John Hickerson

[Jim Root]

About a year ago I was going to start a thread on John Hickerson but have neglected to till today. Perhaps, along with several other posts I have been making recently, it is an apppropriat time to bring forward this post for comments by others.

John Hickerson was the American Abassador to Sweden (stationed in Helsinki) at the time that Oswald defected to Russia (leaving his post in the days immediately following that defection).

He seems to have been the author of the two notes (September 4, 1959 and October 9, 1959) that allude to the ease with which a traveler can enter into the Soviet Union via the Soviet Emabassy in Helsinki. These two dates coincide with the day that Oswald received his early discharge from the Marines and applied for his passport (September 4, 1959) listing Helsinki as a possible destination and the "extra" travel day (October 9, 1959) that Oswald backtracked from France to England before traveling to Helsinki on October 10, 1959.

I am in no way suggesting that Hickerson was in anyway involved with the assassiantion of JFK but a look at his backround and some of the interviews that he did that are on file at the Truman Library might suggest that he may have pieced together, in his own mind, who may have been involved in a conspiracy.

Just a few bits of information:

John Hickerson worked closely with both John J. McCloy and John Sherman Cooper in the development of NATO and had been involved with McCloy in the years previous to that period and after. Hickerson is the only man who I have ever found (as of yet) that refers to John J. McCloy as General McCloy. He also refers to McCloy as Jack McCloy or just Jack as many of McCloys closest associates called him. During WWII this would put General McCloy over Colonel Donovan of the OSS. Since McCloy was brought to the War Department to establish a more effective system of intelligence the fact that he out ranked the man who most believe to have been in charge suggests that there was (and has been since that period) someone else on top of the intelligence heap (McCloy).

Hickerson was US military representative to Canada during World War II. In an interview about this period, without being asked, he pointed out that he had no control over the deployment of the First Special Services Force although the deployment of the FSSF required the mutual consent of both countries. If involved with this force he would have been associated with Walker who, at the end of the war, commanded this unit. Did Hickerson feel a need to distance himself from this force and any association with Walker?

The two messages from Hickerson, cited above, became public during the HSCA hearings and were provided to show that Oswalds admission into the Soviet Union through Helsinki could have been accomplished by anyone in October of 1959. The reality shows that the timming of the notes opens the door to the possibility that that classified information was available to be provided to Oswald just before he applied for his passport and then while he was in route to Russia. Or these dates are just a coincidence.

We sometimes here the phrase "Fruedian Slip" associated to statements made by mistake that represent what is actually turning in our minds.

Did this son of a Texas cotton farmer know more about the association between Walker (the heir of Texas cotton buyers), the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald, (who followed his directions exactly to gain enterance to the Soviet Union) and the position that John J. McCloy held and played on the world scene?

One thing is for certain: Hickerson knew that information about entry into the Soviet Union was available to the State Department on the day before Oswald arrived in Helsinki. He knew that this question was a controversial question that arose from the information that was released in the Warren Report. And we know that he never said a word about it, taking any information about these people with him to the grave.

Jim Root

[James Richards]

Hi Jim,

Here is a portrait image of John Hickerson.

James

[Jim Root]

James

You always amaze me! As you know I cannot get a picture to go on this board or even to attach to an email. I'm in your debt once again. I have seen that picture both on John's site and I beleive it is the official picture used by the Truman Library.

Always better to attach a face to a name. He looks to be a nice man.

Jim Root

[Mark Knight]

Jim, the Hickerson notes bring a few questions to mind. As an ambassador, Hickerson was an employee of the State Department. The State Department, as we all know these days, was a primary means for "spooks" to get into and out of certain countries, as the recent Valerie Plame incident illustrates. Now, if we assume that Oswald was attached to either military intel or the CIA, we can also assume there were various other channels that could be used to get this information to him WITHOUT putting it in writing.

So why would this information be put in writing, and on the two specific dates that coincide with Oswald's itinerary? Was it to lay a trail, for those wise enough to find it? Was it a CYA move, in case Oswald's cover had been blown once he got inside the USSR, that said essentially, we knew how he got in, but we weren't behind it?

I agree with your assumption that it's possible that Oswald and Walker were in contact, perhaps giving Oswald instructions en route to the USSR. But I wonder why the information was put into written form...unless there was a point in having them written. Perhaps this was the only way to get the info where it was to go within the necessary time frame...but that's just specualtion on my part. If Oswald's false defection was to be a secret in perpetuity, leaving a paper trail that corresponds with key dates is, IMHO, inexcusable...unless it was to eventually be disclosed...and if so, to whom? Why?

[Jim Root]

Mark

Hickerson was just doing his job.

Let us suppose for a moment that an intelligence operation was being put into play. Just for argument the operations was begun in 1957 when a letter is intercepted from a young man to the Socialist Party in New York. Let us then suppose that this young mans name is put on a watch list. Within a few weeks this young mans anme pops up again when he enlists in the Marines. The intelligence organization that had "discovered" him now has the ability to control his actions as well as his training, job placement and duty stations. They then place this unknowing youn man in a sensitive job and then provide him with whatever information they want him to have access to. Now this story gets a little sticky as any true counterintelligence operation must. The young man is tempted to feed intelligence information to the Soviets via turned agents. The Soviets would of course be suspicious of the information that they were receiving. The young mans handlers feel that if they could only get the unsupecting young man to defect to Russia the Soviets would see that this man was not a trained agent, as a matter of fact they might just believe he is really just a nobody that did in fact provide them with believeable information. If the information this young man provides is in fact useful perhaps it would lead to the shoot down of some sophisticated spy plane that is being replaced by satelite technology.

Returning to reality: In order to facilitate the movement of persons into and out of the Soviet Union it would seem only natural that Ambassadors would be tasked with ascertaining the methods that could be employed by "travelers" without having any knowledge whatsoever of who was using the information.

The Helsinki Embassy documents where provided to the HSCA as an explanation for the fact that Oswald did gain access to the Soviet Union in a very quick manner. The documents only proved that at that location at that time entry into the Soviet Union could in fact occur within 48 hours.

As far as I know I am the first person who cross refereced the dates with the movements of Oswald. It is either another unusual coincidence or it is a piece of evidence to support the suggestion that Oswald's movements into the Soviet Union were orchestrated or at least supported by the US intelligence community.

I might also point out that FBI Agent Hosty's notes about Oswald were also transmitted to the State Department as well as to the New Orleans office and the Washington Office of the FBI. The notes from Hosty about Oswald that went to the State Department were then making there way to the office of Richard Helms.

When did that start? My bet about 1957 when Richard Helms was involved with James Jesus Angleton and Allen Dullas in an operation to open mail in New York that was addressed to organizations that were considered to be a threat to the security of the United States.

Jim Root