John F Kennedy Argumentative Essay Example For Students

John F Kennedy Argumentative Essay Word Count: 4268In another bizarretwist to a mystery that has haunted Americans for more thana quarter century, the son of a former Dallas police officerplans to tell the world that his father was one of the assassinsof President John F. Kennedy. Ricky White, a 29-year-old,unemployed oil equipment salesman in Midland, says hehad no conception of ever, ever giving this story out butdecided to do so after FBI agents began asking questions inMay 1988. Im telling you a story that has touched me, notonly others, and I feel uncomfortable just telling it tostrangers, White said during a recent interview with theAustin American-Statesman. Monday in Dallas, White isscheduled to show reports material implicating his father,Roscoe Anthony White, in the 1963 assassination. Itsuggests that White, who died in 1971, was a member of anassassination team of three shooters, that he fired two of thethree bullets that killed the president, and that he also killedDallas police officer J. D. Tippit during the manhunt for LeeHarvey Oswald. Among the material: a rifle with telescopicsight that uses the same kind of ammunition as Oswalds gun;records showing that Oswald and White served together inthe Marines; three faded messages that appear to bedecoded orders to kill someone in Dallas in November1963; and a sons recollections of his fathers incriminatingdiary a document that is missing. The press conference isbeing sponsored by two private groups the JFKAssassination Information Centre of Dallas and theAssassination Archives and Research Centre of Washington and some Midland Businessmen. The possibility of RickyWhites story being a hoax a falsehood concocted either byRicky or his father has not been dismissed by the peopleurging him to publicly talk about the matter. During the last27 years, many private researchers have claimed to havefound evidence of a conspiracy, only to be proved wrong ordeceitful. Bernard Fensterwald, executive director of theAssassination Archives and Rese arch Centre, says if therewas a conspiracy, Ricky White may have the key. I thinkits our best shot, he says, and we better take it. J. GaryShaw, co-director of the JFK Assassination InformationCentre, says he hopes Whites story will result in aninvestigation of the assassination by Texas authorities. TwoWashington-based probes the Warren Commission in1963-64 and the House Select Committee onAssassinations in 1976-78 failed to resolve the enigma of theKennedy shooting, Shaw maintains. As with previousconspiracy theories, Whites story is tantalizing, the evidenceintriguing. Yet, as with other theories, it raises morequestions than it answers such as: Who issued the ordersto the so-called assassination team? Why was theassassination ordered against Kennedy? And why is RickyWhite telling this story now? AN OSWALDCONNECTION Using clues discovered in his fatherseffects and relying on available government records, RickyWhite says he has determined that Roscoe White and LeeHarvey Oswald p robably met in 1957. Ricky Whitesmother, Geneva, is gravely ill and unable to be interviewed,family members say. According to Military records, bothWhite and Oswald were among a contingent of U.S. Marines, who boarded the USS Bexar in San Diego thatyear for the 22-day trip to Yokosuka, Japan. In its finalreport, the Warren Commission published a photo ofOswald with other Marines in the Philippines. All but one ofthe Marines was squatting on the ground. Ricky White sayshis father claimed to have been the standing Marine andclaimed to have become acquainted with Oswald in Japanand the Philippines. Military records show that RoscoeWhite took frequent unexplained trips in the Pacific, andRicky White says that his fathers diary described those assecret intelligence assignments. It has been established inprevious investigations that Oswald was discharged in 1959and defected to the Soviet Union. He returned to the UnitedStates in mid-1962, settling first in Fort Worth with hisRussian-born wife, then moving to Dallas a short time later. Military records show Roscoe White was discharged in late1962, joining his wife and two young sons in Paris, Texas. Ricky White says that shortly thereafter, his father moved thefamily to Dallas and took a job as an insurance salesman. MAN WITH TWO NAMES Ricky White says that twomonths ago he found several faded messages in a militaryweapons canister in the attic of Geneva Whites parentshome in Paris. Ricky believes the messages to be decodedcables in which Mandarin, a name he says his father