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Why was Oswald given a Russian language examination?
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Canuck
Feb 3, 2012, 8:58:26 AM2/3/12
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When Priscilla Johnson revised her 1959 article on Oswald, published
in The Boston Globe, as well as numerous Hearst newspapers such as the
Dallas Morning News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she stated that
Oswald "didn't speak a word of the language " [Russian]. As I
suggested in my series "Priscilla & Lee : Before and After the
Assassination" (http://www.jfk-info.com/pjm-1.htm), this is hard to
believe, given the fact that Oswald practiced Russian with Lieutenant
Donovan at the Atsugi Base in Japan, as well as subscribing to several
Russian newspapers. After being transferred to El Toro in California,
Oswald, in fact, was given a Russian examination on Feb. 25, 1959,
conducted by the Department of the Army. Even though his score was
only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent. The question is:
why was Oswald given a Russian language examination? Was it in
preparation for his "defection", or is there an innocent explanation?
- prwhitmey
in The Boston Globe, as well as numerous Hearst newspapers such as the
Dallas Morning News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she stated that
Oswald "didn't speak a word of the language " [Russian]. As I
suggested in my series "Priscilla & Lee : Before and After the
Assassination" (http://www.jfk-info.com/pjm-1.htm), this is hard to
believe, given the fact that Oswald practiced Russian with Lieutenant
Donovan at the Atsugi Base in Japan, as well as subscribing to several
Russian newspapers. After being transferred to El Toro in California,
Oswald, in fact, was given a Russian examination on Feb. 25, 1959,
conducted by the Department of the Army. Even though his score was
only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent. The question is:
why was Oswald given a Russian language examination? Was it in
preparation for his "defection", or is there an innocent explanation?
- prwhitmey
Anthony Marsh
Feb 3, 2012, 9:08:16 PM2/3/12
to
On 2/3/2012 8:58 AM, Canuck wrote:
> When Priscilla Johnson revised her 1959 article on Oswald, published
> in The Boston Globe, as well as numerous Hearst newspapers such as the
> Dallas Morning News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she stated that
> Oswald "didn't speak a word of the language " [Russian]. As I
> suggested in my series "Priscilla& Lee : Before and After the
> When Priscilla Johnson revised her 1959 article on Oswald, published
> in The Boston Globe, as well as numerous Hearst newspapers such as the
> Dallas Morning News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she stated that
> Oswald "didn't speak a word of the language " [Russian]. As I
> Assassination" (http://www.jfk-info.com/pjm-1.htm), this is hard to
> believe, given the fact that Oswald practiced Russian with Lieutenant
> Donovan at the Atsugi Base in Japan, as well as subscribing to several
> Russian newspapers. After being transferred to El Toro in California,
> Oswald, in fact, was given a Russian examination on Feb. 25, 1959,
> conducted by the Department of the Army. Even though his score was
> only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
> Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
> Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent. The question is:
> why was Oswald given a Russian language examination? Was it in
> preparation for his "defection", or is there an innocent explanation?
> - prwhitmey
>
Yes, the innocent answer is that they were preparing Oswald for a fake
> believe, given the fact that Oswald practiced Russian with Lieutenant
> Donovan at the Atsugi Base in Japan, as well as subscribing to several
> Russian newspapers. After being transferred to El Toro in California,
> Oswald, in fact, was given a Russian examination on Feb. 25, 1959,
> conducted by the Department of the Army. Even though his score was
> only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
> Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
> Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent. The question is:
> why was Oswald given a Russian language examination? Was it in
> preparation for his "defection", or is there an innocent explanation?
> - prwhitmey
>
defection to Russia.
timstter
Feb 4, 2012, 7:48:46 PM2/4/12
to
Regards,
Tim Brennan
Sydney, Australia
*Newsgroup(s) Commentator*
Raymond
Feb 5, 2012, 12:06:12 AM2/5/12
to
Russian. Although an unusual accomplishment, in February 1959 he was
invited to take a Marine proficiency exam in written and spoken Russian.
His effort at the time was rated "poor". --- Summers, Anthony. Not in Your
Lifetime, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 94, 99. ISBN
1-56924-739-0
Oswald's primary training was as a radar operator, a position requiring a
security clearance. A May 1957 document states that he was "granted final
clearance to handle classified matter up to and including CONFIDENTIAL
after careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory
data."[21] In the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course he finished
seventh in a class of thirty. The course "...included instruction in
aircraft surveillance and the use of radar."[22] He was assigned first to
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in July 1957,[23] then to Naval Air
Facility Atsugi in Japan in September as part of Marine Air Control
Squadron 1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald#cite_note-29
>
> Regards,
>
> Tim Brennan
> Sydney, Australia
>
> - Show quoted text -
Canuck
Feb 6, 2012, 11:54:45 PM2/6/12
to
> *Newsgroup(s) Commentator*- Hide quoted text -
>
Are you saying that Oswald didn't actually take such an exam, Tim? -
>
prwhitmey
claviger
Feb 7, 2012, 8:08:10 AM2/7/12
to
Canuck,
> Even though his score was
> only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
> Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
> Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent.
Meeting a pretty Russian girl will improve your Russian tremendously!
> Even though his score was
> only in the 55%-60% range (rated "poor"), by the time he reached
> Moscow, he likely could speak some Russian, and by the time he met
> Marina a year later he was apparently quite fluent.
Canuck
Feb 9, 2012, 8:17:48 AM2/9/12
to
university days via classmates and learned that he was teaching
English in Moscow. He later moved back to Seattle, along with his new
wife, who was Russian. He told me that despite living in Moscow for
several years, he found it extremely difficult to learn the language.
- prwhitmey
claviger
Feb 10, 2012, 4:49:43 PM2/10/12
to
know a college student who decided to major in Russian. He spent one
semester as an exchange student in Russia and a couple of summer trips to
the Ukraine where they speak a somewhat different dialect of Russian, and
Georgia. This kid became fluent to the extent he spoke better Russian
than the young people his same age in Georgia who take Russian in school
as a required second language.
LHO had a head start by taking Russian while in the Marines and was given
a job in the USSR where only Russian was spoken in the workplace. He
socialized in Russian and of course, married a Russian bride. That should
be enough reinforcement to learn the language well enough to converse. I
doubt LHO had a perfect accent and probably made grammatical errors, but
that happens all the time with native speakers, especially in regional
vernacular English. This could be one reason why the Russian consulate in
Mexico City thought he spoke poor Russian.
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