Talk:Lee Harvey Oswald

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Frequently asked questions

Q1: Why does the article describe Oswald as the assassin of John F. Kennedy, instead of the alleged assassin, given that he was never convicted in a court of law?

A1: A legal conviction is required before government may label someone a criminal and punish him. But a legal conviction is not required for scholars and historians to draw their own conclusions based on the evidence: they may conclude that a person never convicted of some crime was, in fact, guilty (e.g. John Wilkes Booth); or they may conclude that someone who was convicted was, in fact, innocent (e.g. Timothy Evans). Although Oswald was killed before he could be brought to trial, reliable sources firmly establish that he fired the shots that killed Kennedy.

Q2: What if I still disagree?

A2: Read the discussions found in this page's archives before proposing that Oswald be described as Kennedy's "alleged assassin" or the like. Proposals rehashing old arguments will go nowhere.

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Ella German was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 13 August 2020 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Lee Harvey Oswald. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.

Semi-protected edit request on 11 June 2024

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Change who assassinated John F. Kennedy to who was accused of being involved with the assassination of John F. Kennedy 2603:8000:D101:5369:5503:1B1B:4E3A:AC8C (talk) 05:28, 11 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: See the FAQ on top of this page. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talk • contribs) 05:43, 11 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"a former U.S. Marine during the Korean War"

"Lee's elder brother Robert Jr. (1934–2017) was a former U.S. Marine during the Korean War."

So, was he

1. a marine during the Korean War, or

2. a marine during some earlier time, preceding the Korean War, who left the Marines during the Korean War, after which he rejoined the Marines?,

or is this simply

3. bad writing? 2A02:AA1:164B:F6E4:AD22:E817:B01A:F5BD (talk) 15:17, 15 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

According to an obit for Robert Oswald, in the then Wichita Times Record News, now just the Times Record News, Robert Oswald "spent his youth in Louisiana with his brothers Lee and John Pic before joining the Marine Corps in 1952 at age 18. He proudly served his country as a Marine in the Korean war. Upon returning from Korea, he met and married Vada Mercer on November 21, 1956 in Ft Worth, Texas."

So, we know this Oswald joined the Corps in 52', and was married (after leaving the service?) in 56', so it does seem like that falls in the time of the Korean War (50'-53'). So it looks like the answer is C. A proper rewrite would likely read something like this: Lee's elder brother Robert Edward Lee Jr. (1934-2017) was a U.S. Marine who served during the Korean War." Not going to make that edit at this time, as I'm uncertain how to mark this as resolved, but anyone who wishes to, feel free to.

I've also included Robert's FindAGrave page; uncertain if that falls under the umbrella of a RS or not, but I will say I use it regularly when tracking burials on Ancestry.com; it quotes the WTRN obit verbatim.

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/life/announcements/obituaries/2017/11/30/robert-edward-lee-oswald/108172714/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/204935970/robert_edward_lee-oswald Northern-Virginia-Photographer (talk) 14:42, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Find-a-Grave is not a reliable source -- WP:USERGENERATED. The obit would normally be a usable source, but stuff like this is in any of the many, many books on the subject, and given the contentious nature of every little thing about the JFK assassination, that's what we should be using, because someone will have checked records, cross-compared, etc. E Eng 16:32, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The more you know - thanks! Northern-Virginia-Photographer (talk) 16:33, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Short questian about the gunman photo

Is it possible, that plants/flowers bloom in februry, in Dallas? In an other photo of the FBI, exactly 4-5 years later, same place, same date, same time...right part of photo ...there are no bloom flower or plants - cause its winter.

I not understand that point. 81.20.127.120 (talk) 21:23, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It was actually March, it's possible in Dallas, and the picture shows sparse vegetation on an apparently warm day, not "flowers." In Dallas, March is springtime, with earlier or later plant growth some years, just like anywhere else in springtime. Your point? Wikipedia isn't a forum for analysis of seasonal plant growth. Acroterion (talk) 21:53, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You do realize that Dallas is at about the same latitude as Tripoli or Baghdad or Shanghai, and while it can be cold there, winters are short? Acroterion (talk) 14:52, 17 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 23 September 2024

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In § Burial, the link "claim that a look-alike Russian agent was buried in place of Oswald" should be changed to "claim that a look-alike Russian agent was buried in place of Oswald"; that is, the section anchor should be changed from #John F. Kennedy conspiracy allegations to #The Oswald File. 99.146.242.37 (talk) 11:56, 23 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done Jamedeus (talk) 15:42, 23 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Opening paragraph

The opening paragraph is clearly a baldly false statement. Whilst it is 'widely believed' or taken as accepted that he was the assassin of Kennedy, be this as a conclusion of official investigations or later historical work, it is wholly impossible to definitively state that he 'was' the assassin. The example given in the talk page yellow box offers 'John Wilkes Booth' as a comparable example. This is invalid, since Booth was actually recorded as being in Lincoln's theatre box, and was seen committing the act by eyewitnesses! This cannot be said for Oswald. The comparison is absurd.

'Accepted as being..' or 'Charged with...' or 'Widely believed to be..' are about as much as can be justifiably stated. Anything else is wilful misinformation. Daisne (talk) 01:38, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See the Talk archives....this one has been beat to death.Rja13ww33 (talk) 01:55, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen them. It doesn't matter, it's a valid point. Which is probably why it has been 'beaten to death'. Daisne (talk) 02:35, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]