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submitted. A date/time stamp has been imprinted on the document by machine
and reads: "RECEIVED DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1959 SEP 9 AM 954 PASSPORT OFFICE
LOS ANGELES." It seems clear that the purpose of this memorandum was to
convince the passport office that Oswald, who applied for a passport on
September 4, 1959, was going to be leaving active duty and resuming life
as a civilian again; the implication of this apparent need to satisfy the
passport office is that DOS probably did not process passport applications
for active duty personnel unless they could prove they were leaving (or
had left) active duty. Although Oswald obviously was stimulated to draft
this memo on September 4, 1959 (the day he submitted his passport
application), it was not turned into the passport office until September
9, 1959. The reason for the delay may have revolved around obtaining a
signature on the memo. Although the name of USMC 1st LT A. G. Ayers, the
Assistant OIC of the El Toro Separation Section, is typed on the memo, the
memo is instead signed by 1st Sergeant Zack Stout, a friend of Oswald's (3)
who served with him at both MACS-1 in Atsugi, Japan and at MCAS El Toro.
Stout may have been enlisted by Oswald to sign the memo if Ayers refused,
or if for some reason Oswald did not want Ayers to know he was applying
for a passport. (The latter seems likely, since a Marine enlisted man
getting a hardship discharge because of his mother's penury would most
likely not have wanted the officer responsible for his separation
paperwork to know that he was applying for a passport and intending to
travel to Europe to attend colleges in two countries, and to visit
numerous other nations as a tourist.) In fact, it seems highly unlikely
that Ayers knew anything about the memo, since it is not typed on


     (3)The Assassination Chronicles (Legend), by Edward J. Epstein: pages
357-365 provide details of Oswald's friendship with Zack Stout from their
MACS-i association.



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