chapter VII

of the Commission’s report, indicated that Lee was a withdrawn, socially maladjusted boy, whose mother did not interest herself sufficiently in his welfare and had failed to establish a close relationship with him.[A13-219] Mrs. Oswald visited Lee at Youth House and came away with a highly unfavorable impression; she regarded it as unfit for her son.[A13-220] On the basis of all the test results and reports and his own interview with Lee, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, the chief staff psychiatrist, recommended that Lee be placed on probation with a requirement that he seek help from a child guidance clinic, and that his mother be urged to contact a family agency for help; he recommended that Lee not be placed in an institution unless treatment during probation was unsuccessful.[A13-221]

Lee returned to court on May 7. He and his mother appeared before Justice McClancy, who discussed the Youth House reports with them.[A13-222] He released Lee on parole until September 24, and requested that a referral be made to the Community Service Society for treatment.[A13-223] The probation officer called the society on the same day but was told that it would probably not be able to take the case because of its already full case load and the intensive treatment which Lee was likely to require;[A13-224] it confirmed this position 1 week later and closed the case on May 31.[A13-225] An application was made to the Salvation Army also, which turned it down because it could not provide the needed services.[A13-226]

During the few weeks of school which remained, Lee attended school regularly, and completed the seventh grade with low but passing marks in all his academic subjects.[A13-227] (He received a failing mark in a home economics course.)[A13-228] His conduct was generally satisfactory and he was rated outstanding in “Social-Participation”; the record indicates that he belonged to a model airplane club and had a special interest in horseback riding.[A13-229] Robert Oswald visited New York that summer, while he was on leave from the Marines.[A13-230] Lee did not appear to him to be unhappy or to be acting abnormally, nor did Robert observe that relations between Lee and his mother were strained.[A13-231] Lee’s truancy the previous fall and winter was apparently discussed only in passing, when Mrs. Oswald mentioned that Lee had had to appear before a judge.[A13-232]

On September 14, Lee entered the eighth grade at Public School 44.[A13-233] His parole was due to end 10 days later. On September 24, however, Mrs. Oswald telephoned the probation officer and advised that she could not appear in court; she added that there was no need for her to do so, since Lee was attending school regularly and was now well adjusted.[A13-234] The parole was extended until October 29, before which date the school was to submit a progress report.[A13-235] The report was highly unfavorable. Although Lee was attending school regularly, his conduct was unsatisfactory; teachers reported that he refused to salute the flag, did little work, and seemed to spend most of his time “sailing paper planes around the room.”[A13-236] On October 29, Mrs. Oswald again telephoned to say that she would be unable to appear. Justice Sicher continued Lee’s parole until November 19 and directed the probation officer to make a referral to the Berkshire Industrial Farm or Children’s Village.[A13-237]

Before the next hearing, Mrs. Oswald discussed Lee’s behavior with the school authorities, who indicated to the probation officer that Lee’s behavior improved considerably after her visit to the school.[A13-238] He did, in fact, receive passing grades in most of his subjects in the first marking period. His report also contains notations by his teachers that he was “quick-tempered,” “constantly losing control,” and “getting into battles with others.”[A13-239] Both Lee and his mother appeared in court on November 19. Despite Mrs. Oswald’s request that Lee be discharged, Justice Sicher stated his belief that Lee needed treatment, and continued his parole until January 28, 1954; the probation officer was directed to contact the Big Brothers counseling service in the meantime.[A13-240]

At the request of the probation officer, the Big Brothers office contacted Mrs. Oswald in December, and on January 4 a caseworker visited her and Lee at home.[A13-241] The caseworker reported that he was cordially received but was told by Mrs. Oswald that continued counseling was unnecessary; she pointed out to him that Lee now belonged to the West Side YMCA, which he attended every Saturday. The caseworker reported, however, that Lee was plainly “displeased with the idea of being forced to join various ‘Y’ organizations about which he cared little.” Mrs. Oswald declared her intention to return to New Orleans and was advised to obtain Lee’s release from the court’s jurisdiction before she left.[A13-242] On the following day, she called the probation officer, who was away on vacation, and was advised by his office again not to take Lee out of the jurisdiction without the court’s consent.[A13-243] The same advice was repeated to her by the Big Brothers caseworker on January 6. [A13-244] Through all these contacts, Mrs. Oswald had evidenced reluctance to bring Lee into court, prompted probably by fear that he would be retained in some sort of custody as he had been at the time of the commitment to Youth House.[A13-245] Without further communication to the court, Mrs. Oswald and Lee returned to New Orleans sometime before January 10.[A13-246] On March 11, the court dismissed the case.[A13-247]

In New Orleans, Lee and his mother stayed with the Murrets at 757 French Street while they looked for an apartment.[A13-248] Lee enrolled in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High School on January 13[A13-249] and completed the school year without apparent difficulty.[A13-250] He entered the ninth grade in September and again received mediocre but acceptable marks.[A13-251] In October 1954, Lee took a series of achievement tests, on which he did well in reading and vocabulary, badly in mathematics.[A13-252] At the end of the school year, on June 2, 1955, he filled out a “personal history.” He indicated that the subjects which he liked best were civics, science, and mathematics; those he liked least were English and art. His vocational preferences were listed as biology and mechanical drawing; his plans after high school, however, were noted as “military service” and “undecided.” He said that reading and outdoor sports were his recreational activities and that he liked football in particular. In response to the question whether he had “any close friends in this school,” he wrote, “no.”[A13-253]

Lee is remembered by those who knew him in New Orleans as a quiet, solitary boy who made few friends.[A13-254] He was briefly a member of the Civil Air Patrol,[A13-255] and considered joining an organization of high school students interested in astronomy;[A13-256] occasionally, he played pool or darts with his friend, Edward Voebel.[A13-257] Beyond this, he seems to have had few contacts with other people. He read a lot, starting at some point to read Communist literature which he found at the public library;[A13-258] he walked or rode a bicycle, sometimes visiting a museum.[A13-259] Except in his relations with his mother, he was not unusually argumentative or belligerent, but he seems not to have avoided fights if they came; they did come fairly frequently, perhaps in part because of his aloofness from his fellows and the traces of a northern accent in his speech.[A13-260] His only close friendship, with Voebel, arose when Voebel helped him tend his wounds after a fight.[A13-261] Friends of Mrs. Oswald thought that he was demanding and insolent toward her and that she had no control over him.[A13-262]

