Reclaiming History

by Vincent Bugliosi

  That same evening, Adlai Stevenson was booed, spat on, and struck with a picket sign as he left Dallas Memorial Auditorium after he tried to depart, under police escort, through a rear entrance. The pickets had blocked his escape from the front. None of the pickets identified themselves to a reporter from the Morning News, but many said they had attended the Walker rally at the same venue the night before.1544

  That Friday evening, October 25, Wesley Frazier drove Lee out to Irving for the weekend with his family, and Michael Paine, Ruth’s husband, was there to dine with his own family. Lee told Michael about the Wednesday-evening rally where he had heard General Walker speak. That interested Michael, since he had gone to a meeting of the John Birch Society on Thursday evening. He found it sparsely attended and speculated that some of the regulars had gone down to Memorial Auditorium to spit on Adlai Stevenson.1545 Michael, a staunch liberal, had been to a number of rightist meetings and seminars—he was interested in seeking more communication between the Right and the Left. There wasn’t much “Left” in Dallas, but he was curious about the Right’s feelings, fears, and language.1546

  He also wanted to communicate with Lee, whose rigid attitudes piqued his curiosity. He tried to draw him out on his politics, wondering why, for instance, he still considered himself a Marxist even though he had given up on life in Russia with some disappointment, but Michael was unable to get anything out of Lee that answered this question. What Michael did gather was that Lee seemed to be totally uninterested in the small, incremental improvements that might be made in a democratic society, believing only a total change of the system, by drastic means, would do, one where kindness and good feelings should not stand in the way. Yet he never spelled out, verbally, what he necessarily implied—that there had to be a violent revolution.

  Lee refused to be drawn in any further on the subject, and Michael did not press it. He sensed that Lee’s political notions were more rooted in his emotions than his reason, and that he was paranoid, but not in the classic sense. Lee seemed to think that the evil of others, of “the system,” was not directed against him personally but against the oppressed class in which he counted himself. Michael also sensed that except for his daughter June, people were just like “cardboard” to Lee, and he was repelled by that.1547

  There was a meeting of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, to which Michael belonged, that evening out at Southern Methodist University. Michael had arranged to meet a fellow research engineer from Bell Helicopter, Frank Krystinik, and his wife there, and invited Lee to come along.1548 It was a thirty-five-minute drive to the university, and Michael used the opportunity to explain the purpose of the ACLU, which was pretty much limited to the preservation of civil rights. Oswald knew nothing about the organization and seemed mystified by its lack of political ideology.1549

  The meeting—Lee’s second and last encounter with political activists in America—began with a showing of a film about a popular politician from Washington state who had lost his bid for reelection as a result of a smear campaign based on the fact that his wife had once been a member of the Communist Party. Afterward, the group discussed the film and what might be learned from it. Someone said something to the effect that members of the John Birch Society should not be considered anti-Semitic simply because they were Birchers. Lee objected. He rose and, speaking clearly and coherently, said that he had attended a meeting just two nights before where he had heard a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic statements by people on the platform, including General Walker.

  Later in the evening, as everyone went to the back of the auditorium for coffee and private discussion, Michael introduced Lee to Frank Krystinik, who had previously heard about him from Michael and was ill disposed at the outset toward anyone who might be a Communist. Frank was prepared to defend free enterprise. A Catholic himself, he was also interested in the anti-Catholic sentiments Lee heard at the Walker meeting. Michael left Lee and Frank, knowing all too well what kind of discussion would evolve.1550 Another, older man joined the conversation and was apparently better at controlling his temper than Frank. Frank was irritated by Lee’s haughty disdain for his arguments in support of capitalism over communism, and got the impression that Lee was talking down to him. Lee, who told Frank, “I am a Marxist” when Frank called him a “Communist,” raised Frank’s hackles to the point where he and Frank almost got into a fight when Lee started talking about employers profiting from their employees’ labors. Frank said he felt he was paid a “fair salary” by his employer and was “real glad to work for him for the salary I get.” Frank proceeded to tell Lee he himself had a small business on the side for which he paid two workers three dollars an hour and they were “tickled to get that.” But when Lee found out that Frank was getting four dollars an hour for their work and hence making a dollar per hour off each worker, Lee got personal with Frank and accused him of exploiting his two workers. But they didn’t come to blows and Lee did admit to Frank that the Soviet state exploited the workers worse than capitalists did in the United States. He also conceded that the United States was superior to the Soviet Union in the area of civil liberties, and when Frank asked him what he thought of all the opposition President Kennedy was getting in the South over his position on civil rights, Oswald said he thought Kennedy was doing a really good job in the area of civil rights.1551

