8

one probable DD 1173 recipient, received their I.D. cards between
August-December, 1959, inclusive; the 1 recipient of the "Red" 2MC(Res)
card received his card in May, 1960 (after change 2 to the PRAM was issued
in December 1959). This apparent pattern provides circumstantial support
for the hypothesis that the Marine Corps may not have changed its own
policy on I.D. card issuance to reservists (i.e., substituting a "Red"
card for the DD 1173) until change 2 to the PRAM was issued in December,
1959. If this in fact was the case, then it means Lee Harvey Oswald was
issued his DD 1173 I.D. card in accordance with existing USMC regulations
at the time of his discharge, in September 1959. One possible reason why
the Marine Corps may have delayed implementing its own discontinuance of
the DD 1173 as a reserve I.D. card may be that they simply waited until
they had sufficient stocks of the new "Red" 2MC(Res) in stock, and
properly distributed, throughout the Marine Corps. This may explain why,
unlike the Army regulation from July 1959, the USMC's regulation, the
PRAM, did not allow for a gradual phase out-phase in between the old and
new cards--simply because the Marines may have waited for proper
distribution of the new card before changing the issuance regulations.

Lead # 8/Allegation: That since no one else in Oswald's unit was given a
DD 1173 I. D. card, and because CIA civilian U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers
also had a DD 1173 I.D. card, Lee Harvey Oswald was therefore an agent of
the CIA or some other intelligence agency who required access to overseas
bases: hence, his possession of the DD 1173 I.D. Card.

Findings: Conclusion unsupported by evidence presented. Whether Lee Harvey
Oswald was, or was not, on a mission for the U.S. Government when he
defected to the USSR in 1959, possession of the DD 1173 card is not
sufficient to prove (or disprove) that speculation, particularly since 5
other members of his unit at El Toro were also issued this same card upon
discharge from active duty. Furthermore, even though the La Fontaines are
correct that some civilians within DOD (and apparently CIA) are authorized
issue of the DD 1173 in order to gain routine access to overseas bases, it
is specious reasoning to suggest, as they do on pages 86-90, that because
one person who was a CIA employee (CIA U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers) was
issued a DD 1173, that Oswald (who also had the card) must likewise have
been an intelligence agent. They have not presented evidence that all
intelligence agents were issued the card; and in opposition, they have
presented evidence (since confirmed by ARRB) that numerous persons not
involved in intelligence work were authorized to receive the DD 1173:
military dependents, disabled veterans, foreign military personnel and
their families, and, for a period of approximately 2 years, various
military reservists. The key issue to the La Fontaines in chapter 3 of
their book is timing: that the card was issued to Oswald




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