While Lee was in the eighth and ninth grades, Mrs. Oswald worked first at Burt’s Shoestore[A13-263] and then at the Dolly Shoe Co.[A13-264] One of her employers at Dolly, where she worked as a cashier and salesclerk, remembered her as a pleasant person and a good worker.[A13-265] At her request, the company hired Lee to work part time; he worked there, mostly on Saturdays, for about 10 weeks in 1955.[A13-266] On the “personal history” record which he filled out in school, he stated that he had been a “retail shoesalesman”;[A13-267] but his employer recalled that they had tried to train him as a salesman without success and that he had in fact been a stockboy.[A13-268]

After a short period with the Murrets, Mrs. Oswald and Lee had moved to an apartment owned by Myrtle Evans at 1454 Saint Mary Street, which she and Mrs. Murret helped to furnish; later they moved to a less expensive apartment in the same building, the address of which was 1452 Saint Mary Street.[A13-269] Relations between Mrs. Oswald and Mrs. Evans became strained,[A13-270] and in the spring of 1955 the Oswalds moved to a new apartment at 126 Exchange Place in the French Quarter.[A13-271] Although Lee gave the Exchange Place address on a school form at the end of the ninth grade,[A13-272] the school authorities had apparently not been advised of these moves earlier, because Mrs. Oswald did not want Lee to be transferred from Beauregard, which she considered a good school.[A13-273] During the summer of 1955, Robert left the Marine Corps and spent a week with his mother and Lee in New Orleans before moving to Fort Worth; he found Lee unchanged.[A13-274]

That fall, Lee entered the 10th grade at Warren Easton High School.[A13-275] He had been there for about a month when he presented to the school authorities a note written by himself to which he had signed his mother’s name. It was dated October 7, 1955, and read:

To whom it may concern,

Becaus we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you.

Sincirely Mrs. M. Oswald[A13-276]

He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his 16th birthday.[A13-277] After his birthday, he tried to enlist in the Marines, using a false affidavit from his mother that he was 17.[A13-278] (Some years before, John Pic had joined the Marine Corps Reserve by means of his mother’s false affidavit that he was 17.)[A13-279] The attempt failed, and, according to his mother’s testimony, Lee spent the next year reading and memorizing the “Marine Manual,” which he had obtained from Robert and “living to when he is age 17 to join the Marines.”[A13-280] He worked for the rest of the school year. Between November 10 and January 14, he was a messenger boy for Gerald F. Tujague, Inc., a shipping company, where he earned $130 per month.[A13-281] His employer remembers him as a quiet, withdrawn person.[A13-282] In January he worked briefly as an office boy for J. R. Michels, Inc.[A13-283] For several months thereafter, he was a messenger for the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory.[A13-284] His military record subsequently described his prior civilian jobs as follows:

Performed various clerical duties such as distributing mail, delivering messages & answering telephone. Helped file records & operated ditto, letter opening & sealing machines.[A13-285]

Anticipating that Lee would join the Marines as soon as he was 17, Mrs. Oswald moved in July 1956 to Fort Worth,[A13-286] where she took an apartment at 4936 Collinswood for herself, Lee, and Robert.[A13-287] In September, Lee enrolled in the 10th grade at the Arlington Heights High School[A13-288] but attended classes for only a few weeks. He dropped out of school on September 28.[A13-289] A few days later, he wrote the following letter to the Socialist Party of America:

October 3, 1956

Dear Sirs;

I am sixteen years of age and would like more information about your youth League, I would like to know if there is a branch in my area, how to join, ect., I am a Marxist, and have been studying socialist principles for well over fifteen months I am very interested in your Y.P.S.L.

Sincerely

/s/ Lee Oswald[A13-290]

Accompanying the letter was an advertisement coupon, on which he had checked the box requesting information about the Socialist Party.[A13-291]

Lee became 17 on October 18. He enlisted in the Marines on October 24.[A13-292]

MARINES

On October 26, 1956, Lee Harvey Oswald reported for duty at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif., where he was assigned to the Second Recruit Training Battalion.[A13-293] He was 68 inches tall and weighed 135 pounds; he had no physical defects.[A13-294] On October 30, he took a series of aptitude tests, on which he scored significantly above the Marine Corps average in reading and vocabulary and significantly below the average in tests in arithmetic and pattern analysis. His composite general classification score was 105, 2 points below the Corps average. He scored near the bottom of the lowest group in a radio code test.[A13-295] His preference of duty was recorded as Aircraft Maintenance and Repair, the duty assignment for which he was recommended.[A13-296]

While he was at San Diego, Oswald was trained in the use of the M-1 rifle.[A13-297] His practice scores were not very good,[A13-298] but when his company fired for record on December 21, he scored 212, 2 points above the score necessary to qualify as a “sharpshooter” on a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale.[A13-299] He did not do nearly as well when he fired for record again shortly before he left the Marines.[A13-300] He practiced also with a riot gun and a .45-caliber pistol when he was in the Marines but no scores were recorded.[A13-301]

Oswald was given a 4.4 rating in both “conduct” and “proficiency” at the Recruit Depot, the highest possible rating being 5.0 and an average rating of 4.0 being required for an honorable discharge.[A13-302] On January 18, 1957, he reported to Camp Pendleton, Calif., for further training and was assigned to “A” Company of the First Battalion, Second Infantry Training Regiment.[A13-303] He was at Pendleton for a little more than 5 weeks, at the end of which he was rated 4.2 in conduct and 4.0 in proficiency.[A13-304] Allen R. Felde, a fellow recruit who was with Oswald at San Diego and Pendleton, has stated that Oswald was generally unpopular and that his company was avoided by the other men.[A13-305] When his squad was given its first weekend leave from Pendleton, all eight men took a cab to Tijuana, Mexico. Oswald left the others and did not rejoin them until it was time to return to camp. Felde said that this practice was repeated on other trips to Los Angeles; Oswald accompanied the men on the bus to and from camp but did not stay with them in the city.[A13-306] On February 27, he went on leave for 2 weeks,[A13-307] during which he may have visited his mother in Fort Worth.[A13-308]

