisfied we have arrived at the truth. Action: The quickest and most satisfactory way to resolve whether former Vice President NIXON visited or intended to visit in Dallas in 1963 is to ask him. Attached is a teletype to the New York Office instructing that former Vice President NIXON be interrogated to determine if during 1963 he had any invitation or any intention to visit Dallas and whether, in fact, he did so visit in that city. [Hoover's handwritten note] He was in Dallas the day before the assassination of Pres. Kennedy. H." [NARA FBI 124-10021-10303]

The FBI also reported: "We located no articles indicating Mr. NIXON planned a trip to Dallas during the aforementioned period (May 15, 1963 to October 1, 1963)...We contacted Mr. NIXON'S office and ascertained that Miss Rosemary Woods did not have the article in question, but she believed such article did appear in a Dallas newspaper..."

The FBI interrogated NIXON on February 28, 1964: "On February 28, 1964, the Honorable RICHARD M. NIXON, former Vice President of the U.S., was contacted by Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office, John F. Malone, and furnished the following information: Mr. NIXON advised that the only time he was in Dallas, Texas, during 1963 was two days prior to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He vaguely thought there was some invitation extended during the early part of 1963, probably in April, for him to come to Dallas, but that it never materialized, nor did he give any consideration to going there. Mr. NIXON could not even recall the circumstances surrounding the invitation, but did observe that conceivably there could have been some publicity indicating that he had been invited to come to Dallas. Mr. NIXON said that if anything more concrete comes to his mind or after his secretary checks his records, which would indicate the circumstances surrounding this, he would immediately notify the FBI. He did say positively that he had no intention of visiting Dallas during April 1963. [WCE 1973]

Isaac Don Levine, an associate of RICHARD NIXON, collaborated with General Walter Krivitsky, a Soviet defector, on a book titled, I Was in Stalin's Secret Service. In 1939 General Walter Krivitsky was found mysteriously dead in a hotel room.

In 1939 Isaac Don Levine met with Whitaker Chambers, who worked for the Department of State, and Adolf Berle, the head State Department's Office of Security. Whitaker Chambers alerted Adolf Berle to the existence of Communist espionage at the State Department. Isaac Don Levine helped persuade Whitaker Chambers to testify against Alger Hiss, a State Department official, during Alger Hiss' espionage trial in 1948. Isaac Don Levine testified at this trial: he said that Whitaker Chambers had told him in 1939 that Alger Hiss had destroyed all evidence linking him to the Soviets, except for some typewritten pages (typed on a 'Woodstock' typewriter) and microfilm (later found in a pumpkin).

NIXON told White House Counsel John Dean, "We built the typewriter in the Hiss case." Author Tony Summers reported that in 1960 the FBI considered using forgery to neutralize a member of the Communist Party by "exposing" him to his colleagues as an FBI informant. The scheme involved typewriter forgery. J. Edgar Hoover remarked: "To alter a typewriter to match a known model would take a large amount of typewriter specimens and weeks of laboratory work." [Summers Secret Life Hoover p167] Alger Hiss insisted the incriminating documents produced by the prosecution had been typed on a fake model Woodstock typewriter deliberately constructed by his enemies to match his own. Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury, not espionage. Author David Leigh reported that BRIDE, an National Security Administration code-breaking program, "gave clues which led to the prosecution of Hiss." [Wilson Plot p6] In 1992 the head of Russian Military Intelligence was advised that a search had been completed of the now-defunct KGB records for traces on Alger Hiss. There were none, although written records may have not been kept.

RICHARD NIXON attempted to frame Alger Hiss for espionage.

Isaac Don Levine was tied to Eastern European exile groups and was a trustee of the American Committee for Liberation from Bolshevism. This committee, under the guiding hand of Frank Wisner, funded numerous émigré research institutes that employed ex-Nazi intelligence officers. [Loftus CAIB Winter 1986; Ziger Memo To: Rankin Fm: Slawson 9.6.64; Levine WC Test pp.14-16] Levine was an associate of Cuban exile Mario Kohly.

In 1964, during the Warren Commission Hearings, Isaac Don Levine told Allen Dulles: "I ascribe utmost importance to the whole matter of these Argentines. The two girls [the daughters of Alexander Ziger]. They were in Minsk, but Marina has address of relative in the United States. Marina and LLE OSWALD smuggled out a letter or a manuscript for the Argentine family with them when they came...It was not clear whether it was he or she who smuggled it. I was surprised and asked her how did LEE take out something like that? Well, the implication was rather nice -- that he was warm-hearted -- that he was kind. They were stuck and it had to do with a communication to one relative in the United States and others in Argentina. To try to get those two girls out and never had a word. The old folks had given up their Argentine citizenship, but the girls were born in Argentina and claimed that by right as their citizenship. Mr. Dulles, if their [emigration] could be arranged, it would be worthwhile. The Soviet Union is not going to hold two Argentine citizens even though they were friends of OSWALD'S. They are not quite that smart" Allen Dulles replied it was a matter of finding the right contacts, possibly the Argentine Ambassador to the Soviet Union, and having him intervene. Isaac Don Levine wanted Allen Dulles to have the CIA contact the Argentines "to set the machinery in motion." Isaac Don Levine became a director of the CIA proprietary, Radio Liberty, in 1970.