wasknown by, was told his next assignment would be toeliminate a National Security threat to worldwide peace inHouston, Austin, or Dallas. Another message from the samesource C. Bowers of Navy Intelligence identifiedDallas as the destination and provided White with a list ofcontacts. It stated White had a place hidden within thedepartment. The message was dated September 1963 thesame month that Geneva White began a brief stint as acocktail hostess at Jack Rubys Carousel Club in Dallas. Ruby fatally shot Oswald two days after the Kennedyassassination. Dallas police records show that on Oct. 7,1963, Roscoe White joined the department as aphotographer and clerk. He did not become a patrol officeruntil 1964. A staff member in the police personneldepartment said recently that Whites file contains no jobreferences. Ricky White says his fathers diary referred toseveral trips made during this period to a remote area in thefoothills near Van Horn, Texas. There, Roscoe White andseveral others practised shooting at moving targets, RickyWhite says. Although he was younger than 3 years old,Ricky White says he has vague memories of being taken toVan Horn. My impression was they (others at the VanHorn camp) had been working with my father in themilitary, Ricky White says, because they had known eachother well when this took place. A FOOTLOCKER ANDDIARY Ricky White says that, after his grandfather died in1982, he was given his fathers footlocker, which had beenstored in the grandf athers house in Paris. The lockercontained military memorabilia, a Marine uniform, a safedeposit box key and a black leather-bound diary with goldtrim that detailed Roscoe Whites life. As he and his motherread the diary, Ricky White says they found passages thatimplicated Roscoe White in the Kennedy assassination. Mymother and I cried together, he says, because it hurt verydeeply to learn what I know now. It hurt so much becausethe man I had known couldnt have fired those shots. It tookthis investigation to be able to learn its true. And my familysgiven a part of themselves to tell the story. From the diaryhe says he learned the significance of the hunting rifle hisfather gave him: a 7.65mm Mauser with telescopic sight, anArgentine rifle that shoots round-nose, elongated bullets projectiles that closely resemble those of aMannlicher-Carcano, an Italian rifle that Oswald wasaccused of using. After reading the diary, White says he wasconvinced his father was one of three assassins who fired sixshots from Mauser rifles into the presidents open toplimousine in Dealey Plaza. Roscoe White shot from behind afence atop a grassy knoll to the right and front of thelimousine, his son says. Two other marksmen were in theTexas School Book Depository and Records buildingsbehind the vehicle. Three shots struck Kennedy; a fourthwounded Texas Gov. John Connally. Ricky White says thetwo shots that his father fired both struck Kennedy: the firstin the throat; the second, and last of the shots fired, in thehead. Oswald, Ricky White says, knew of the plot, but didnot fire a shot. He had been instructed to bring his rifle to theBook Depository, where he worked, and to build a snipersnest of book boxes near the sixth floor window, from whichhe was accused of firing all the fatal shots, Ricky White says. Ricky White says the diary referred to the other shootersonly by code names: Sol in the Records building; andLebanon in the Texas School Book Depository. The diaryindicated each of the three riflemen was accompanied by anassistant who disassembled the rifles after the shooting andcarried them out of the area, Ricky White says. Accordingto the diary, Ricky White says, his father was to escape withOswald by riding to Red Bird Airport in South Dallas in acity police car driven by a friend and fellow officer who didnot know what was happening. That officer, Ricky Whitesays, was J. D. Tippit, who was shot to death at 10th Streetand Patton Avenue in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas about45 minutes after Kennedy was shot. Oswald was seenrunning from the scene of that shooting. Ricky White says hisfather wrote that, as they drove south, the unsuspectingofficer began to realize what White and Oswald wereinvolved in. Oswald panicked and jumped from the car. When the officer insisted on turning in White, White got outof the car and shot the officer, Ricky White says. I killed anofficer at 10th and Patton, Ricky White quotes the diary assaying. Less than a half hour later, Oswald was arrested inthe Texas Theatre on West Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff. How Far Will Microsoft