On March 18, he reported to the Naval Air Technical Training Center at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla.[A13-309] For the next 6 weeks he attended an Aviation Fundamental School, in which he received basic instruction in his specialty, including such subjects as basic radar theory, map reading, and air traffic control procedures.[A13-310] This course, as well as his next training assignment at Keesler Air Force Base, required Oswald to deal with confidential material.[A13-311] He was granted final clearance up to the “confidential” level on May 3, “after [a] careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory data.”[A13-312] He completed the course on the same day, ranking 46th in a class of 54 students.[A13-313] On the previous day, he had been promoted to private, first class, effective May 1.[A13-314] At Jacksonville, he received ratings of 4.7 in conduct and 4.5 in proficiency, the highest ratings he ever attained.[A13-315]

Oswald left for Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., on the day his course was completed;[A13-316] he traveled, probably by overnight train, in a group of six marines led by Pfc. Daniel P. Powers, the senior marine in charge.[A13-317] At Keesler, he attended the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course, which included instruction in aircraft surveillance and the use of radar.[A13-318] Powers was not sure whether he had met Oswald before the trip to Biloxi[A13-319] but remembers him there as “a somewhat younger individual, less matured than the other boys,” who “was normally outside the particular group of marines that were in this attachment to Keesler.”[A13-320] (Oswald was in fact 3 years younger than Powers.)[A13-321] Powers testified that Oswald had the nickname “Ozzie Rabbit.”[A13-322] Oswald generally stayed to himself, often reading; he did not play cards or work out in the gym with the others.[A13-323] He spent his weekends alone, away from the base; Powers thought he left Biloxi and perhaps went “home” to New Orleans, less than 100 miles away.[A13-324] He finished the course seventh in a class of 30 marines on June 17,[A13-325] and on June 25, was given an MOS (military occupational specialty) of Aviation Electronics Operator.[A13-326] On June 20, he went on leave,[A13-327] possibly visiting his mother.[A13-328] His ratings at Keesler were 4.2 in conduct and 4.5 in proficiency,[A13-329] which Powers thought was “pretty good.”[A13-330]

On July 9, Oswald reported at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, Calif., near Santa Ana.[A13-331] He was classified as a replacement trainee and attached to the Fourth Replacement Battalion.[A13-332] Six weeks later, on August 22, he departed from San Diego for Yokosuka, Japan, on board the U.S.S. _Bexar_.[A13-333] Powers testified that while on board, Oswald taught him to play chess, which they played frequently, sometimes for more than 4 hours a day.[A13-334] Like most of the men on board, Oswald read a lot from the books which were available. Powers thought he read “a good type of literature,” remembering in particular Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”[A13-335]

The _Bexar_ docked at Yokosuka on September 12.[A13-336] Oswald was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 1 (MACS-1), Marine Air Group 11, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Atsugi, about 20 miles west of Tokyo.[A13-337] Oswald was a radar operator in MACS-1, which had less than 100 men.[A13-338] Its function was to direct aircraft to their targets by radar, communicating with the pilots by radio.[A13-339] The squadron had also the duty of scouting for incoming foreign aircraft, such as straying Russian or Chinese planes, which would be intercepted by American planes.[A13-340]

On October 27, when Oswald opened his locker to remove some gear, a derringer .22 caliber pistol fell to the floor and discharged; the bullet hit him in the left elbow.[A13-341] Paul Edward Murphy, a fellow marine who was in the next cubicle, heard the shot, rushed in, and found Oswald sitting on the locker looking at his arm; without emotion, Oswald said to Murphy, “I believe I shot myself.”[A13-342] He was in the naval hospital at Yokosuka until November 15.[A13-343]

The Judge Advocate General concluded that Oswald had “displayed a certain degree of carelessness or negligence” by storing a loaded revolver in his locker, but that his injury was incurred “in the line of duty” and was not the result “of his own misconduct.”[A13-344] He was, however, charged with possession of an unregistered privately owned weapon in violation of general orders. A court-martial followed on April 11, 1958, when Oswald’s unit returned from maneuvers, and on April 29 he was sentenced to be confined at hard labor for 20 days, to forfeit $25 per month for 2 months, and to be reduced to the grade of private.[A13-345] The confinement was suspended for 6 months, after which that portion of the sentence was to be remitted.[A13-346]

Five days after Oswald left the hospital, MACS-1 embarked aboard the _Terrell County_, LST 1157, for maneuvers in the Philippine Islands area,[A13-347] According to Powers’ recollection, the squadron was expected to return to Atsugi after maneuvers were completed, but an international crisis developed; since another operation was scheduled for a few months later, the squadron debarked at Cubi Point (Subic Bay) in the Philippines and set up a temporary installation.[A13-348] While he was in the Philippines, Oswald passed a test of eligibility for the rank of corporal;[A13-349] in a semiannual evaluation, however, he was given his lowest ratings thus far: 4.0 in conduct and 3.9 in proficiency.[A13-350] The unit participated in exercises at Corregidor, from which it sailed for Atsugi on March 7, 1958, aboard the U.S.S. _Wexford County_, LST 1168.[A13-351] The _Wexford County_ reached Atsugi 11 days later.[A13-352]

Oswald was court-martialed a second time on June 27, for using “provoking words” to a noncommissioned officer (a sergeant) on June 20, at the Bluebird Cafe in Yamato, and assaulting the officer by pouring a drink on him.[A13-353] The findings were that Oswald spilled the drink accidentally, but when the sergeant shoved him away, Oswald invited the sergeant outside in insulting language.[A13-354] Oswald admitted that he was rather drunk and had invited the sergeant outside but did not recall insulting him.[A13-355] He was sentenced to be confined at hard labor for 28 days and to forfeit $55;[A13-356] in addition, suspension of the previous sentence of confinement was withdrawn.[A13-357] He was in confinement until August 13.[A13-358] Meanwhile, a previously granted extension of oversea duty was canceled,[A13-359] and he was given ratings of 1.9 in conduct and 3.4 in proficiency.[A13-360]

On September 14, Oswald sailed with his unit for the South China Sea area; the unit was at Ping Tung, North Taiwan on September 30, and returned to Atsugi on October 5.[A13-361] On October 6, he was transferred out of MACS-1 and put on general duty, in anticipation of his return to the United States.[A13-362] He spent several days thereafter in the Atsugi Station Hospital.[A13-363] On October 31, he received his last oversea ratings: 4.0 in both conduct and proficiency.[A13-364]

