Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. John A. McVickar, who is presently principal officer,
American Consulate in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was consul in the American
Embassy in Moscow in 1959, until at least the middle of 1961.
Mr. McVickar will be asked to testify concerning Oswald's appearance
at the Embassy in October 1959, when Oswald announced his intention to
renounce his American citizenship.
Mr. McVickar will also be asked to testify concerning his interview
of Marina Oswald when she applied for a visa in July of 1961, and his
actions in connection with securing a waiver of section 243(g) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, with respect to Marina Oswald.
Mr. McVickar will also be examined on two memoranda which he has
provided the State Department since the assassination of President
Kennedy.
At this time I would ask the Chairman to swear Mr. McVickar.
Representative FORD. Mr. McVickar, will you stand. Do you solemnly
swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth.
Mr. McVICKAR. I do, so help me God.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. McVickar, will you state your full name for the record?
Mr. McVICKAR. John Anthony McVickar.
Mr. COLEMAN. That is spelled M-c-V-i-c-k-a-r?
Mr. McVICKAR. I have given the court reporter here my card.
Mr. COLEMAN. And what is your present address?
Mr. McVICKAR. American consulate, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Mr. COLEMAN. What was your position with the American Embassy in Moscow
in the fall of 1959?
Mr. McVICKAR. I was one of two officers in the consular section of the
Embassy.
Mr. COLEMAN. How long did you remain in Moscow?
Mr. McVICKAR. I was there from June of 1959, until September of 1961.
Mr. COLEMAN. I take it you have been shown a copy of the Congressional
resolution with respect to the formation of this Committee?
Mr. McVICKAR. I am not sure but I think so. With respect to this
Commission?
Mr. COLEMAN. Yes.
Mr. McVICKAR. Do you want me to read it now?
Mr. COLEMAN. No, just generally have it available.
Directing your attention to the fall of 1959, did you have occasion to
see or to talk to Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. McVICKAR. I had occasion to see him and to talk briefly to him. I
was present in the office at the time he was interviewed by Mr. Snyder.
We had an office about the size of this room with two desks in it, and
Mr. Snyder's desk was at one end and mine was at the other, and we did
our business in effect in the same room separately, but this was an
unusual case, and I recall the man coming in and I recall parts of the
conversation.
Mr. COLEMAN. Was the day he came in October 31, 1959?
Mr. McVICKAR. I couldn't say exactly but that sounds just about right.
Mr. COLEMAN. Was it a Saturday?
Mr. McVICKAR. I don't know.
Mr. COLEMAN. Do you recall what time of the day it was?
Mr. McVICKAR. I don't know. It might have been in the morning but I am
not sure. I don't know for sure.
Mr. COLEMAN. Did Oswald speak to you at all or was all of his
conversation with Mr. Snyder?
Mr. McVICKAR. I think all of his conversation, subsequent conversation,
was with Mr. Snyder. As I recall, he said a few words to those of us
who were in the office, myself and the secretary, on his way out of the
office probably, but I don't really remember very much about that, if
he said anything at all.
Mr. COLEMAN. Could you tell the Commission to the best of your
recollection what he said to Mr. Snyder that you overheard during the
conversation of October 31, 1959?
Mr. McVICKAR. In an effort to be helpful I have already, in the form of
this memorandum, put everything I could remember down.
Mr. COLEMAN. Sir, are you referring to the memorandum you prepared on
November 27, 1963?
Mr. McVICKAR. Yes; the two memoranda, the one of November 27, 1963,
and of April 7, 1964, but, of course, I will try to recall again. As
I recall, he came into the office, and in a rather truculent fashion
gave Mr. Snyder his passport and said that he wanted to renounce his
American citizenship, and he was unusually nasty about it, and he
then--Mr. Snyder talked with him for about I would say maybe an hour,
in an effort to draw him out I think. The reasons that he gave were
that he was very angry at the United States and that he was no longer
under the illusion that we had a good system in the United States. He
had seen capitalism and imperialism in operation, and I think that he
referred to his tour in the Marine Corps, and I think to--possibly he
was stationed in Okinawa.
I think that he did seem to know something about the renunciation
process, and it was almost as though he was trying to bait the consul
into taking an adverse action against him.
He mentioned that he knew certain classified things in connection with
having been I think a radar operator in the Marine Corps, and that he
was going to turn this information over to the Soviet authorities. And,
of course, we didn't know how much he knew or anything like that, but
this obviously provoked a rather negative reaction among us Americans
in the consulate section. I don't think I probably can recall anything
more than that for sure.
Mr. COLEMAN. Sir, I take it at the time that Mr. Oswald was in the
Embassy in 1959 that you did not prepare a memorandum at that time?
Mr. McVICKAR. No; because it was not my responsibility. I did prepare a
memorandum which I have a copy of here, some time later with respect to
a conversation I had with the correspondent, Priscilla Johnson, who had
been at that time, as of November 17, 1959, in contact with Oswald, and
I think she sought my guidance as to how she should handle her contacts
with him, and also I think to inform the Embassy through me as to these
contacts that she had had.
Mr. COLEMAN. I take it the memorandum you refer to is dated November
17, 1959?
Mr. McVICKAR. That is right.
Mr. COLEMAN. We have marked it Commission Exhibit No. 911. I will ask
you whether that is a copy of the memorandum?
Mr. McVICKAR. Yes; that is a copy of the memorandum. Is it 911 or
9--excuse me--I would like to call attention to the fact that it seems
to me there is an error in the date there in the second paragraph of
that memorandum. It says "She told me that on Sunday May 15."