Oswald's Tale (53 page)

9

Maternity House

Let us go back once again to April 1960, after Oswald had been in the Soviet Union no more than six months. At that time, the FBI agent John W. Fain was making his early inquiries in Texas:

. . . Mrs.
OSWALD
stated that she was very much shocked and surprised to learn later that he had gone to Moscow, Russia. She stated that she had no idea how he arrived there but that she does know he had saved up about $1600 from his services in the U.S. Marine Corps. She stated that he did not previously discuss with her any intention to go to Moscow, Russia. She also stated that he had never shown any proclivities for the ideologies of communism [but] subject was always a studious type of individual and that he read books that were considered “deep.” [While Mrs. Oswald] felt that subject had a right as an individual to make his own decisions, however, she stated that she was very greatly surprised and disappointed that he had taken this action [and] since January 22, 1960, she had sent three different letters to her son but that all had been returned to her undelivered. She stated that she feared that he might have become stranded and in danger [so] she has had correspondence with her Congressman and with the U.S. State Department inasmuch as she has been very much alarmed for fear that something might have happened to subject.
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Indeed, a month before John Fain had come by to interview her, she had begun efforts to find out what had happened to Lee. She had written to her Texas congressman, Jim Wright, on March 6, 1960, and a day later to Christian Herter of the State Department:

Dear Sir:

In October 1959 my son (age 20 years) Lee Harvey Oswald (serial no. 1653230) went to Moscow, Russia, three days after his discharge from the Marine Corps . . .

I am very much concerned because I have no contact whatsoever with him now . . .

I am writing to you because I am under the impression that Lee is probably stranded and even if he now realizes he has made a mistake he would have no way of financing his way home. He probably needs help.

I also realize that my son might like Russia. That he might be working and be quite content. In that case, feeling very strongly that he has a right as an individual to make his own decisions, I would in no way want to hinder or influence him in any way.

If it is at all possible to give me any information concerning my son, I would indeed be very grateful.

Thanking you in advance for your kindness in this matter.

I remain
Sincerely,
Mrs. Marguerite Oswald
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Confidential memos will go back and forth between State and the American Embassy in Moscow discussing whether the Embassy is in a position to find out from the Soviets where Oswald is located, but the inquiry falls between the cracks.

Bureaucracy is the only form of human organization that can manage to pass a hot potato through a small crack. Ten and one half months will go by before State will hear from Marguerite Oswald again. That lady, however, has been gathering her forces. The next time they hear from her, she is on their doorstep. At the Warren Commission hearings, she will recall the occasion clearly:

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
. . . I arrived at Washington 8 o’clock in the morning. I took a train and borrowed money on an insurance policy I have, [plus] I had a bank account of $36, which I drew out and bought a pair of shoes. I have all that in proof, sir, the date that I left for the train. I was 3 days and 2 nights on the train, or 2 days and 3 nights. Anyhow, I took a coach and sat up.

I arrived at the station 8 o’clock in the morning and I called the White House. A Negro man was on the switchboard, and he said the offices were not open yet, they did not open until 9 o’clock. He asked if I would leave my number. I asked to speak to the President. And he said the offices were not open yet. I said, “Well, I have just arrived here from Fort Worth, Texas, and I will call back at 9 o’clock.”

So I called back at 9 o’clock. Everybody was just gracious to me over the phone. Said that President Kennedy was in a conference, and they would be happy to take any message. I asked to speak with Secretary Rusk and they connected me with that office. And his young lady said he was in a conference, but anything she could do for me. I said, “Yes, I have come to town about a son of mine who is lost in Russia. I do want to speak—I would like personally to speak to Secretary Rusk.” So she got off the line a few minutes. Whether she gave him the message or what I do not know. She came back and said, “Mrs. Oswald, Mr. Rusk [said] that you talk to Mr. Boster who is special officer in charge of Soviet Union affairs,”—if I am correct. And Mr. Boster was on the line. I told him who I was. He said, “Yes, I am familiar with the case, Mrs. Oswald.” He said, “Will an 11 o’clock appointment be all right with you?” This is 9 o’clock in the morning. So I said—this is quite an interesting story—I said, “Mr. Boster, that would be fine. But I would rather not talk with you.” I didn’t know who Mr. Boster was. I said, “I would rather talk with Secretary of State Rusk. However, if I am unsuccessful in talking with him, then I will keep my appointment with you.”

So I asked Mr. Boster—I said, “Mr. Boster, would you please recommend a hotel that would be reasonable?” He said, “I don’t know how reasonable, Mrs. Oswald, but I recommend the Washington Hotel. It will be near the State Department and convenient to you.”