Oswald appears generally to have been regarded by his fellows overseas as an intelligent person who followed orders and did his work well, but who complained frequently.[A13-365] He did not associate much with other marines and continued to read a great deal.[A13-366] Paul Murphy testified that Oswald could speak “a little Russian” while he was overseas.[A13-367] Powers believed that Oswald became more assertive in Japan and thought that he might have had a Japanese girl friend.[A13-368] He departed from Yokosuka on board the USNS _Barrett_ on November 2, and arrived in San Francisco 13 days later.[A13-369] On November 19, he took 30 days’ leave.[A13-370]

On December 22, Oswald was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 9 (MACS-9) at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, where he had been briefly before he went overseas.[A13-371] He was one of about seven enlisted men and three officers who formed a “radar crew,” engaged primarily in aircraft surveillance.[A13-372] This work probably gave him access to certain kinds of classified material, some of which, such as aircraft call signs and radio frequencies, was changed after his defection to Russia.[A13-373] For part of his time at El Toro, Oswald may have been assigned to clerical or janitorial tasks on the base.[A13-374] Some of his associates believed rumors,[A13-375] incorrect according to official records,[A13-376] that he had lost his clearance to work on radar crews; one recalled hearing that Oswald had once had clearance above the “confidential” level and had lost it because he “had poured beer over a staff NCO’s head in an enlisted club in Japan, and had been put in the brig.”[A13-377]

The officer in command of the radar crew, Lt. John E. Donovan, found him “competent in all functions,” and observed that he handled himself calmly and well in emergency situations.[A13-378] Donovan thought Oswald was not a leader but that he performed competently on occasions when, as the senior man present, he served as crew chief.[A13-379] This estimate was generally shared by his fellows, most of whom thought that he performed his assigned duties adequately but was deficient in disciplinary matters and such things as barracks inspection.[A13-380] One of them recalled that after a number of bad inspections, the other members of Oswald’s quonset hut complained about him and secured his transfer to another hut.[A13-381] He was thought to be an intelligent person, somewhat better educated and more intellectually oriented than other men on the base.[A13-382] A few of the men thought it more accurate to describe him as someone who wanted to appear intelligent.[A13-383] He had a pronounced interest in world affairs, in which he appears to have been better informed than some of the officers, whose lack of knowledge amused and sometimes irritated him; he evidently enjoyed drawing others, especially officers, into conversations in which he could display his own superior knowledge.[A13-384]

It seems clear from the various recollections of those who knew him at El Toro that by the time Oswald returned to the United States, he no longer had any spirit for the Marines; the attitudes which had prompted his enlistment as soon as he was eligible were entirely gone, and his attention had turned away from the Marines to what he might do after his discharge. While no one was able to predict his attempt to defect to Russia within a month after he left the Marines, the testimony of those who knew him at El Toro, in contrast to that of his associates in Japan, leaves no doubt that his thoughts were occupied increasingly with Russia and the Russian way of life. He had studied the Russian language enough by February 25, 1959, to request that he be given a foreign language qualification test; his rating was “poor” in all parts of the test.[A13-385] Most of the marines who knew him were aware that he was studying Russian;[A13-386] one of them, Henry J. Roussel, Jr., arranged a date between Lee and his aunt, Rosaleen Quinn, an airline stewardess who was also studying Russian.[A13-387] (Miss Quinn thought that Oswald spoke Russian well in view of his lack of formal training; she found the evening uninteresting.[A13-388] Donovan, with whom she had a date later, testified that she told him that Oswald was “kind of an oddball.”)[A13-389] He read, and perhaps subscribed to, a newspaper, possibly printed in Russian, which his associates connected with his Russian bent.[A13-390]

Most of those who knew him were able to recount anecdotes which suggest that he was anxious to publicize his liking for things Russian, sometimes in good humor and sometimes seriously. Some of his fellows called him “Oswaldskovich,” apparently to his pleasure.[A13-391] He is said to have had his name written in Russian on one of his jackets;[A13-392] to have played records of Russian songs “so loud that one could hear them outside the barracks”;[A13-393] frequently to have made remarks in Russian[A13-394] or used expressions like “da” or “nyet,”[A13-395] or addressed others (and been addressed) as “Comrade”;[A13-396] to have come over and said jokingly, “You called?” when one of the marines played a particular record of Russian music.[A13-397]

Connected with this Russophilia was an interest in and acceptance of Russian political views and, to a lesser extent, Communist ideology. Less obvious to his fellows generally,[A13-398] it nevertheless led him into serious discussions with some of them. Donovan, who was a graduate of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University,[A13-399] thought Oswald was “truly interested in international affairs”[A13-400] and “very well versed, at least on the superficial facts of a given foreign situation.”[A13-401] He recalled that Oswald had a particular interest in Latin America[A13-402] and had a good deal of information about Cuba in particular.[A13-403] Oswald expressed sympathy for Castro but, according to Donovan, “what he said about Castro was not an unpopular belief at that time.”[A13-404] Donovan believed that Oswald subscribed to the Russian newspaper--which Donovan thought was a Communist newspaper--not only in order to read Russian but also because he thought it “presented a very different and perhaps equally just side of the international affairs in comparison with the United States newspapers.”[A13-405] Donovan was clear, on the other hand, that he never heard Oswald “in any way, shape or form confess that he was a Communist, or that he ever thought about being a Communist.”[A13-406]

Private Kerry Thornley described himself as a close acquaintance, but not a good friend, of Oswald, whom he met in the spring of 1959;[A13-407] he later wrote an unpublished novel in which he drew heavily on his impressions of Oswald.[A13-408] Thornley generally corroborates Donovan’s testimony but thought Oswald definitely believed that “the Marxist morality was the most rational morality to follow” and communism, “the best system in the world.”[A13-409] Thornley thought this belief was “theoretical,” a “dispassionate appraisal” which did not indicate “any active commitment to the Communist ends”; he described Oswald as “idle in his admiration for communism.”[A13-410] He recalled discussions about Marxism in which Oswald criticized capitalism and praised the Soviet economic system.[A13-411] Thornley testified that his association with Oswald ended when, in response to Oswald’s criticism of a parade in which they both had to march, he said “Well, comes the revolution you will change all that.” Oswald, he said, looked at him “like a betrayed Caesar” and walked away.[A13-412] Thornley attributed Oswald’s decision to go to Russia to a growing disillusionment with the United States, especially its role in the Far East, and a conviction that communism would eventually prevail.[A13-413] He was surprised by the decision but expected Oswald to adjust to Russian life and remain in Russia permanently.[A13-414]