  In the car on the way back to Irving, Lee showed no sympathy for the ACLU. He could never join such an organization because it simply wasn’t “political.” Defending freedom of speech and other freedoms was far too circumscribed a goal in Oswald’s mind. For any group to be worth its salt, it had to have a political objective.1552

  In Moscow this same Friday, October 25, 1963, the KGB deputy chairman of the Secretariat, S. Bannikov, sent a letter to V. V. Kuznetsov, deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding Oswald’s request to return to the Soviet Union. After setting forth a history of Oswald in Russia from 1959 until his return to the United States, the letter concludes, “In our opinion, it is inadvisable to permit Oswald to return to the Soviet Union.” Former KGB chairman Vladimir Semichastny (1961–1967) stated that “not under any circumstances” did the KGB want the Oswalds to return to Russia. “We were against their return not so much for political reasons as for material considerations. We did not want to waste money on him with nothing in return. He was of absolutely no interest to us. Moreover, his scurrying about caused us headaches on more than one occasion.”1553*

  The rest of the weekend Lee passed at Ruth’s house in Irving the same as he always did, playing with his daughters, reading, and mostly watching television. When he finished the evening meal he got up and went back to the living room to read or watch television, even though no one else had finished. Ruth realized that he joined the others at the dining table only to be fed, not for a social event. But it was during these weekends that Ruth concluded that Lee really did care for his wife and children, and she saw that he had tried to make himself welcome in her home although he really preferred to keep to himself. It was also on these weekends that he was the most “human” she had ever known him to be and, in some ways, a rather “ordinary” human being at that.1554

  Lee went back to work with Wesley Frazier on Monday morning and returned to the Beckley Street rooming house that evening. The following day, October 29, 1963, FBI agent Jim Hosty received a communication from the New Orleans office that agents had finally turned up a new address for Lee and Marina Oswald, 2515 West Fifth Street in Irving, Texas. Oswald’s mail in New Orleans was being forwarded there. Just four days earlier, Hosty had received word from New Orleans that Lee had been in contact with the Soviet embassy in Mexico City, and Hosty was eager to follow up on the information. As soon as he received the October 29 communication from New Orleans, he drove out to Irving and did what the FBI called a “pretext interview” with Ruth Paine’s neighbor, Dorothy Roberts. Roberts told him that Ruth had a young Russian-speaking woman staying with her who had jus
t given birth the week before and that the woman’s American husband visited there from time to time. Hosty was quite sure that he had found the Oswalds at last, but he wanted to check out the Paines before he went any further.1555 Dorothy Roberts told Ruth Paine, and Ruth told Marina, about the man who had been asking questions about her and Lee. Ruth and Marina guessed it was the FBI.1556

  On Friday, November 1, Lee rented post office box number 6225 at the Terminal Annex Post Office Station at the southwest corner of Houston and Commerce, directly across from Dealey Plaza and just two blocks south from the building where he worked. His application reveals his intention to reenter the political arena—he indicated that the box would also be used to receive mail for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and—surprisingly—the American Civil Liberties Union, both of which he described as “none Profit.” Just to make sure he kept his trail as muddy as possible, he gave the wrong street number for his residence on North Beckley, 3610 instead of 1026.1557 Since he had also registered there as O. H. Lee, he could be fairly sure that the FBI would have a difficult job figuring out where he was living.

