Lee Harvey Oswald – History of Sorts

Lee Harvey Oswald left Moscow on June 1st, 1962. Two days later on June 3,1962 he crossed the Dutch border at Oldenzaal.

From Oldenzaal he traveled to Rotterdam to board the cruise ship ‘SS Maasdam IV’ to set sail for New Yoek on June 4,1962.

From the time he crossed the Dutch border to the time he boarded the ship took 36 hours. There are very few details on what he did those 36 hours. There are some speculations that he may have Met President John F Kennedy in that time, the same President he would kill on November 22,1963 in Dallas. I don’t know where this theory originates from but JFK was not in Rotterdam in June 1962, in fact he wasn’t in the Netherlands or anywhere in Europe. He was in the USA at the time. On June 11,1962 JFK held a speech at the Yale University Commencement.

“President Griswold, members of the faculty, graduates and their families, ladies and gentlemen:
Let me begin by expressing my appreciation for the very deep honor that you have conferred upon me. As General de Gaulle occasionally acknowledges America to be the daughter of Europe, so I am pleased to come to Yale, the daughter of Harvard. It might be said now that I have the best of both worlds, a Harvard education and a Yale degree.
I am particularly glad to become a Yale man because as I think about my troubles, I find that a lot of them have come from other Yale men. Among businessmen, I have had a minor disagreement with Roger Blough, of the law school class of 1931, and I have had some complaints, too, from my friend Henry Ford, of the class of 1940. In journalism I seem to have a difference with John Hay Whitney, of the class of 1926 and sometimes I also displease Henry Luce of the class of 1920, not to mention also William F. Buckley, Jr., of the class of 1950. I even have some trouble with my Yale advisers. I get along with them, but I am not always sure how they get along with each other.

I have the warmest feelings for Chester Bowles of the class of 1924, and for Dean Acheson of the class of 1915, and my assistant, McGeorge Bundy, of the class of 1940. But I am not 100 percent sure that these three wise and experienced Yale men wholly agree with each other on every issue.”

Now one might think that there was about a week between Lee Harvey Oswald time in the Netherlands and that speech of JFK, so it may have been possible they met. However traveling in the 1960’s was a lot more cumbersome then it is nowadays, regardless who you were. Aside from that there would have been records of JFK being in the Netherlands, and there aren’t any.

Lee Harvey Oswald was there with his wife Marina and daughter . I am sure they would have done the same as any other tourist. They would have done some sightseeing.

One thing I do fin intriguing though. Lee Harvey Oswald got the money for his fare through a loan from the State Department for almost $500,via the US Embassy.

The Oswalds embarked on the SS Maasdam IV of the Holland America Line company on June 4th,1962 and arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 13 June. Two days later they flew to Fort Worth, Texas.

sources

https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/june-11-1962-yale-university-commencement

Rotterdam: 3 en 4 juni 1962

https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/1510441-lee-harvey-oswald-and-the-maasdam/

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2006/10/an_american_in_rotterdam/

New document Oswald on SS Maasdam

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President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 pm Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, while on a political trip to Texas to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough (no relation) and conservative John Connally.Traveling in a presidential motorcade through downtown Dallas, he was shot once in the back, the bullet exiting via his throat, and once in the head.

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At 12:30 p.m. CST, as President Kennedy’s uncovered 1961 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible limousine entered Dealey Plaza, Nellie Connally (the First Lady of Texas) turned around to President Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,” which President Kennedy acknowledged by saying “No, you certainly can’t.” Those were the last words ever spoken by John F. Kennedy.

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Kennedy was taken to Parkland Hospital for emergency medical treatment, but pronounced dead at 1:00 pm. Only 46, President Kennedy died younger than any other U.S. president to date.

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Lee Harvey Oswald, an order filler at the Texas School Book Depository from which the shots were suspected to have been fired, was arrested for the murder of police officer J.D. Tippit, and was charged subsequently with Kennedy’s assassination.

kennedy_11-22_oswald-mugshot_3239398-e He denied shooting anyone, claiming he was a patsy( A person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something), and was killed by Jack Ruby on November 24, before he could be prosecuted.

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Ruby was arrested and convicted for the murder of Oswald. Ruby successfully appealed his conviction and death sentence but became ill and died of cancer on January 3, 1967, while the date for his new trial was being set.

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A Requiem Mass was held for Kennedy at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on November 25, 1963. Afterwards, Kennedy was interred in a small plot, (20 by 30 ft.), in Arlington National Cemetery. Over a period of three years (1964–1966), an estimated 16 million people visited his grave. On March 14, 1967, Kennedy’s remains were moved to a permanent burial plot and memorial at the cemetery. The funeral was officiated by Father John J. Cavanaugh. It was from this memorial that the graves of both Robert and Ted Kennedy were modeled.