(Testimony of )
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 cow 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 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 sir 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 fore 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 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 State. 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,
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