Another marine, Nelson Delgado, met Oswald soon after the latter arrived at El Toro.[A13-415] They were about the same age and had similar interests; Oswald enjoyed trying to speak Spanish with Delgado, who spoke it fluently.[A13-416] Delgado regarded him as a “complete believer that our way of government was not quite right,” but did not think he was a Communist.[A13-417] Their discussions were concerned more with Cuba than Russia.[A13-418] They both favored the Castro government and talked--“dreaming,” Delgado said--about joining the Cuban Army or Government and perhaps leading expeditions to other Caribbean islands to “free them too.”[A13-419] Oswald told Delgado that he was in touch with Cuban diplomatic officials in this country; which Delgado at first took to be “one of his * * * lies,”[A13-420] but later believed.[A13-421]

Oswald’s interest in Russia and developing ideological attachment to theoretical communism apparently dominated his stay at El Toro. He was still withdrawn from most of his fellows, although his special interests appear to have made him stand out more there than he had at other posts and to have given him a source for conversation which he had hitherto lacked.[A13-422] According to several of the witnesses, names like “Ozzie Rabbit” still clung to him;[A13-423] others recalled no nickname or only shortened versions of his real name.[A13-424] His reading acquired direction; books like “Das Kapital” and Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984” are mentioned in the testimony concerning this period.[A13-425] He played chess;[A13-426] according to one of his opponents he chose the red pieces, expressing a preference for the “Red Army.”[A13-427] He listened to classical music.[A13-428] For a short time, he played on the squadron football team.[A13-429] According to Donovan, who coached the team, Oswald was not very good; he lacked team spirit and often tried to call the plays, which was not his job.[A13-430] Delgado thought Oswald was a mediocre player.[A13-431] Donovan did not know whether Oswald quit or was thrown off the team.[A13-432] He spent most of his weekends alone, as he had at Keesler, and did not leave the post as often as the other men.[A13-433] Delgado once rode with him on the train to Los Angeles but separated from him there; Oswald returned to the base after one night.[A13-434] Delgado recalls that on another weekend Oswald accepted his invitation to go to Tijuana: they stayed there for one night.[A13-435]

At the end of January 1959 and at the end of July, Oswald was given his semiannual ratings, scoring 4.0 in conduct both times, and 4.0 and 4.2 in proficiency.[A13-436] (The July ratings were repeated in September, when he was transferred from MACS-9 in preparation for his discharge.)[A13-437] On March 9, he was promoted as of March 1, to the rank of private, first class, for the second time.[A13-438] He took a series of high school level general educational development tests on March 23 and received an overall rating of “satisfactory.” His best scores, in the 76th and 79th U.S. percentiles, were in English composition and physical sciences; his worst was English literature, in which he placed in the 34th percentile.[A13-439]

In the spring, Oswald applied to Albert Schweitzer College in Churwalden, Switzerland, for admission to the spring term in 1960; the application is dated March 19.[A13-440] Schweitzer is a small school, which specializes in courses in religion, ethics, science, and literature. He claimed a proficiency in Russian equal to 1 year of schooling[A13-441] and that he had completed high school by correspondence with an average grade of 85 percent.[A13-442] He listed philosophy, psychology, ideology, football, baseball, tennis and stamp-collecting as special interests, and writing short stories “on contemporary American life” as his vocational interest.[A13-443] Jack London, Charles Darwin, and Norman Vincent Peale were listed as favorite authors.[A13-444] He claimed membership in the YMCA and the “A.Y.H. Association,” and said that he had participated in a “student body movement in school” for the control of juvenile delinquency.[A13-445] Asked to give a general statement of his reasons for wanting to attend the college, he wrote:

In order to aquire a fuller understanding of that subject which interest me most, Philosophy. To meet with Europeans who can broaden my scope of understanding. To receive formal Education by Instructers of high standing and character. To broaden my knowlege of German and to live in a healty climate and Good moral atmosphere.[A13-446]

On the basis of these representations, Oswald’s application was approved by the college.[A13-447] He enclosed a registration fee of $25 in a letter dated June 19, in which he said that he was “looking forward to a fine stay.”[A13-448] Few of the other marines seem to have known about this application. He told Delgado, however, that he planned to attend a Swiss school to study psychology, and Delgado knew that some application had been made.[A13-449] Another marine, Richard Call, also knew something of his plans.[A13-450]

Oswald was obligated to serve on active duty until December 7, 1959 (the date having been adjusted to compensate for the period of confinement),[A13-451] On August 17, he submitted a request for a dependency discharge, on the ground that his mother needed his support.[A13-452] The request was accompanied by an affidavit of Mrs. Oswald and corroborating affidavits from an attorney, a doctor, and two friends, attesting that she had been injured at work in December 1958, and was unable to support herself.[A13-453] Oswald had previously made a voluntary allotment of part of his salary to his mother, under which arrangement she received $40 in August, and had submitted an application for a “Q” allotment (dependency allowance) in her behalf of $91.30; one payment of the “Q” allotment, for the month of August, was made in September.[A13-454] On August 28, the Wing Hardship or Dependency Discharge Board recommended that Oswald’s request for a discharge be approved;[A13-455] approval followed shortly.[A13-456] On September 4, he was transferred from MACS-9 to the H. & H. Squadron,[A13-457] and on September 11, he was released from active duty and transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, in which he was expected to serve until December 8, 1962.[A13-458] He was assigned to the Marine Air Reserve Training Command at the Naval Air Station in Glenview, Ill.[A13-459]

Almost exactly 1 year later, on September 13, 1960, Oswald was given an “undesirable discharge” from the Marine Corps Reserve,[A13-460] based on:

reliable information which indicated that he had renounced his U.S. citizenship with the intentions of becoming a permanent citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Further, that petitioner brought discredit to the Marine Corps through adverse newspaper publicity, which was generated by the foregoing action, and had thereby, in the opinion of his commanding officer, proved himself unfit for retention in the naval service.[A13-461]

SOVIET UNION

On September 4, the day on which he was transferred out of MACS-9 in preparation for his discharge, Oswald had applied for a passport at the Superior Court of Santa Ana, Calif. His application stated that he planned to leave the United States on September 21 to attend the Albert Schweitzer College and the University of Turku in Finland, and to travel in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, and Russia.[A13-462] The passport was routinely issued 6 days later.[A13-463]

