Lee Oswald Linked to Downing of U-2

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP83-00764R000500100014-2
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
November 11, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 24, 1998
Sequence Number: 
14
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 19, 1970
Content Type: 
NSPR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP83-00764R000500100014-2.pdf193.7 KB
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PRILADURRIA BULLETIN Approved For Relt a 1 999/0N%4A l lFDP83-00 R000500100014-2 CPYRGHT Lee Oswald Linked CP Tz testimony of John E. Donovan, a former first ;icutenant as- signed to the same El Toro radar unit as Oswald, on page 298 of Volume 8 or the Warren Commission Hearings. According to Donovan, Os- wald "had the access to the to- cation of all bases in the West Coast area, all radio fre- quencies for all squadrons, all tactical call signs, and the rela- tive strength of all squadrons, a squadron, who was the com- lira, tion code?of entering and ex- iting the -'ADIZ, which stands. for'' Air Defense Identification Zone.' t-Ics.4Cnew the rage oI our radar. He knew the range of our radio. And he knew the range of the surrounding units" radio and radar." 'Offered to Tell' Oswald's conversation with Snyder is mentioned at least three times in the Report of the Warren Commission on the As- sassination of President Ken- ney (page references are to The New York Times edition, published by McGraw-Hill, Oc- tober 1964). Page 618:. "Oswald told him that he had already offered tol tell a Soviet official what he had learned as a radar operator in the Marines." Page 665: "Oswald stated to Snyder that he had voluntarily told Soviet officials that he would make known to them.all information concerning the Ma- rine Corps and his specialty therein, radar operation,. as he possessed." Page 369: "He stated that he' bad volunteered to give Soviet officials any information that: h e had ' concerning Marine Corps operations, and intimated that he might know something of special interest." Tantalizing Lead . During the six months follow-' ing the Oct. 31, 1959, Ems wo meeting there, were only two overflights of 'the USSR. The one which 'occurred on April 9, 1960, was uneventful. The one 'which followed, on May ?1, 1960, 'FRANCIS GARY POWERS displays a' model at: the U-2 spy plane he flew over the Soviet.Unipn; in 1960 at his home in ' Burbank, Calif. (First of a Series) By FRANCIS GARY POWERS In September of 1957 a 17- year-old Marine Corps private was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 1 (MACS- 1) based at Atsugl, Japan. MACS-I' was a radar unit whose duties .Included scouting for;~ incQgning foreign aircraft. Its equiR ear. 'included height- finding tdar. The private, a trained radar operator, had access to this equipment.. He remained in Japan until November 1958, at which time he was returned to the United States and assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No, 9 (MACS-9) at thel! Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, Calif: El Toro was not a U-2 base, but U-2s frequently flew over this portion of Southern Califor- nia. At El Toro he had access not only to radar and radio codes but also to the new MPS 16 height-finding radar gear. 'Hardship Discharge' In September of' 1959 he ob- tained a "hardship dischar,^.e from the U.S. Marine. Corps. The following months he. de- fected to the Soviet Union. On Oct. 31, he appeared In the,American Embassy in Mos- cow to state his intention of re- nouncing his U.S. citizenship. According to Richard E. Sny- der, the Second Secretary and senior consular official, and John A. McVickar, Snyder's as- sistant, who was also present, during the course of the conv8r- sation he mentioned that he, had already offered to'tell the Rus- sians everything he knew about the Marine Corps and his spe- cialty, radar operation. He also Intimated that he might know something'of "special Interest." His name was Lee Harvey Oswald. Six months- later my U-2,was shot down. Mentioned In Testimony Oswald'b familiarity with MPS 16 height-finding gear and radar and radio codes (the lat- Appe owning of U- . ter were changed following his l For RPIt?act? 1999109194 dCLS0911Pq> tlt7r9t4194Onnn5nn100014-9 HT__ A -- - wasn't. Here the trail ends, except ,for one tantalizing lead, dis- covered during the research for this book. . Among the Warren Commis- sion )Documents In the National Archives in Washington, D.C, Is one numbered 931, dated May 13, 1964, CIA National Security Classification Secret. In response to an inquiry, Mark G. Eckhoff, director, Leg- islative,.Judicial and Diplomat- ic Records Division, National Archives, in a letter dated Oct, 13, ' 1969, stated "Commission Document 931 is still classified and withheld from research." The title or Document No. 931 Is "Oswald's Access to Infor- mation about the U-2. NEXT: ~,gowers' connection with the C. A;, and apprehen. sion about the upcoming flight. Approved For Release 1999/09/24: CIA-RDP83-00764R000500100014-2