Jump to content

Talk:Lee Harvey Oswald

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

@Fylbecatulous:: Thanks for fixing that up. Thankfully, Oswald sticks to pretty basic English, except for this one word. Can we get a parenthetical explanation of what it means? Osiris (talk) 03:57, 12 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Osiris:, yes he did use fairly basic English. It was not his primary language either. ツ So I have added a parenthetical explanation within the paragraph itself. Hopefully it does not disturb the flow of the remainder of the quotes and paragraph. My only other thought was to perhaps [1] Feel free to tinker with the format. Thanks. Fylbecatulous talk 15:06, 12 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  1. make a note of explanation to show in the references. Of course, we can't be sure exactly what he meant since he didn't get to stay around to explain himself.
Thanks. That looks fine to me – an alpha footnote is a good idea too; I hadn't thought of that. I also used your definition to create a wiktionary entry. You're right: using the word he actually used, without replacing it with a presumptive definition is definitely better. Osiris (talk) 15:25, 12 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request

[change source]

I suggest placing the "Prayer Man" theory in Lee Harvey Oswald's article. If you are unaware, the Prayer Man theory is a claim made by Australian researcher Greg Parker and Sean Murphy that Oswald was captured standing on the Depository front steps as a shadowy figure in newsreels of Dealey Plaza during the assassination...The shadowy figure is holding their hands in front of them as if praying so the figure got the nick-name "Prayer Man". An argument could be made for putting the theory on the LHO article, especially as it concerns Oswald’s possible whereabouts. To me, looking at it like this, it doesn’t much look like a praying man but rather like a man leaning against the wall on the steps of the Texas School Book Depository with his arms folded over each other. The man looks to be wearing a relatively loose-fitting shirt of some description, though I think he has a rather slight build underneath it. The body language isn’t quite what I would think of with Lee Harvey Oswald, but his build and look are similar-ish as far as the rather grainy images goes. Oswald’s own location inside of the Texas School Book Depository is so disputed that, especially as notes from Nov. 22 indicates he stated that he’d been on the first floor when the motorcade passed the building, and he mentioned “Bill Shelley” outside and that he “watched P. Parade” so that train of thought wouldn’t be entirely impossible. His alleged location, if accurate, wouldn’t quite preclude him from being Prayer Man, though the latter was definitely standing outside. The process of elimination on the other people known to have been out on the steps leaves nobody who could have been Prayer Man, either, which is interesting! In the end though, it’s a slim chance and probably not Oswald. Prayer Man could easily have been someone who’d simply wanted to have a relatively good vantage point from which to view the motorcade and decided to hang out on the front steps of the Book Depository as a result. Regardless of that notion, the man was never conclusively identified – much like the Babushka Lady wasn’t, either, and I bet a few more witnesses slipped through the mazes of the net in that respect.

It’s on the conspiracy theory page. The argument for main criterion for inclusion on the LHO article is not plausibility, as many of the major theories there are implausible anyway, it is notability, especially as it concerns his whereabouts. I checked and was kinda surprised that this theory was not mentioned there. I'd say that it is one of the current "top ten" theories making the rounds, hence why I think it could be included in, say, the “Other investigations and dissenting theories” section on the Oswald article. I am aware it is a "fringe" theory as it dismisses, out of hand, positive, corroborating evidence in order to accept flimsy evidence placing Oswald elsewhere. But it’s notability is enough, especially unless/until the original films are released, so further analysis could be made to determine any possible identification of the figure. This could be added within the Oswald article, in the paragraph of the "Other investigations and dissenting theories" section, worded something along the lines of:

Researchers Greg Parker and Sean Murphy have given attention to a man standing on the Depository front steps in the Wiegman and Darnell films during the assassination, called "Prayer Man", named as the man is holding his hands in front of him as if praying. It has been suggested that Oswald was the figure, and Oswald’s wife, Marina also expressed her belief.[1] Researchers have argued that the official record of Marrion Baker and Roy Truly encountering Oswald in the TSBD second floor lunchroom was false and point to an account where Baker originally said he saw a man walking away from a stairway on the 3rd or 4th floor, and Baker testifying taking the 5th floor elevator only just “one or two floors up” after his official Oswald encounter on the second floor, indicating there was a 4th floor encounter.[2] Also noted that on the day of the assassination, Truly was overheard by reporter Kent Biffle, informing Dallas Police Captain Will Fritz (chief of homicide) that he had seen Oswald in “a storage room on the first floor”. Occhus Campbell (the vice President of the TSBD) also told the New York Herald Tribune the same day that he saw Oswald “shortly after the shooting” in the first floor storage room. Fritz even wrote that Truly saw Oswald “immediately after the shooting somewhere near the back stairway”. The storage room on the first floor was located near the back stairway.[3][4] In addition, notes taken down by FBI Special Agent James P. Hosty and Fritz during the first interrogations of Oswald on November 22, indicate that when Oswald was asked to account for himself at the time of the assassination, he claimed that he “went outside to watch P. Parade” (referring to the presidential motorcade), and that he was “out with [William Shelley, a foreman at the depository] in front”. [5] According to postal inspector Harry Holmes, Oswald said that he was at the “front entrance to the first floor” when he encountered a policeman who told him to “step aside”.[6]— Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.43.197.240 (talkcontribs) 21:38, 22 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  1. Prayer Man: The Exoneration of Lee Harvey Oswald By Stan Dane (2015), p. 101.
  2. Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 258, Testimony of Marrion L. Baker.
  3. Dallas Police Department file on investigation of the assassination of the President, "Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald", vol. 4, p. 265.
  4. FBI Report of Capt. J.W. Fritz, Warren Report, appendix 11, p. 600.
  5. Prayer Man: The Exoneration of Lee Harvey Oswald By Stan Dane (2015), p. 124.
  6. Testimony of Harry D. Holmes, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 7, pp. 306.