  Was Lee thinking of organizing a chapter of the ACLU that would be as phony as his FPCC chapter, even though there was already an organized ACLU group in Dallas? He had dismissed the ACLU to Michael Paine because it had no political agenda, but he nonetheless decided to join the organization, mailing a membership application and two dollars in cash to the ACLU’s New York office, which it received on November 4, 1963.1558

  He also sent a change-of-address card to Comrade Reznichenko at the Russian embassy in Washington, giving the post office box as his new address,1559 and an undated letter (postmarked November 1) to Arnold Johnson at the headquarters of the Communist Party:

  Dear Mr. Johnson,

  In September I had written you saying I expected to move from New Orleans, La., to the Philadelphia-Baltimore [actually, “Baltimore-Washington”] area. You advised me that I could contact you when I had gotten settled there and the party would contact me in that area. Since then my personal plans have changed and I have settled in Dallas, Texas for the time.

  Through a friend, I have been introduced into the American Civil Liberties Union Local chapter, which holds monthly meeting[s] on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The first meeting I attened was on October 25th, a film was shown and afterwards a very critical discussion of the ultra-right in Dallas On October 23rd, I had attened a ultra-right meeting headed by General Edwin A. Walker, who lives in Dallas. This meeting preceded by one day the attack on A.E. Stevenson at the United Nations Day meeting at which he spoke

  As you can see, political friction between “left” and “right” is very great here. Could you advise me as to the general view we have on the American Civil Liberties Union? And to what degree, if any, I should attempt to highten its progressive tendencies? The Dallas branch of the A.C.L.U. is firmly in the hands of “liberal” professional people, (a minister and two Law professors conducted the Oct. 25th meeting.) however, some of those present showed marked class-awareness and insight.

  respectfully Yours,

  Lee H. Oswald1560

  The same Friday afternoon, November 1, that Lee set himself up at the post office as a representative of the FPCC and ACLU, Jim Hosty, driving back to Dallas from Fort Worth, made a short detour to Irving, where he knocked on Ruth Paine’s door at about 2:30.

  Hosty had been doing his homework. He had run a credit check on Michael and Ruth Paine. Michael was an engineer at Bell Helicopter, the Paines had resided in Irving for several years, and both had good reputations. He had checked the criminal records of the Irving Police Department and the Dallas County sheriff’s office and found nothing. He contacted a security officer at Bell, who told him that Michael held a security clearance. He talked to the assistant headmaster at St. Mark’s School, where Ruth taught Russian part-time. Edward Oviatt told him that Ruth was both stable and loyal to the United States. She had told Oviatt about the Russian woman living with her who spoke no English and had just given birth to another child. Oviatt knew that Ruth was a Quaker and a very kind person who would go out of her way to help someone in distress. All this reassured Hosty that Ruth was unlikely to be involved with Lee Oswald in anything inimical to the interests of the United States, and she was his best—his only—lead to locating Lee himself.1561

  Hosty was alone that Friday, but he did not consider Ruth Paine to be either a subject of an investigation or a hostile witness, which would have required him to be accompanied by another agent, and indeed, Ruth invited him in when he identified himself to her. She had never met an FBI agent before, but she seemed pleased about it and was friendly and helpful. She told him that Marina and her two children were there with her, and when he asked her if she knew where Lee was living, she said she didn’t, but believed it was somewhere in Oak Cliff. When he asked her where Lee worked, she told him the Texas School Book Depository Building and the two of them looked up the address of the building, 411 Elm Street, in the phone book, although Ruth hoped Hosty would not visit Lee at his job and cause trouble with his employer. Ruth told Hosty Lee had told her that the FBI “had had him fired from every job he ever had.” Hosty assured her that he had never done such a thing and was quite sure that no other agents had either. Curiously, Ruth did not think to give him Lee’s phone number at the rooming house, which she had in her address book.

