On 11/24/63 Marina Oswald and her kids were taken under the control of LBJ's Secret Service and agent Mike Howard was in charge of controlling Marina. Mike Howard later became one of LBJ's absolute most trusted Secret Service agents.
Marina Oswald told the FBI on November 28, 1963 that should would “cooperate” with them if she would be allowed to remain in the USA. Very soon after this on December 3, 1963 she telling the FBI that Oswald told her he tried to murder Gen. Edwin Walker.
Hoover FBI memo of 11/29/63 at 1:39PM
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I advised the President that his wife had been very hostile, would not cooperate and speaks only Russian; that yesterday she said, if we could give assurance she would be allowed to remain in the country, she would cooperate; and that I told our agents to give that assurance and sent a Russian-speaking agent to Dallas last night to interview her. I said I do not know whether or not she has any information but we would learn what we could.
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When did Marina Oswald first tell the FBI that Lee Harvey Oswald told her that he tried to murder Gen. Edwin Walker? Answer: 12/03/63.
Grok (10/25/26)
December 3, 1963 (to the Secret Service, with the FBI learning of it essentially immediately and interviewing her on it around then or the next day).
The note Oswald left for Marina (instructions in case he was arrested or did not return, found in a book among her belongings recovered around December 2) was examined by the Secret Service. On December 3, a Russian-speaking Secret Service agent questioned her about it. She stated that the note had nothing to do with the Kennedy assassination; it was written before Oswald’s attempt on retired Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (whom she described as head of a fascist organization) on the night of April 10, 1963, while they lived on Neely Street in Dallas. She said that when he returned late that night he was nervous and confessed that he had shot at Walker with his rifle.
FBI reports document her account in detail from interviews around this time (including an FD-302 reflecting the December 3 date, with agents such as Anatole A. Boguslav and Wallace R. Heitman involved in related interviews). She described Oswald’s return in an agitated state, his turning on the radio for news, his confession that he had tried to kill Walker but did not know if he had hit him, his claim that Walker was a fascist leader, and her decision to keep the note as leverage. Follow-up interviews (e.g., December 5, 10, 12–13) added details such as a prior aborted trip to Walker’s house, burying/retrieving the rifle near a church, and related events.
This was the first time she told U.S. authorities (Secret Service and then FBI). There is no earlier record of her disclosing the confession or the note’s connection to the Walker shooting. Public reports of her statements appeared later (e.g., late December 1963/early January 1964 via her spokesman Jim Martin), after the note and her account had been provided to investigators. The Warren Commission and other official records treat her post-assassination statements (beginning in early December) as the source that linked Oswald to the April 10 attempt.
When was Marina Oswald taken under control of the Secret Service after the JFK assassination?
Grok (10/25/26)
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November 24, 1963 (afternoon), shortly after Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.
President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the Secret Service to protect the entire Oswald family (Marina, her children, Marguerite Oswald, and Robert Oswald) to prevent harm. A Secret Service agent at Parkland Hospital received the directive in the early afternoon of November 24. Agents then arranged secure lodging and transported the family.
Around 3:30 p.m. that day, Secret Service agents (including Mike Howard and Charles E. Kunkel), along with Marina, her two children, Marguerite, Robert Oswald, and interpreter Peter Paul Gregory, left Parkland Hospital. They arrived at the Inn of the Six Flags in Arlington, Texas, about an hour later. Local police assisted with security, and agents began protective custody and interviews that evening.
Marina (and the children) remained under Secret Service protection at the Inn of the Six Flags for several days, then at the home of James Herbert Martin (the motel’s resident manager) starting around November 29–30, and later elsewhere as needed. Protection continued until she requested it end on February 7, 1964, after her initial Warren Commission testimony.
Some accounts note earlier contact or movement of family members on November 22–23 (e.g., to the Executive Inn), but formal Secret Service protective custody under presidential order, including the move to the secure motel, began on the afternoon of November 24 after Oswald’s death.
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When was it PUBLICLY REVEALED that Marina Oswald said that Lee Harvey Oswald had told her that he had tried to murder Gen. Edwin Walker?
Grok (10/25/26)
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Around December 6, 1963 (with further details confirmed publicly on December 31, 1963 / January 1, 1964).
Marina Oswald first told Secret Service and FBI investigators about her husband’s admission in early December 1963. After the note Oswald left her (instructions in case of arrest) was found among her belongings around December 2–3, she was questioned on December 3. She stated that on the night of the April 10, 1963, shooting attempt, Oswald returned pale and agitated, turned on the radio, and confessed he had shot at Walker with a rifle (not knowing at first whether he had hit him). She linked the note to that event.
This information reached the press quickly via leaks or reporting. A UPI story published December 6, 1963 (e.g., in the Deseret News), stated that Marina had told FBI investigators her husband claimed he had fired the bullet into Walker’s home the previous April. Other contemporary accounts also linked Oswald to the Walker shooting around this time based on investigative sources.
A more detailed public confirmation came at the end of the month. On December 31, 1963, Jim Martin (Marina’s spokesman) disclosed to the press that she had told investigators Oswald confessed to firing at Walker and that she had turned over the note. This was reported in The New York Times on January 1, 1964, which noted it confirmed earlier reports.
The full account later appeared in Marina’s Warren Commission testimony and the Commission’s report (1964). Investigators had not publicly tied Oswald to the unsolved Walker shooting until after the Kennedy assassination, when Marina’s statements (plus ballistic and other evidence) connected him.