Oswald went directly home after his discharge, and arrived in Fort Worth by September 14.[A13-464] He told his mother that he intended to get a job on a ship or possibly in the “export-import business.”[A13-465] If he stayed in Fort Worth, he said, he would be able to earn only about $30 per week; on a ship, he would earn “big money” and be able to send substantial amounts home.[A13-466] Three days after he arrived in Fort Worth, he left for New Orleans.[A13-467] While he was in Fort Worth he had registered his dependency discharge and entry into the Marine Reserve at the Fort Worth Selective Service Board,[A13-468] and visited his brother Robert and his family.[A13-469] He also gave his mother $100.[A13-470]

On September 17, Oswald spoke with a representative of Travel Consultants, Inc., a New Orleans travel bureau; he filled out a “Passenger Immigration Questionnaire,” on which he gave his occupation as “shipping export agent” and said that he would be abroad for 2 months on a pleasure trip. He booked passage from New Orleans to Le Havre, France, on a freighter, the SS _Marion Lykes_, scheduled to sail on September 18, for which he paid $220.75.[A13-471] On the evening of September 17, he registered at the Liberty Hotel.[A13-472]

The _Marion Lykes_ did not sail until the early morning of September 20.[A13-473] Before its departure, Oswald wrote his mother a letter, which was her last news of him until she read stories of his defection in Fort Worth newspapers:

Dear Mother:

Well, I have booked passage on a ship to Europe, I would of had to sooner or later and I think it’s best I go now. Just remember above all else that my values are very different from Robert’s or your’s. It is difficult to tell you how I feel, Just remember this is what I must do. I did not tell you about my plans because you could hardly be expected to understand.

I did not see aunt Lilian while I was here. I will write again as soon as I land.

Lee[A13-474]

The _Marion Lykes_ carried only four passengers.[A13-475] Oswald shared his cabin with Billy Joe Lord, a young man who had just graduated from high school and was going to France to continue his education. Lord testified that he and Oswald did not discuss politics but did have a few amicable religious arguments, in which Oswald defended atheism. Oswald was “standoffish,” but told Lord generally about his background, mentioning that his mother worked in a drugstore in Fort Worth and that he was bitter about the low wages which she received. He told Lord that he intended to travel in Europe and possibly to attend school in Sweden or Switzerland if he had sufficient funds.[A13-476] The other two passengers were Lt. Col. and Mrs. George B. Church, Jr., who also found Oswald unfriendly and had little contact with him. Oswald told them that he had not liked the Marine Corps and that he planned to study in Switzerland; they observed some “bitterness” about his mother’s difficulties, but did not discuss this with him. No one on board suspected that he intended to defect to Russia.[A13-477]

Oswald disembarked at Le Havre on October 8. He left for England that same day, and arrived on October 9.[A13-478] He told English customs officials in Southampton that he had $700 and planned to remain in the United Kingdom for 1 week before proceeding to a school in Switzerland. But on the same day, he flew to Helsinki, Finland, where he registered at the Torni Hotel; on the following day, he moved to the Klaus Kurki Hotel.[A13-479]

Oswald probably applied for a visa at the Russian consulate on October 12, his first business day in Helsinki.[A13-480] The visa was issued on October 14. It was valid until October 20 and permitted him to take one trip of not more than 6 days to the Soviet Union.[A13-481] He also purchased 10 Soviet “tourist vouchers” which cost $30 apiece.[A13-482] He left Helsinki by train on the following day, crossed the Finnish-Russian border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16.[A13-483]

He was met at the Moscow railroad station by a representative of “Intourist,” the state tourist agency, and taken to the Hotel Berlin, where he registered as a student.[A13-484] On the same day he met the Intourist guide assigned to him during his stay in Russia, a young woman named Rima Shirokova. They went sightseeing the next day. Almost immediately he told her that he wanted to leave the United States and become a citizen of the Soviet Union. According to Oswald’s “Historic Diary,” she later told him that she had reported his statement to Intourist headquarters, which in turn had notified the “Passport and Visa Office” (probably the Visa and Registration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the MVD[A13-485]). She was instructed to help Oswald prepare a letter to the Supreme Soviet requesting that he be granted citizenship. Oswald mailed such a letter that same day.[A13-486] (The “Historic Diary” is Oswald’s handwritten account of his life in Russia.[A13-487] The earlier entries were written after the events which they describe; later, in Minsk, he probably kept a contemporaneous record of his experiences.[A13-488] The Commission has used the diary, which Oswald may have written with future readers in mind, only as Oswald’s record of his private life and personal impressions as he sought to present them and has relied wherever possible on official documents, correspondence, and the testimony of witnesses.)

The diary records that when Oswald told Rima Shirokova that he intended to defect she was “flabbergassted,” but agreeed to help.[A13-489] She was “politly sympathetic but uneasy” when he told her that he wanted to defect because he was “a Communist, ect.”[A13-490] As an Intourist guide, Rima toured parts of Moscow with Oswald in the next few days. His primary concern, however, appeared to be his effort to become a Soviet citizen, and she also aided him in his dealings with the Soviet Government.[A13-491] He thought that Rima felt sorry for him and tried to be a friend because he was “someth. new.”[A13-492] On his 20th birthday, 2 days after he arrived in Russia, she gave him Dostoevski’s “The Idiot,”[A13-493] in which she had written: “Dear Lee, Great congratulations! Let all your dreams come true! 18.X 1959”[A13-494]

On October 19, Oswald was probably interviewed in his hotel room by a man named Lev Setyayev, who said that he was a reporter for Radio Moscow seeking statements from American tourists about their impressions of Moscow,[A13-495] but who was probably also acting for the KGB.[A13-496] Two years later, Oswald told officials at the American Embassy that he had made a few routine comments to Setyayev of no political significance. The interview with Setyayev may, however, have been the occasion for an attempt by the KGB, in accordance with regular practice, to assess Oswald or even to elicit compromising statements from him; the interview was apparently never broadcast.[A13-497] (As discussed in ch. VI of this report, the Commission is aware that many of the Soviet officials with whom Oswald came into contact were employees of the KGB, the agency which has primary jurisdiction for the treatment of defectors.)

