The deadly bullets spray President John F. Kennedy's black limousine convertible as it moves slowly past Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The shooting quickly rivets the nation into shock, and news of the tragedy spreads simultaneously around the world.
In Moscow, officials are nervous, especially when they discover the Americans have arrested former US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald for the crime-a man who had earlier defected to the Soviet Union and lived there with immunity for three years prior to allegedly killing the president of the United States. The disclosures plunge the United States and the Soviet Union into a tumultuous period of suspicion and discovery. A conspiracy theory emerges from various sectors, and skilled GRU agent Sasha Katsanov is engaged to sort out the facts. Having worked undercover for Russia in the US Air Force, this young Russian is the perfect candidate for the task.
A blend of fact and fiction, Dallas explores these events fifty years after the fateful shooting. There remain more questions than answers, more conjecture than responses, and more assertions than defense.
The deadly bullets spray President John F. Kennedy's black limousine convertible as it moves slowly past Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The shooting quickly rivets the nation into shock, and news of the tragedy spreads simultaneously around the world.
In Moscow, officials are nervous, especially when they discover the Americans have arrested former US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald for the crime-a man who had earlier defected to the Soviet Union and lived there with immunity for three years prior to allegedly killing the president of the United States. The disclosures plunge the United States and the Soviet Union into a tumultuous period of suspicion and discovery. A conspiracy theory emerges from various sectors, and skilled GRU agent Sasha Katsanov is engaged to sort out the facts. Having worked undercover for Russia in the US Air Force, this young Russian is the perfect candidate for the task.
A blend of fact and fiction, Dallas explores these events fifty years after the fateful shooting. There remain more questions than answers, more conjecture than responses, and more assertions than defense.
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Overview
The deadly bullets spray President John F. Kennedy's black limousine convertible as it moves slowly past Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The shooting quickly rivets the nation into shock, and news of the tragedy spreads simultaneously around the world.
In Moscow, officials are nervous, especially when they discover the Americans have arrested former US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald for the crime-a man who had earlier defected to the Soviet Union and lived there with immunity for three years prior to allegedly killing the president of the United States. The disclosures plunge the United States and the Soviet Union into a tumultuous period of suspicion and discovery. A conspiracy theory emerges from various sectors, and skilled GRU agent Sasha Katsanov is engaged to sort out the facts. Having worked undercover for Russia in the US Air Force, this young Russian is the perfect candidate for the task.
A blend of fact and fiction, Dallas explores these events fifty years after the fateful shooting. There remain more questions than answers, more conjecture than responses, and more assertions than defense.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781961227729 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Spyking |
| Publication date: | 05/23/2024 |
| Pages: | 296 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Dallas
Lone Assassin or Pawn
By CHRIS ADAMS, Mary Ward
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2013 Chris Adams, with Mary WardAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-8040-0
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
"There is no evil without good."
A Russian Proverb
November 23, 1963
Sasha first heard the news from Mackye. He had just concluded the phone conversation with his father he had promised himself he would make. General Viktor Katsanov had cut his teeth in the Soviet Army after Lenin's revolution and worked himself up through the ranks to the grade of lieutenant general. He was now retired and caring for his ailing wife. Sasha had missed being close to his parents during his extended period in the United States. He attempted now to be in touch with them as frequently as possible, and especially now he wanted to get his father's thoughts on the assassination of the U.S. president.
Mackye had called him on his secure phone line from her KGB office across the city. "Sasha, have you heard? The American police arrested a man last night shortly after the assassination of the American president. They have accused him of the murder."
"His name is ..." She paused and tried to phonetically pronounce it ... "Ozz ... ah ... vald ... or something like that."
Sasha's direct phone to the Director rang. "Mackye, no, I have not heard that news. But thank you for the call, Dear, I must go! It's the general's phone. Later, goodbye."
He grabbed the red hand piece of the ringing telephone. General Tushenskiy's executive officer, Major Sitkov, summoned Sasha to the General's office. He departed immediately. Upon arrival, the aide admitted him in.
"Do'briy d'en! Sasha. Come in, sit down."
"Do'briy d'en! General."