Get? EssayThe report conclusions left many skeptics. Since bulletspassed through the victims and shattered, investigators werenot able to match the rifling on the bullets to the marks thatwould have been caused by Oswalds rifle. After athree-year investigation, the House Select Committee onAssassinations concluded in early 1979 that Oswald firedtwo shots that killed Kennedy and wounded Connally. Scientific acoustical evidence indicated a high probabilitythat an unidentified second gunman was firing from thegrassy knoll to the front and right of the presidentiallimousine, but missed. TEXT OF NAVY CABLESNavy Int. Code A MRC Remark data 1666106 NRC VDCNAC Dec. 63 Remarks Mandarin: Code G: Stay withindepartment, witnesses have eyes, ears and mouths. You(illegible) do of the mix up. The men will be in to cover up allmisleading evidence soon. Stay as planned wait for furtherorders. C. Bowers RE rifle Code AAA destroy/on/Navy Int. Code A MRC Remark data 1666106 NRC VDCNAC (illegible). 63 Remarks Mandarin: Code A Foreignaffairs assignments have been cancelled. The next assignmentis to eliminate a National Security threat to world widepeace. Destination will be Houston, Austin or Dallas. Contacts are being arranged now. Orders are subject tochange at any time. Reply back if not understood. C. Bowers OSHA RE rifle Code AAA destroy/on/Navy Int. Code A MRC Remark data 1666106 Sept. 63Remarks Mandarin: Code A Dallas destination chosen. Your place hidden within the department. Contacts arewithin this letter. Continue on as planned. C. Bowers OSHARE rifle Code AAA destroy/on/(Part 2 The post-press conference follow-up story) August7, 1990 DALLAS COPS SON ROLLS OUT JFKTHEORY MATTOX, CIA, HOLLYWOOD ANSWERCONSPIRACY CLAIM By Andrew Likakis The Texasattorney general, a major Hollywood producer and theCentral Intelligence Agency are now being written into thenewest chapter in the never-ending mystery of whoassassinated President John F. Kennedy. A 29-year-oldunemployed oil equipment salesman from Midland stoodbefore scores of reporters in Dallas Monday and implicatedhis dead father in the assassination. Soon after, AttorneyGeneral Jim Mattox said hed gladly review the evidence,and the CIA issued an unheard of denial. At the same time,the FBI, which had previously refused to comment on RickyWhites story, issued a statement in Washington sayingagents had reviewed and dismissed Whites story two yearsago. And, finally, thos e who believe Whites story is trueacknowledge that last weekend, several of them met inHollywood with producer/director Oliver Stone, presumablyto discuss movie rights to the White story. The latest chapterin the Kennedy epic began at a two-hour press conferencein which White said his father, Roscoe Anthony White,joined the Dallas Police Department in October 1963 withthe express intent of killing Kennedy. During the pressconference called by two assassination research groups andseveral Midland businessmen, White and Baptist ministerJack Shaw talked about incriminating entries in RoscoeWhites missing diary, decoded cables, and the relationshipthat Roscoe White and his wife, Geneva, had with LeeHarvey Oswald, Dallas Officer J. D. Tippit and Jack Ruby. Based on his own memories, his fathers diary and effects,and the recollections of his mother, Ricky White toldreporters that his father had been one of three shooters onthe day Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. AlthoughOfficer Tippit was a friend of his fathers, Ricky White sayshis father shot Tippit to death in the Oak Cliff section ofDallas about 45 minutes after the assassination, as he andOswald were trying to get away. Oswald was later accusedof killing Tippit. During the press conference, White said hisfather was following orders to kill Kennedy and that, whilehe did not know who issued the orders, three messagesfound among his fathers effects have coding that might havecome from the Office of Naval Intelligence or, indirectly, theCIA. CIA RESPONSE: LUDICROUS The suggestion ofCIA involvement brought a sharp response Monday fromagency spokesman Mark Mansfield in Washington: Theseallegations that this was done on CIA orders, that this guyworked for us and that CIA had any role in the assassinationof President Kennedy are ludicrous. Roscoe White neverworked for the CIA, Mansfield said, adding: normally, wenever confirm nor deny employment, but these allegationsare so outrageous that we felt it necessary and appropriateto respond. Also Monday, the FBI issued a statementsaying its agents had considered the Ricky White story in1988 and had determined that this information is