On the following day, Rima Shirokova told him that the “Pass. and Visa Dept.” wanted to see him,[A13-498] and on the morning of October 21, he was interviewed by an official concerning his application for citizenship. The official offered little information and no encouragement; he told Oswald only that he would check to see if the visa could be extended. Oswald returned to the Hotel Berlin.[A13-499] That afternoon, he was notified that his visa had expired and that he had to leave Moscow within 2 hours.[A13-500]

Oswald responded to the unfavorable decision by cutting himself above his left wrist, in an apparent suicide attempt. Rima Shirokova found him unconscious in his hotel room and had him taken to the Botkinskaya Hospital. His diary states: “Poor Rimmea stays by my side as interrpator (my Russian is still very bad) far into the night, I tell her ‘Go home’ (my mood is bad) but she stays, she is ‘my friend.’”[A13-501]

For 3 days Oswald was confined in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. He was examined by a psychiatrist, who concluded that he was not dangerous to other people and could be transferred to the “somatic” department. Hospital records containing the results of the examination[A13-502] state that Oswald came to Russia in order to apply for citizenship, and that “in order to postpone his departure he inflicted the injury upon himself.”[A13-503] They note that Oswald understood some Russian and, presumably based on information which he provided, that he had “graduated from a technical high school in radio technology and radio electronics.”[A13-504] The record states: “He claims he regrets his action. After recovering he intends to return to his homeland.”[A13-505]

Oswald resented being in the psychiatric ward and told Rima Shirokova that he wanted a transfer.[A13-506] She visited him at the hospital frequently and his diary records that “only at this moment” did he “notice [that] she is preety.”[A13-507] Another entry for the hospital period says: “Afternoon I am visited by Roza Agafonova of the hotel tourist office, who askes about my health, very beautiful, excelant Eng., very merry and kind, she makes me very glad to be alive.”[A13-508] These entries reflect an attitude gentler and friendlier than his attitude before the suicide attempt, when he seemed to be coldly concerned only with his status in Russia. Once Oswald was out of the psychiatric ward, he found the hospital more pleasant. The new ward, which he shared with 11 other patients, was “airy,” and the food was good. His only complaint, according to his diary, was that an “elderly American” patient was distrustful of him because he had not registered at the American Embassy and because he was evasive about the reasons for his presence in Moscow and confinement in the hospital.[A13-509]

He was released from the hospital on October 28,[A13-510] and, accompanied by Rima Shirokova, was driven to the Hotel Berlin in an Intourist car. After he said goodby to Lyudmila Dmitrieva, head of the Intourist office at the Berlin, and to Roza Agafonova, another Intourist employee at the hotel, he checked out of the Berlin and registered at the Metropole,[A13-511] a large hotel under the same administration as the Berlin.[A13-512] The Government had undoubtedly directed him to make the change. His visa had expired while he was in the hospital, and his presence in Russia was technically illegal; he had received no word that the decision that he must leave had been reversed. Later that day, however, Rima told him that the “Pass and Registration Office” wished to talk to him about his future.[A13-513] According to the diary, when Oswald appeared at the office he was asked whether he still wanted to become a Soviet citizen and he replied that he did; he provided his Marine Corps discharge papers for identification. He was told that he could not expect a decision soon, and was dismissed. During this interview, Oswald was apparently questioned about the interview which preceded his hospitalization, which led him to conclude that there had been no communication between the two sets of officials.[A13-514] That evening he met Rima, on whom he vented his frustration at being put off by the authorities.[A13-515]

Oswald ate only once on the following day; he stayed near the telephone, fully dressed and ready to leave immediately if he were summoned. He remained in his room for 3 days, which seemed to him “like three years,”[A13-516] until October 31, when he decided to act. He met Rima Shirokova at noon and told her that he was impatient, but did not say what he planned to do; she cautioned him to stay in his room “and eat well.”[A13-517] She left him after a short while and, a few minutes later, he took a taxi to the American Embassy, where he asked to see the consul. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 24, 912, 913, pp. 264, 263, 261.) When the receptionist asked him first to sign the tourist register, he laid his passport on the desk and said that he had come to “dissolve his American citizenship.” Richard E. Snyder, the Second Secretary and senior consular official,[A13-518] was summoned, and he invited Oswald into his office.[A13-519]

Oswald’s meeting with Snyder, at which Snyder’s assistant, John A. McVickar, was also present, is more fully discussed in appendix XV to the Commission’s report. Oswald declared that he wanted to renounce his American citizenship; he denounced the United States and praised the Government of the Soviet Union. Over Oswald’s objections, Snyder sought to learn something of Oswald’s motives and background and to forestall immediate action. Oswald told him that he had already offered to tell a Soviet official what he had learned as a radar operator in the Marines. The interview ended when Snyder told Oswald that he could renounce his citizenship on the following Monday, 2 days later, if he would appear personally to do so. During the interview, Oswald handed to Snyder a note[A13-520] which suggests that he had studied and sought to comply with section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides for loss of American citizenship.[A13-521] The note contains paragraphs which read like inartistic attempts to cast off citizenship in three of the ways specified by the statute. The attempts failed but there is no reason to doubt that they were sincere. Snyder has testified that he believed that Oswald would immediately have formally renounced his citizenship had he been permitted to do so.[A13-522]

The interview lasted for less than an hour. Oswald returned to his hotel angry about the delay but “elated” by the “showdown” and sure that he would be permitted to remain after his “sign of * * * faith” in the Russians.[A13-523] Soon after he returned to the hotel, he was approached by A. I. Goldberg, a reporter for the Associated Press, whom the Embassy had told about Oswald’s actions. Oswald refused to speak to him.[A13-524] He answered a few questions for two other reporters, R. J. Korengold and Miss Aline Mosby, but again refused to be interviewed.[A13-525] Thereafter, the news services made repeated unsuccessful attempts to interview him, which he thought was an indirect form of pressure from the Embassy to return to the United States.[A13-526]

On the day after Oswald’s meeting with Snyder, his family read in the newspapers about his appearance at the Embassy and tried to contact him. Mrs. Oswald testified that she was shocked at her son’s decision to defect but respected his motives for doing so; later she suspected that he had been forcibly removed to Russia.[A13-527] She placed a telephone call to him,[A13-528] but he either refused to speak to her[A13-529] or cut her off very quickly.[A13-530] So too, on November 2, he rejected the Embassy’s efforts to deliver or read on the telephone a telegram from his brother Robert.[A13-531] A call from Robert was either canceled before it was completed or was refused.[A13-532] Robert’s telegram, along with a message asking Oswald to contact him immediately, which Robert had asked the State Department to deliver,[A13-533] was finally sent to Oswald from the Embassy by registered mail.[A13-534]