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How Close was Secret Service agent Mike Howard to Lyndon Johnson?
Grok (10/25/26)
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Secret Service agent Mike Howard was professionally close to Lyndon B. Johnson and his family for about a decade, beginning immediately after the JFK assassination.Howard (who served in the Secret Service from roughly 1960 to 1974) was involved in advance security and related duties for the Kennedy trip to Texas. On November 22, 1963, after the assassination, the newly sworn-in President Johnson personally contacted him. Johnson ordered Howard (and other agents) to protect Lee Harvey Oswald’s family (Marina, the children, and others), telling him variations of “I don’t care what you do, you don’t let anything happen to these people” and emphasizing that they were not at fault.
By 1964, Howard was assigned to the Johnson family protective detail. He spent significant time protecting the president’s daughter Lynda Bird Johnson (including while she attended the University of Texas at Austin) and remained on Johnson family protection until his retirement for medical reasons around 1974. After LBJ left office in 1969, Howard continued on details for Lady Bird Johnson. Accounts describe him as becoming almost “family” to the Johnsons due to the closeness of the protective work.
This proximity continued to the end of LBJ’s life. Howard was one of the agents at the LBJ Ranch on January 22, 1973. When the former president suffered a fatal heart attack, he specifically called for Howard (“Get me Mike”). Howard responded, assisted with CPR efforts alongside another agent, and was involved in the immediate aftermath, including notifying Lady Bird.
In short, Howard went from a Texas-based agent handling post-assassination assignments under Johnson’s direct orders to a long-term, trusted member of the family’s protective detail, with personal interactions that extended through LBJ’s post-presidency and death.
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Mike Howard: In the wake of the JFK assassination, sweet Marina Oswald was frightened by the prospect of her possible deportation and/or imprisonment
Grok (10/25/26)
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Mike Howard, a U.S. Secret Service special agent, played a key role in the protective custody of Lee Harvey Oswald’s family (not Oswald himself) in the immediate aftermath of the JFK assassination and Oswald’s own killing. This assignment came directly from newly sworn-in President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Assignment and ContextOn November 22–23, 1963, after Oswald was identified as the prime suspect in the Kennedy assassination, Johnson ordered the Secret Service to protect Oswald’s relatives amid fears of public retribution or violence (including rumors that people might try to harm them, such as by dragging them through the streets). Howard later recalled Johnson telling him something to the effect of: “Mike, I don’t care what you do, you don’t let anything happen to these people… It’s not their fault that it happened.”
Howard was among the agents tasked with locating and safeguarding the family. He and another agent (often mentioned as Charles Kunkel/Kunkle) found Marina Oswald (Lee’s widow), their two young daughters (June and Rachel), Oswald’s mother Marguerite, and later involved brother Robert. They initially gathered them near Love Field / the Executive Inn area and transported them for safety.
Key Activities
· Protective custody location: The family was moved to the Inn of the Six Flags (in Arlington, Texas), specifically to adjoining rooms (e.g., 423–424) in a more secluded, wooded rear section of the relatively new hotel complex for security. Arlington police assisted. Howard described it as a “cloak and dagger-type situation,” with agents prepared to “take the bullet” if necessary. The protection lasted roughly a week (about six to seven days for the main group stay).
· Interviews and support: Agents, including Howard, conducted interviews with Marina (with Russian interpreter Peter Gregory’s assistance). Howard was present for some interactions and later helped arrange aspects of Oswald’s funeral. He recalled Marina as a young (about 22), sweet, overwhelmed woman who was frightened—particularly concerned about possible deportation or imprisonment as a Soviet citizen—and who showed little outward emotion. Howard noted practical help, such as obtaining diapers and other necessities for the children.
· Logistics and transitions: Howard and colleagues managed the family’s movements, including to Parkland Hospital after Jack Ruby shot Oswald on November 24 (where they viewed the body and discussed arrangements). Protection continued under Secret Service oversight even as the family later transitioned (Marina and the children eventually stayed with Inn manager Jim Martin for a time). Official reports confirm Howard and Kunkel transported the family and that Headquarters directed full protection for the mother, brother, widow, and children.
Howard has described the assignment as unwanted and emotionally difficult (“This guy shot our President and now we’re going to go protect his family? How would you feel?”), but he carried it out professionally as part of his duty. He was gone from home for days during this period.
This protective detail was temporary and focused on immediate post-assassination security risks. It was distinct from Howard’s later long-term work on the Johnson family protective detail (including Lynda Bird Johnson). Howard has recounted these events in interviews and public talks over the years, providing firsthand perspective on the chaotic days following November 22, 1963.
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Marina Oswald to Jesse Ventura in 2010:
“Would you sacrifice your children for the truth?” – Marina Oswald to Jesse Ventura in 2010 for his TV show. (11-19-10, Jesse Ventura’s TV show Conspiracy Theory).
(Marina had made a lot of statements incriminating her deceased husband in 1963-64. The Warren Commission had use her as its star witness in the posthumous frame up of patsy Oswald in 1964. Marina at the time was age 22, with a toddler and a baby, no money, did not speak English, was surrounded by US intelligence, had her phone illegally wiretapped in Feb. 1964, feared being deported back to Russia or even possibly being indicted as a accomplice in the murder of President John Kennedy.”