notcredible. Bernard Fensterwald, executive director of theAssassination Archives and Research Centre in Washington,said Monday that Mattox will be given all material that pointstoward Roscoe Whites involvement in the assassination. RUBY, OSWALD MEETING In another curious twist tothe case, Mattox said late Monday he is interested in pursingthe White story because he was once told by his mother, awaitress at Campisis Egyptian Restaurant in Dallas, thatRuby frequented the restaurant and that she thought she sawRuby and Oswald eating dinner there together once. Therestaurant owner, the late Joe Campisi, testified before theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978 that hedidnt see Oswald in his eatery, Mattox said. Mattox said hebelieves he has jurisdiction in the case, and he wouldinterview White and his associates to see what theyve gotand let them explain it to me. The key to the thing, ofcourse, is, if the FBI acknowledges seeing the diary,Mattox said. The only thing to do is to get a look at thediary or acknowledgement (by the FBI) that it existed. Thisis not a solution to the John Kennedy case, Fensterwaldsaid after Ricky White told his story. Its information wethink is important, and we think its true . Even if what is saidhere today checks out, the case is not solved. We still dontknow who planned it and paid for it and basically what theshooting was about. The best we can hope for is to get outof this an idea of who the actual assassins were. It may bedifficult for Mattox or anybody else to do much with thecase without the Roscoe White diary, which disappeared in1988. The leather bound journal talked about theassassination and the aftermath, said Ricky White, addingthat he and his mother read it. Roscoe White died of injuriessustained in an explosive fire in 1971. His widow, Geneva, iscritically ill and, according to family members, unable to beinterviewed. A SILENCED WIFE According to the Rev. Shaw, Geneva White could help an investigation. Shaw saysRoscoe and Geneva White confided in him in 1970-71 whenthey were having marital problems. And, he says, GenevaWhite confided in him again during the last year, telling himthat she was working as a hostess in Rubys Carousel Clubwhen she overheard her husband and Ruby discussing theentire plot of the assassination of the President two monthsbefore the shooting. After the assassination, Shaw says,Geneva White was given electric shock treatments and keptsedated so she would be silenced. Ruby had told her in nouncertain terms that if she opened her mouth she was deadand her children were dead, Shaw says Geneva White toldhim. Shaw says Geneva White told him she confronted herhusband after an organized crime figure approached her inNew Orleans in 1971 and told her to deliver a warning toher husband. According to Shaw, Geneva White was shownnearly a dozen photographs and identified the man in NewOrleans as Charles Nicoletti, formerly t he number onehitman with the Sam Giancana Mafia family in Chicago. Nicoletti was executed gangland style in 1977, about a yearafter Giancana also met the same fate. Shaw says that, whenshe returned to Dallas and told her husband of the ominousmeeting in New Orleans, he told her everything. Shaw saysthat, as he lay in a hospital dying from burns in 1971 RoscoeWhite told him that he had been marked for execution bysome of his underworld associates and that he believed thefire had been deliberately started to kill him. AHOLLYWOOD INTEREST Ricky White said Mondaythat, since he found his fathers diary, he has been consumedfull-time with trying to find out what role his father played inthe assassination. He said that for more than a year he hasreceived a monthly salary from the Matsu Corp., whichwas formed by seven Midland oilmen solely to help financeRickys investigation into his fathers involvement in theassassination. Matsu president Gary Baily said Ricky beganreceiving financial help from Matsu on a day-to-day basisabout six weeks ago after getting ju st expense funds formore than a year. Baily also said Ricky White is negotiatingwith Hollywood producer/director Oliver Stone for movierights to his story. Last weekend, Ricky White, his wife andLarry Howard of the JFK Assassination Information Centrein Dallas met in the Los Angeles area with Oliver Stone andtoured Universal Studios. Oliver Stone is interested, but nodeal has been made, Baily said. Matsu so far has spentmore than $100,000 on the White project, Baily said. If anymoney is generated by the White story, about 74 percentwill go to Ricky Whites family. The rest would go to theMatsu Corp., Baily said.