Lee Harvey Oswald is notoriously known for assassinating the late President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. While the Warren Commission has touted Oswald as the mastermind behind the killing of the President, rumors of a conspiracy and a second killer continue to float until now. Whatever the case may be, one thing is true – this list of intriguing facts about Lee Harvey Oswald.
Lee Harvey Oswald Facts
1. On that fateful November day, Lee Harvey Oswald killed 2 and wounded 1.
Lee Harvey Oswald is primarily known for killing President John F. Kennedy as his motorcade cruised by Dealey Plaza. He was said to have fired three shots from his .38 rifle – while he was perched on the sixth floor of the Texas School Depository Building.
Apart from assassinating Kennedy, Oswald also killed patrolman J.D. Tippit, who rightfully thought him to be the person described to have slain the President. The murder occurred at 1:15 pm the same day, at a location a mile away from Oswald’s rooming house.
Oswald’s shooting spree also left Governor John B. Connally seriously wounded. The Republican underwent surgery for his injuries that included a punctured lung, three broken ribs, and a shattered wrist.
Oswald was apprehended by the police at approximately 1:45 pm that day. He was arraigned for the murder of the President on the early morn of November 23, 1963.
2. He was killed 2 days after.
On November 24, 1963, while Oswald was being transferred from prison to the interrogation office, he was fatally shot, an important fact bout Lee Harvey Oswald. The culprit behind the murder was Jack Ruby, a distressed Dallas Nightclub owner who was eventually sentenced to death for the said crime. His conviction was ultimately overturned in October 1966. Ruby, however, did not live to see the first hearing. He died of a blood clot and some complications from cancer.
3. He was implicated in the assassination attempt of General Edwin Walker.
In April 1963, Oswald purchased a 6.5 mm rifle that he allegedly used in the foiled assassination. He launched the bullet from 30 meters away, the distance causing him to hit only the window frame. The retired General, who was known for his anti-communist sentiments, only sustained injuries to the forearm.
The police remained clueless for a couple of months; it was only after he gained notoriety following the Kennedy assassination that Oswald was indicted for the crime.
4. He was a sharpshooter.
One of the reasons why Oswald was pegged as Kennedy’s assassin was the fact that he was a sharpshooter. He honed this skill as a marine, a service that he enlisted in at the young age of 17, an interesting fact about Lee Oswald.
Like other Marines, he trained in shooting and combat. In December 1956, Oswald was designated as a sharpshooter after obtaining a shooting score of 212. He maintained this position until 1959, he was then demoted to marksman after rendering a lower score of 191.
5. He was court-martialed twice.
The first summons took place after he accidentally shot his elbow with an unauthorized .22 caliber gun. He was beckoned the second time after fighting a sergeant who he thought was responsible for his first court-martial. Following these temperamental acts, he was imprisoned in the brig. As a consequence, he was demoted to private from the rank of private first class.
6. He defected to the Soviet Union.
Oswald, who described himself as a communist, had always wanted to defect to the Soviet Union. He planned this move well – while a marine he started teaching himself the Russian language. This was common knowledge in his platoon – he was even called “Oswaldskovich” by his comrades.
After saving a good amount of $1,500 from his meager salary, he traveled to the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1959, an interesting Lee Harvey Oswald fact. He was granted a tourist visa upon arrival; right then and there he professed to his tour guide that he wanted to become a Soviet citizen. After his application was refused, he slit his left wrist and bled quite heavily. For his suicide attempt, he was placed under psychiatric observation in a hospital in Moscow.
Eventually, he was granted the freedom to stay in the Soviet Union. He relocated to Minsk where he worked as a lathe operator. There, he was taught Russian by Stanislau Shushkevich, who would, later on, become the first Belarusian head of state.
Bored by his job and the lack of recreational places in the area, he wrote to the US Embassy in Moscow to get his passport back. He returned to the United States in 1962 with his wife Marina Prusakova and infant daughter June.
7. He was a self-proclaimed Marxist.
Oswald thought of himself as a Marxist. He believed that the production belongs to the producers, not to the rich and wealthy. His collectivist beliefs, fueled by his voracious reading of Socialist literature, started at the age of 15. He even wrote to the Socialist Party of America to inquire about the Young People’s Socialist League.
8. He transacted under the pseudonym A.J. Hidell.
An interesting fact about Lee Harvey Oswald is that he utilized the moniker A.J. Hiddell to carry out his many notorious transactions. He used it to make mail-order purchases for two guns, including the .38 caliber that he reportedly used to assassinate Kennedy. He also named himself (as A.J. Hidell) president of “Hands Off Cuba,” a society he organized to sympathize with Fidel Castro.
9. Lee Harvey Oswald was diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder when he was young.
Even as a young boy, Oswald demonstrated a bad temperament. At 13 years old, he struck his mother with a knife and even threatened the wife of his half-brother John.
His absences at school led to his admittance to a New York juvenile reformatory where he was diagnosed with a personality disorder of schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies. He eventually improved and was able to leave the institution to relocate to New Orleans with his mother.
Conclusion
At a young age, Lee Harvey Oswald had already shown signs of mental instability. It did not help that he promoted communist and pro-Soviet views at such a young age. Despite these, he claims to be innocent – only a patsy to the death of John F. Kennedy. Whether you believe him or not, do remember to keep these Lee Harvey Oswald facts in mind once you decide.
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