"Sasha, the American police have arrested a man whom they believe to be the assassin of their president. His name is Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald. Undoubtedly, he is an American for which we can be thankful. We are still collecting information."
Tushenskiy continued while Sasha listened to the sparse details of the news he had already heard a few moments before from Mackye. "Sasha, do you recall any talk or discussions by any of our people operating in the United States with whom you came in contact relative to such deeds as eliminating American leaders? Ever? We have some very zealous people over there, working for both the GRU and the KGB ... Any thoughts about that possibility?"
Sasha responded immediately, "No, General, but my contacts with our own people were extremely limited and relatively low-level. There were only two, no, three of our agents that I met while I was transitioning through New York after I first arrived in the U.S. One was Russian and the couple who assisted me, I am sure, were Americans working for us."
Tushenskiy motioned for him to take a chair while he continued, "In Cleveland I only met two of our people; thereafter, only one contact agent met me at each location where I was stationed. The only exception was at the airfield in the state of Georgia where I was sent to pilot school. My contact there was Russian and presumably KGB, as was his wife. In fact, they had a daughter whom I had met here at Khodinka, and she came to the United States to attend college. She is back in Moscow now and works for Intourist at the National Hotel, but I don't know where her parents are. None of these people ever alluded to anything such as you have asked."
"Our organizations are spread far and wide," Tushenskiy responded. "Even in my position, or that of General Kashevarov, we do not know everything about our people. Your own experience can attest to that. We place considerable trust in our senior officials outside our country to make the proper judgments. Well, since you accompanied me last evening, I wanted to bring you up to date on the unraveling situation."
Sasha stood to depart the office and asked, "General, if this is an improper question, please tell me, but are our Spetsnaz agents operating within the United States?"
Tushenskiy mused for a moment. "Sasha, every category of agent of the GRU and the KGB operate all over the world. Yes, we have a small Spetsnaz detachment operating in the U.S., but their mission is not one of peacetime assassination. They are attached to the rezidentura provided by the Soviet Embassy in Washington and a few other locations. Their work has to do with intelligence collection of information vital to our government, and in the event of a war, to mobilize local support. Of course, should the United States move to engage the Soviet Union in open warfare, the Spetsnaz is prepared to take out key enemy leaders."
Tushenskiy paused. "Now all of that is highly sensitive, but, nevertheless, it is a part of our contingency planning. I believe that presently we have no more than ten Spetsnaz officers and perhaps a hundred men and women under them operating out of our embassy there. As you are aware, our agents bring valuable information back to us regarding U.S. and Western systems and tactics. There are likely several special tactics people among those assigned there, but you raise a good question. Perhaps I need an accounting of our activities in the U.S. That's a good thought, Sasha. Thank you!"
The day would once again run long into the night. The general's phone rang again. It was 9:00 p.m. and Sasha answered. "Dah, General?"
"Colonel, this is Major Sitkov. The general wishes you to come to his office immediately."
Sasha half-walked and half-ran once again to the building where the Director General's office was located. It was a crisp and cold evening, and the fresh air felt good on his face. He received these summonses frequently, but he intuitively knew that this one had to do with the American president's assassination.
When he entered Tushenskiy's outer office, the office staff was in high gear, answering telephones and looking busy. The aide ushered him into Tushenskiy's private office where a half dozen members of the GRU senior staff were gathered. Sasha recognized most of them. Several turned and looked somewhat surprised at his being there.
Tushenskiy entered his office from a private side door entrance. The concern in his face was obvious. "Sit down, Comrades."
He thumbed through the several papers he had carried in with him and sat down behind his desk. The others each took a seat in the various chairs around the spacious office. Sasha, in keeping with his junior status to the generals in the room, took a chair as far back as he could. He had not been in this arena of so many heavies in the general's office before.
Tushenskiy finally spoke, "Comrades, we may have a serious problem on our hands. The individual who has been arrested and now accused of killing the American president lived in the Soviet Union from 1959 until just last year—specifically, from October 1959 until January 1960—for a brief time right here in Moscow! He was also provided an Intourist guide or attendant, whatever, a Rima Shirokova. How many foreigners come into our country and are provided a personal escort? Comrades, this smells!"