A few days later, the Embassy received a letter from Oswald dated November 3 which requested that his citizenship be revoked.[A13-535] The letter stated that he had appeared at the Embassy “for the purpose of signing the formal papers to this effect” and protested against the “conduct of the official” who had refused him “this legal right.” Oswald noted that his application for Soviet citizenship was pending and said that if it were granted he would ask the Soviet Government “to lodge a formal protest” on his behalf.[A13-536] The Embassy replied on November 9 that Oswald could renounce his citizenship by appearing at the Embassy and executing the necessary papers.[A13-537]

Oswald’s diary describes the period from November 2 to November 15, during which he continued to isolate himself, as “days of utter loneliness.”[A13-538] On November 8, he wrote to his brother:

Dear Robert

Well, what shall we talk about, the weather perhaps? Certainly you do not wish me to speak of my decision to remain in the Soviet Union and apply for citizenship here, since I’m afraid you would not be able to comprehend my my reasons. You really dont know anything about me. Do you know for instance that I have waited to do this for well over a year, do you know that I * * * [phrase in Russian] speak a fair amount of Russian which I have been studing for many months.

I have been told that I will not _have_ to leave the Soviet Union if I do not care to. this than is my decision. I will not leave this country, the Soviet Union, under any conditions, I will never return to the United States which is a country I hate.

Someday, perhaps soon, and than again perhaps in a few years, I will become a citizen of the Soviet Union, but it is a very legal process, _in any event_, I will not have to leave the Soviet Union and I will never * * * [word missing].

I recived your telegram and was glad to hear from you, only one word bothered me, the word “mistake.” I assume you mean that I have made a “mistake” it is not for you to tell me that you cannot understand my reasons for this very action.

I will not speak to anyone from the United States over the telephone since it may be taped by the Americans.

If you wish to corespond with me you can write to the below address, but I really don’t see what we could take about if you want to send me money, that I can use, but I do not expect to be able to send it back.

Lee[A13-539]

Oswald’s statement that he had been told that he could remain in Russia was not true. According to his diary, he was not told until later that he could remain even temporarily in Russia,[A13-540] and only in January was he told that he could remain indefinitely.[A13-541] The Embassy tried to deliver a typed copy of a telegram from his brother John on November 9; Oswald refused to answer the knock on his door, and the message was then sent to him by registered mail.[A13-542]

Toward the end of this waiting period, probably on November 13, Aline Mosby succeeded in interviewing Oswald.[A13-543] A reporter for United Press International, she had called him on the telephone and was told to come right over, Oswald’s explanation being that he thought she might “understand and be friendly” because she was a woman.[A13-544] She was the first person who was not a Soviet citizen to whom he granted an interview since his meeting with Snyder at the Embassy on October 31. Miss Mosby found him polite but stiff; she said that he seemed full of confidence, often showing a “small smile, more like a smirk,” and that he talked almost “non-stop.” Oswald said to her that he had been told that he could remain in the Soviet Union and that job possibilities were being explored; they thought it probably would be best, he said, to continue his education. He admitted that his Russian was bad but was confident that it would improve rapidly. He based his dislike for the United States on his observations of racial prejudice and the contrast between “the luxuries of Park Avenue and workers’ lives on the East Side,” and mentioned his mother’s poverty; he said that if he had remained in the United States he too would have become either a capitalist or a worker. “One way or another,” he said, “I’d lose in the United States. In my own mind, even if I’d be exploiting other workers. That’s why I chose Marxist ideology.”

Oswald told his interviewer that he had been interested in Communist theory since he was 15, when “an old lady” in New York handed him “a pamphlet about saving the Rosenbergs.” But when Mosby asked if he were a member of the Communist Party he said that he had never met a Communist and that he “might have seen” one only once, when he saw that “old lady.” He told her that while he was in the Marine Corps he had seen American imperialism in action, and had saved $1,500 in secret preparation for his defection to Russia. His only apparent regrets concerned his family: his mother, whom he had not told of his plans, and his brother, who might lose his job as a result of the publicity.[A13-545]

The interview lasted for about 2 hours. According to Oswald’s own account, he exacted a promise from Miss Mosby that she would show him the story before publication but she broke the promise; he found the published story to contain distortions of his words.[A13-546] Miss Mosby’s notes indicate that he called her to complain of the distortions, saying in particular that his family had not been “poverty-stricken” and that his defection was not prompted by personal hardship but that was “a matter only of ideology.”[A13-547]

According to the diary, Oswald was told in mid-November that he could remain temporarily in Russia “until some solution was found with what to do” with him.[A13-548] Armed with this “comforting news,”[A13-549] he granted a second interview, again to a woman, on November 16.[A13-550] Miss Priscilla Johnson of the North American Newspaper Alliance knocked on the door of his room at the Metropole, and Oswald agreed to come to her room at the hotel that evening. This interview lasted about 5 hours, from 9 p.m. until about 2 in the morning. During the interview he frequently mentioned the fact that he would be able to remain in Russia, which gave him great pleasure, but he also showed disappointment about the difficulties standing in the way of his request for Soviet citizenship. He repeated most of the information he had given Aline Mosby and again denied having been a member of the Communist Party or even ever having seen a Communist in the United States. When Miss Johnson asked him to specify some of the socialist writers whose works he had read during the past 5 years, he could name only Marx and Engels; the only title he could recall was “Das Kapital.” They talked for a long while about Communist economic theory, which Miss Johnson thought was “his language”; she became convinced that his knowledge of the subject was very superficial.[A13-551] He commented that the Russians treated his defection as a “legal formality,” neither encouraging nor discouraging it.[A13-552] When she suggested that if he really wished to renounce his American citizenship he could do so by returning to the Embassy, he said that he would “never set foot in the Embassy again,” since he was sure that he would be given the “same run-around” as before. He seemed to Miss Johnson to be avoiding effective renunciation, consciously or unconsciously, in order to preserve his right to reenter the United States.[A13-553]

For the rest of the year, Oswald seldom left his hotel room where he had arranged to take his meals, except perhaps for a few trips to museums. He spent most of his time studying Russian, “8 hours a day” his diary records. The routine was broken only by another interview at the passport office; occasional visits from Rima Shirokova; lessons in Russian from her and other Intourist guides; and a New Year’s visit from Roza Agafonova, who gave him a small “Boratin” clown as a New Year’s present.[A13-554] He replied to a letter from Robert in a letter quoted at length in