So I went to the Washington Hotel. [And] they asked me if I had a reservation. I said, “No, I didn’t but Mr. Boster of the State Department recommended that I come here.” So they fixed me up with a room. I took a bath and dressed. I went to the appointment [and] arrived at Mr. Boster’s office at 10:30.

But before arriving at Mr. Boster’s office, I stopped at a telephone in the corridor and I called Dean Rusk’s office again because I didn’t want to see Mr. Boster, and I asked to speak to Dean Rusk. And the young lady said, “Mrs. Oswald, talk to Mr. Boster. At least it is a start.”

So then I entered around the corridor into Mr. Boster’s office [and he] came out and said, “Mrs. Oswald, I am awfully glad you came early because we are going to have a terrible snow storm and we have orders to leave early in order to get home.”

So he called [in two other men and] we were in conference. So I showed the papers like I am showing here. And I said, “Now, I know you are not going to answer me, gentlemen, but I am under the impression that my son is an agent.” “Do you mean a Russian agent?” I said, “No, working for our Government, a U.S. agent. And I want to say this: That if he is, I don’t appreciate it too much, because I am destitute, and just getting over a sickness,” on that order.

I had the audacity to say that. I had gone through all of this without medical, without money, without compensation. I am a desperate woman. So I said that.

MR. RANKIN.
What did they say to you?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
They did not answer that. I even said to them, “No, you won’t tell me.” So I didn’t expect them to answer that.

THE CHAIRMAN.
Did you mean that you were seeking money from them?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
No, sir . . . What I was saying was that I think that my son should be home with me, is really what I implied [but] I didn’t come out and say I want my son home. I implied that if he was an agent, that I thought he needed to be home.

MR. RANKIN.
Did you say anything about believing your son might know full well what he was doing in trying to defect to the Soviet Union, he might like it better there than he did here?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
I do not remember saying this . . . I said—because I remember this distinctly. I said, “Now, he has been exploited all through the paper as a defector. If he is a defector”—because, as we stated before, I don’t know he is an agent, sir—“and if he is a defector, that is his privilege as an individual.”

And they said, “Mrs. Oswald, we want you to know that we feel the same way about it.” That was their answer.
³

Still, Marguerite was not about to give up the more interesting alternative. A little later on that day in 1964 when she testified before the Warren Commission about events early in 1961, she would add:

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
. . . On January 21 was my trip to Washington, 1961. Approximately 8 weeks later, on March 22, 1961, I received a letter from the State Department informing me . . . that my son wishes to return back to the United States—just 8 weeks after my trip to Washington.

Now, you want to know why I think my son is an agent. And I have been telling you all along.

Here is a very important thing why my son was an agent . . . . On April 30, 1961, he marries a Russian girl—approximately 5 weeks later.

Now, why does a man who wants to come back to the United States, [only] 5 weeks later [decide to] marry a Russian girl? Because I say—and I may be wrong—the U.S. Embassy has ordered him to marry this Russian girl . . . .

MR. RANKIN.
Now, was there any time that Marina said anything to you to lead you to believe that she thought your son, Lee, married her because he was an agent?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
No, sir, no, sir. Not at any time at all.

MR. RANKIN.
You think she loved him?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
I believe that Marina loved him in a way. But I believe that Marina wanted to come to America. I believe that Lee had talked America to her, and she wanted to come . . .

MR. RANKIN.
I am not clear about this being ordered to marry her. You don’t mean that your son didn’t love her.

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
Well, I could mean that—if he is an agent, and he has a girl friend, and it is to the benefit of the country that he marry this girl friend, and the Embassy helped him get this Russian girl out of Russia—let’s face it, well, whether he loved her or not, he would take her to America if that would give him contact with Russians, yes, sir.

MR. RANKIN.
Is that what you mean?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
I would say that.

MR. RANKIN.
And you don’t think it was because your son loved her, then?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
I do not know whether my son loved her or not. But I am telling you why he would do this in five weeks’ time . . .

MR. RANKIN.
. . . I think it is a very serious thing to say about your son, that he would do a thing like that to a girl.

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
No, sir, it is not a serious thing. I know a little about the CIA and so on, the U-2, Powers, and things that have been made public. They go through any extreme for their country. I do not think that would be serious for him to marry a Russian girl and bring her here, so he would have contact. I think that is all part of an agent’s duty.

MR. RANKIN.
You think your son was capable of doing that?

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
Yes, sir, I think my son was an agent. I certainly do.
⁴

PART II

CHARITY IN FORT WORTH