The room was quiet except for an occasional stifled gasp or wheeze when one of the officers took a deep breath into his nicotine-filled lungs. In the typical manner of age-old Russian culture, Sasha could feel paranoia was setting in with those in the room. He could see the fidgeting of several of the officers as if they were about to burst out with an unsolicited denial, or confession, of any knowledge of this individual.
He continued, "I am informed that after the American was in Moscow for a week, he was told by Intourist that his visa was up and that he must leave. There is some mystery following this event. As the story unfolds, he apparently tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrist. The wound was superficial, but nevertheless, he was admitted to Botkinskaya Hospital for another week, the 21st to 28th of October 1959. During this time, he also renounced his U.S. citizenship to his Intourist attendant and asked that she seek asylum in Russia for him. Following his release from the hospital and after a further review of this very odd case, he remained in Moscow at the Metropole Hotel until he was sent to Minsk ... Why Minsk we must wonder? Why not send him back to the United States? His visa had expired."
He looked around the room observing the impact of his revelations. "Do we presume the KGB arranged this? No one professes to know why to Minsk. Perhaps just to get him out of Moscow temporarily? Why? Who paid for his hotel and living expenses while he was here in Moscow? How about his hospital expenses? Did this so-called derelict, as our KGB friends are referring to him, have the means to live in two different Moscow hotels for almost three months? Is anyone curious that our KGB friends manage the foreign clientele at both the Berlin and the Metropole where he stayed? Who directed him to go to Minsk? Intourist? The KGB? Strange, no one seems to have the answers to these questions."
Tushenskiy, although angry, appeared to also be having some delight in teasing his generals, particularly his intelligence chief, with the abundance of information he had collected.
"This mystery man finally departed Moscow for Minsk on January 7, 1960," Tushenskiy continued. "But, Comrades, before he left Moscow by train, he was given 5,000 Rubles by Intourist to pay for his Metropole Hotel stay and train fare. While in Minsk, he was apparently very busy; he quickly met and married a Byelorussian girl, a Marina Prusakova, joined a hunting club and bought a shotgun. Now hear this, Comrades. He was an eenastrah'nets!" He repeated, "A foreigner!"
Tushenskiy then raised his voice for the first time. "An American living in the Soviet Union marries a Soviet citizen ... and just goes out and buys a gun!"
He chuckled as if to find some cynical folly in the absurdity of what he was revealing. His mood stiffened quickly; he looked sternly around the room at his staff officers and continued. "This man was also provided a job as a machinist at the Belarus Radio and Television Factory. Let me quickly state that our friends in the KGB over at Lubiyanka are sweating blood right now over all of this, and," he added, "perhaps we should be also. How is it that a foreigner, an American and a former U.S. military man, a Marine, can apparently freely roam around our country for almost three years, marry one of our citizens, buy a gun and no one appears to be the wiser? This is just too bizarre!"
The room remained still. None of those present responded to the General's remarks. Only occasional heavy breathing and some wheezing could be detected.
Tushenskiy, in a low voice, not overly forceful, homed in on General Gurenko. "Mikhail, were any of your operatives aware of this man while he was in this country? Do you have any knowledge of this treacherous event in the United States? Are your operatives in the U.S. under control?"
Major General Mikhail Gurenko headed the GRU Third Department, Spetsnaz. Sasha had observed months earlier that Gurenko was a smoothly polished officer, apparently well-educated and did not reflect the appearance of a member associated with the dreaded reputation of the Spetsnaz.
The special force was the true elite of all the Soviet armed forces and very similar in nature to the Nazi SS during World War II. Its members were carefully recruited for their intelligence and athletic skills. They numbered in the tens of thousands and were dispatched in small units all over the world. The members were trained specialists in sabotage, espionage and assassination. Within the Soviet Union they were organized into traditional companies, brigades and divisions, but were also selectively placed within regular airborne, infantry, communications and armored units.
"The Spetsnaz members in these units are sleeping agents." Sasha had been briefed. "They are made to look like any other soldier by wearing the same uniforms of the unit to which they are assigned. In these special assignments they are ever ready to spring into action when hostilities break out and take the lead over the regular troops," he was told.
