General Walker is the big mystery man in the JFK Assassination. It’s tempting to gloss over him so as to get to the good stuff. Many do, but maybe he is the good stuff.
Who is General Edwin Walker? And why was he invited into the JFK Assassination saga at all?
General Walker was a right-wing general who made controversial statements during his various commands during the 1950s. He called Eleanor Roosevelt and former President Truman “pink” meaning communist, and he attempted to indoctrinate his soldiers as to how they should think and vote politically. After resigning his command, he began his political life as a civilian. He became a crowd favorite for conservatives and drew large enthusiastic crowds while promoting an ultra-conservative John Birch philosophy. He promoted riots at the University of Mississippi when they tried to admit a black man, James Meredith, to their school. Additionally, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Texas in 1962 but lost in the primary to John Connolly.
In April of 1963, an attempt was made on his life allegedly by LHO. The attempt was unsuccessful. But why was the attempt made at all? And was it really a serious attempt?
Given that Oswald did not drive, given the unlikelihood that Oswald carried a rifle on a bus, how does Oswald get to Walker’s house, which was a two-hour walk away, to fire a shot? Other questions might be:
1. Given the Warren Commission’s belief that Oswald was a crack shot, how does Oswald miss Walker?
2. Given that Oswald, according to the Warren Commission, could reload and shoot with dead accuracy in only 2.5 seconds, why does he not take another shot? The General was still in full view, slowly ambling over to the window.
3. Where does Oswald bury a rifle in the inner city of Dallas, which Marina claims Oswald told her he did after firing at Walker?
4. How, where and when did Oswald recover the rifle?
My Take: The shooting of General Walker was a sham designed to cement Oswald’s communist credentials. The Director needed to sell Lee on the idea that he was a real agent doing a real job. If Lee is sold, he is less likely to see himself as a future patsy. Lee’s job, as he sees it, is to promote himself as a communist to the White Russian community in order to ferrret out closeted communists. Such a role is consistent with young Lee’s vision of what an agent should be. Lee spent much of the 1950s watching television; his favorite show was “I Led Three Lives.’ In this show, the protagonist, Herbert Philbrick, leads three lives: Citizen, Communist, Counterspy.
What better way to prove yourself than to take a potshot at General Walker?
Here is a map of the Walker Residence. It is not drawn to scale. The yellow arrow represents the car that General Walker saw leaving after the shooting. Oswald did not drive. The black arrow represents the approximate line of the bullet. General Walker was sitting in the corner behind a desk that was looking into the center of the room. He was doing his taxes when a shot missed his head to his left. He initially thought a screen had come loose from the window. The police determined that a shooter had taken a shot from the alley around 80 feet away. They felt that there was no possible way the shooter could have missed. Maybe the shooter wanted to miss. Apparently the bullet hit the sash in the window and deflected. How about that? Another magic bullet.
Even if Oswald did take the shot at General Walker, so what? What does that prove? If anything it proves that Oswald had help getting to the the General’s house. At least one witness saw two people trying to get away after the fact.
Fix the Bus 