Isaac Don Levine contacted Marina Oswald regarding their collaborating on a book. The FBI reported: "James Hunt, CIA, furnished the following information to the Liaison Agent on March 27, 1964. Isaac Don Levine has been collecting material for a book concerning OSWALD. This book is scheduled to be published in April 1964. Levine allegedly has spent considerable time with the widow of the Subject. Hunt explained that the CIA's source for this information was Hede Massing, who is known to the Bureau. Massing has been in contact with Levine." [FBI 105-82555-2184]

There were widespread deletions in a CIA document describing the relationship between Isaac Don Levine and the NIXON incident. William Branigan commented, "Levine was pursuing Marina as a source of information. That would be the only reason. Because Marina was involved in the Walker shooting. At any rate, it didn't amount to anything. To me it was something. You don't try to shoot somebody and then try to keep it all quiet. Marina was a little bit involved in that. She had to be. I don't know much about the OSWALD/NIXON thing." [Tel. Interview w/Branigan] In February 1964 William Branigan wrote: "Information developed by the Dallas office casts considerable doubt on the validity of the story related by Marina Oswald." [FBI 105-82555-2177]

Ruth Paine commented, "Levine was a semi-retired journalist. He and his wife traveled across the country twice a year, then returned to the Washington area. He stopped by occasionally. He was one of the most interesting people I met. He came to the States as a teenager from Russia. He explained to me the various branches and fractions and factions of communism. I had a feeling that he would understand some of the gyrations of OSWALD'S thinking - he never had a chance to talk directly to OSWALD. I didn't know of his connection with the Hiss case."

Warren Commission Counsel David Slawson questioned Isaac Don Levine about the NIXON incident. Isaac Don Levine: "The NIXON story. I suppose that you know that I went to see Rose Mary Woods since I saw you and NIXON'S papers are now brought from San Francisco to the New York office. The first I heard of it was from Jim Martin [the business manager of Marina Oswald] during the last week in January. He told me about it and said that of course this is something that Marina herself would not want to talk about, but he wanted me to know about it. He didn't say at the time [when he got the information]. Before I left Dallas he said he got it from his wife Wanda, whereupon when he was in Oklahoma I drove out with my wife and we visited Wanda alone. She told us the story as it happened that Marina one evening in conversation opened up and told her that a week or so after the attempt on the life of General Edwin Walker, he came home disgusted. He had been out hunting for NIXON who had been reported as due to attend some sort of Dallas affair. She naturally tried to quiet him and do what she could...He had been out with the rifle...He dressed neatly, put on his best suit, necktie, shirt and was going out with the rifle, and he went into a tirade saying he was going to get that so and so. When I finally got to Miss Rosemary Woods and she told me the girl was out in California bringing the NIXON papers, she gave me the following information. She believed that a certain Tad or Ted Smith, an influential Republican, maybe Treasurer - had sent an invitation some time before for NIXON to attend a Republican fund raising dinner; she thought there was one piece in the press announcing NIXON'S invitation and acceptance. There may have been a radio announcement, maybe a Walter Winchell column. I looked for straight news from April 10, 1963, onwards."

Levine continued: "Last week I spoke on the phone to Rose Mary Woods and she said that they are short staffed, and there are many immense cartons, and she doesn't know whether they can get into it and check on the invitation dates and who it came from."

Evidence suggested Isaac Don Levine coached Marina Oswald into saying that NIXON had been another potential victim of OSWALD. At first, Maurice Carlson remembered the NIXON was asked to visit Dallas in late April 1963. No invitation or clipping that indicated NIXON was to be in Dallas surfaced. How could OSWALD have known that NIXON had been asked to visit Dallas? He did not know Maurice Carlson. Levine claimed that Marina told Wanda Martin about the NIXON Incident. Recently released Warren Commission documents indicated Marina Oswald was having sexual intercourse with James Martin, and that Marina Oswald told his wife about it. This would not have made Wanda Martin someone who Marina Oswald was likely to confide in. The HSCA asked Marina Oswald how the information about the NIXON incident got into the press:

A. Well, to tell you the truth, right now I don't remember how this information about the NIXON incident got to the Secret Service or I told him [Martin] my own or somebody. I really do not recall right now how it got into the press or knowledgeable to you and everybody else.

Q. Well, you must have -

A. I do not remember who was the first one that I told that.

Q. But you told somebody.

A. Of course I did, nobody cooked this up.

Marina Oswald "cooked up" this story. The HSCA conceded that "Marina Oswald, because of her testimony, played a central but troubling role in the investigation of the Warren Commission. A great deal of what the Commission sought to show about OSWALD rested on her testimony, yet she gave incomplete and inconsistent statements at various times to the Secret Service, FBI and the Commission..." [HSCA R p55]

The Warren Commission concluded: "Regardless of what OSWALD may have said to his wife, he was not actually planning to shoot Mr. NIXON that time in Dallas...and the incident was of no probative value."

Marina Oswald told this researcher in 1994: "But why would I make one more thing against him if it didn't happen? He took his clothes off and sat in the bathroom. I do not know if he was testing me or not. You can check it out if NIXON was coming there. There was no publicity? That's fine and dandy. He said he go by newspaper. How stupid or dumb that incident is, it happened. What was behind it, I do not know. He never went that day. But he mentioned NIXON that day. I would tell you by now if that was a lie or this or that. What the motives were, I had no idea. It happened after the Walker incident and I was terrified. It had nothing to do with Levine. He ne