Customer Reviews

Assignment: Oswald

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This book reveals more, perhaps, than the author intended, about the atmosphere in the Dallas FBI during 1963. Hosty had been assigned to investigate Oswald but had lost track of him when he left Dallas for New Orleans. He eventually found out that Oswald had returned to Dallas and interviewed Oswald's wife, Maria, at her residence. This angered Oswald, who later left a threatening note at the Dallas FBI for Hosty. After Oswald's arrest, Hosty was sent to the office where Oswald was being interrogated because he knew the most about him. This caused a confrontation between Oswald and Hosty. Instead of gaining any good information about Oswald, Hosty made it look like the FBI had propelled him into action by their overbearing intrusions. No wonder J. Edgar Hoover later disciplined Hosty for his work on this case. Hosty, however, needed to justify himself in every step he took, so, he resorts to pleading that he was overworked during 1963. The rest of the books deals with Hosty in later years, analyzing this case in his own way, suspecting Maria of being a Russian KGB police plant. You can easily understand why Hosty did not meet his career goals and ended up being bitter about the whole thing.

I found Hosty's account of the events surrounding the JFK assasination to be very intesting, and highly accurate in comparison to actual film footage from that time period. This account will put to rest all of the illogical and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that have been circulating. And, it will focus light on the one conspiracy theory that hasn't gotten enough attention, and that is the one involving the Soviet and Cuban governments. Hosty has alleged that every commission and report to date has purposely down-played or ommitted evidence pointing to a Soviet/Cuba/Oswald link. His argument is well supported with facts and analysis. He also gives a perfectly plausible reason why Oswald could certainly have fired all three shots. I highly recommend this book for students of the JFK assasination.

Like I said in the title, it is an interesting read. Hosty deals with the assasination as he perceived it (and it was he who investigated Oswald). He also tries to brush off any conspiracy theories pertaining to the shooting, in particular Stone's "JFK". I must say he does a pretty good job at it, with his claims being solidly motivated. However, I still stubbornly choose to believe in the conspiracy.

FBI agent James Hosty is the guy who destroyed critically important assassination evidence -- a written note left by Oswald at the Dallas office of the FBI, two weeks before the assassination. James Hosty admits that he destroyed Oswald's note three hours after Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby. As one who destroyed evidence, how can Hosty possibly be trusted to tell the truth about anything in this matter?

James Hosty was certainly an important witness to history. He was one of the few to have interviewed both Lee and Marina Oswald. His book does a good job of connecting the dots, at least from his unique, law enforcement point-of-view and would be recommended reading for any JFK assassination buff.

Hosty's book provides a candid recounting of the tragic events of Nov. 22, 1963. While Hosty acknowledges his own mistakes, he tries to put the president's assassination in proper context and explain what was really happening behind "closed doors." An exciting read, and a must read for buffs. Hosty's candid recounting will surely get under the skin of conspiracy theorists.

Aside from personally destroying potential evidence in the Oswald case--a note from Oswald in November 1963 that could have shed light on Oswald's frame of mind around the time of the assassination--what does Hosty know to increase our understanding of the JFK assassination? He knows nothing about the real nature of Oswald's activities in New Orleans in 1963--events leading up to the assassination. He knows nothing about the possible role of the USG in the assassination. Forget about Cuba or Russia's role in the assassination events. Could they have switched key frames in the Zapruder film for the use of the Warren Commission? Hoover himself admitted to the FBI's role in this "mistake." Did the Cubans or Russians hide information from the Warren Commission? No, Allen Dulles did so. Did the Cubans or Russians manipulate the writing of the Warren Report? No, Gerald Ford admitted that he changed the language of the report regarding where one of the bullets struck Kennedy (making the report inaccurate but trying to force data into a preconceived notion). Try the books of Dick Russell or Jim Garrison or Gaeton Fonzi instead in order to gain understanding of the events of 1963.

LARGELY BIOGRAPHICAL IN NATURE, HOSTY DWELLS IN (TOO MUCH) DEPTH ON HIS PROBLEMS WITH THE HIERARCHY OF THE FBI. IN MY OPINION, THERE ARE POTENTIAL NUGGETS WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BUT WERE SHORT CHANGED IN HOSTY'S SELF DEFENSIVE NARRATIVE.

It seems as though Hosty&Son decided to cash in on the cottage industry that has become the JFK assassination. While revealing nothing new here, Hosty manages to continue the Warren apology in a rather boring fashion. Rest assured, there are a lot of answers concerning the death of JFK that Hosty could give us, but he doesn't here, and probably never will.

How many facts need to come out about the JFK assassination before the clueless Hosty admits that Oswald couldn't possibily have pulled a trigger, let alone killed the president. In this era of ever-widening disclosure, Hosty does what he can to turn back time and close the door again to the American public. It's too little too late: We're on to you and we're on to the truth.