  Eventually, Hosty recalls, “a pretty young brunette with beautiful green eyes came out of one of the back bedrooms” and joined them in the living room. He knew it was Marina. Hosty thought she must have been taking a nap—in fact she had just been drying her hair. Although he did not understand anything she said to Ruth, he realized from her eyes and her expression that she was alarmed. He had seen that instinctive fear of the authorities in other people who had come to the United States from Communist countries, Russians equating the FBI with the KGB, which intimidated its own citizens. He asked Ruth to reassure Marina that he was not there to harm or to harass her in any way. He told her that the FBI’s job was to protect people like her and their rights. Whatever Ruth said to Marina seemed to work. Marina even liked the idea that this genial, burly, dark-haired representative of American authority was protecting her. She relaxed and smiled. Hosty asked whether Lee was doing anything on behalf of Cuba as he had in New Orleans, and Marina felt comfortable enough to say that she didn’t think the American press was fair with regard to Cuba and its leader, but she didn’t think Lee had revived his FPCC chapter. “Oh, don’t worry about him,” she told Hosty (through Ruth) cheerily. “He’s just young. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He won’t do anything like that here.”

  Although Hosty doesn’t recall, and Ruth only remembers for sure telling Hosty that Lee came there for the weekends, Marina remembers suggesting to Hosty that he stay until Lee arrived around half past five that day, since it was Friday and he would be coming for the weekend, but it was only about three in the afternoon and Hosty declined.1562 Hosty has given several reasons for not having done so: He had other stops on cases to make on his way back to the office. Also, he knew that Marina had just given birth to a second child and he didn’t want to upset her. Further, he believed that Ruth would, as she had assured him, find out Lee’s home address in Dallas and call him, and he wrote out his name and phone number on a piece of paper so she could do so—FBI agents were not allowed to carry calling cards. And then there was the fact that the Oswald file was still in the New Orleans office, which would still have control of the case until Hosty confirmed for them, as he had not done at that moment, that the Oswalds had definitely moved to his area. New Orleans hadn’t yet sent him copies of all the reports in its file, which he wanted to read before conducting an in-depth interview of Lee as well as Marina. He didn’t know what contacts the New Orleans office might have had with both of them, and there seemed to be no reason to rush things. Had Lee been working in a sensitive position, the FBI would have been keenly interested, but a stock boy’s job
in a warehouse was far from sensitive.1563

  Lee did arrive a couple of hours later, and he was clearly disturbed when he heard from Marina that the FBI had picked up his trail. He questioned her closely about the visit, but she was unable to tell him very much as she had not understood the conversation between Hosty and Ruth. Marina could see that the unexpected visit had unnerved her husband. At supper shortly thereafter, Ruth also told Lee about Hosty’s visit, and Lee, feigning unconcern, asked, “Oh, and what did he say?” Ruth told Lee and gave him the slip of paper on which Hosty had written his name and phone number. Since Ruth felt confident that Lee had nothing to fear from the FBI, she suggested that he simply call Hosty, make an appointment, and tell him whatever Hosty wanted to know. But Ruth, of course, knew nothing about Lee’s recent attempt on the life of General Walker or his trip to Mexico and attempt to defect to Castro’s Cuba.

  Lee was subdued during supper and never really recovered, barely speaking a word for the rest of the evening. That night, for the first time since his return from Mexico, he did not initiate any sex with Marina, not even the limited sex that might have been possible so soon after Rachel’s birth.

  The next day he silently washed the diapers for Marina and hung them out to dry, then watched football, and finally his spirit began to lift. He took Marina aside and gave careful instructions. If Hosty returned, she was to get the license number of his car. Even if another agent came, he would probably use the same car. It might be parked across the street or in front of the neighbors, he told her. He didn’t have to instruct her not to give Hosty his address in Dallas. Marina didn’t know herself where he was living.

  On Sunday, Ruth gave Lee another driving lesson. He wanted to take June along, a sign perhaps of his growing confidence, but Marina would not hear of it. “If you want to break bones, break your own,” she told him.