He had also learned that in foreign countries, such as the United States, they were usually assigned to work out of the Soviet Embassy and made to look the part of a bureaucrat or administrative staff. When called upon, their mission was to disrupt state governments, take out leaders and cause general chaos within the public sector.
General Gurenko had been the head of Spetsnaz for several years and held the full confidence of Tushenskiy. He was not a former Spetsnaz member himself. Tushenskiy, as did his predecessors, held a basic distrust for the career Spetsnaz soldier or officer.
Gurenko responded, "Tavah'reeshch General, I have no personal knowledge of this American or his alleged deeds, but I assure you that I will promptly conduct an investigation within my units. Sir, let me assure you that neither I, nor any of my officers would conduct nor tolerate such an act as this assassination without direct orders. And further, Sir, we would never recruit a foreigner into our ranks. That is a very dubious KGB tactic which we do not employ."
Sasha knew better than Gurenko's last statement. He had been accurately told that the Spetsnaz used any and every tactic, including the exploitation of foreigners to carry out their deeds.
Gurenko paused and continued, "Sir, if I might add, I would thoroughly question such directions if they were given to me. This tragic event is not in the best interests of our government or our future goals." Gurenko was also a shrewd apparatchik.
Tushenskiy appeared satisfied with the Spetsnaz chief's response. "Thank you, Comrade Mikhail, and please, I am not singling you out. Now, let me hear from the others of you. Do any of you have any knowledge of this man, Oswald, the fact that he spent almost three years in the Soviet Union? A former American Marine! Are we losing our edge?"
Unlike the Soviet Premier the evening before, Tushenskiy did not shout, pound his desk or berate the officers before him. His demeanor remained calm and pleasant, although seriously focused.
"He would have made a good American general," Sasha mused.
Each of the other GRU directorate heads and staff members responded, "Nyet, Nyet," to Tushenskiy's questions.
Sasha wondered how they were each pondering this international incident. Are they sincerely remorseful and sympathetic about the death of the American president? Are they concerned about the potential impact on the world at large and the Soviet Union in particular? Or, are they, most likely, really worried about their own skins right now?
Tushenskiy listened to each of his staff deny any knowledge of the assassination or the perpetrator, and continued. "Permit me to enlighten you even more, Comrades, about this mystery man who apparently roamed around our country for almost three years. He had arrived in Helsinki from London on 10 October 1959, likely by boat. We don't know yet how he got to London, perhaps by air or boat. He applied for a Soviet Tourist Visa on 12 October and was issued the visa on 14 October. The number of the visa was 40339 for those of you into details."
"But comrades," he emphasized, "the normal processing time for foreign visitor visas is one to two weeks. He received it in two days! I have a question for you, Comrades. Who expedited this foreigner's visa? And, why?"
Tushenskiy continued, taking delight in the fact that he had far more information than his senior staff officers. "The visa this man received was for a six-day visit. He departed Helsinki for Leningrad by train on 15 October and on to Moscow, arriving on the morning of the 16th. Our friends at Lubiyanka are still trying to figure out who besides Intourist was assigned to monitor him during his stay in Moscow. They do know that he stayed at the Hotel Berlin before he apparently cut his wrist to prolong his stay. He was then lodged at the Metropole after he was released from the hospital."
He pressed the issues. "The questions are numerous, Comrades. Why did he come to Russia? Who did he contact while in Moscow besides the Intourist people? Did anyone monitor his activities while he was staying in the Berlin, the Metropole? Why was he so coddled and looked after like a dignitary? Or, was this man under the control and management of the KGB all the time?"
None of the GRU senior staff officers spoke, quietly shaking their heads in response.
Tushenskiy made eye contact with Sasha. "Colonel Katsanov, you have had the opportunity to visit the United States in recent years. What is your assessment of this tragedy?"
The generals seated around the room, anxious to find a diversion from their own questioning, quickly turned their heads toward Sasha. Few were ever aware of Sasha's long-term escapade in the United States. Those who were briefed on his operation were also held to absolute secrecy.
Sasha, surprised at being called upon, quickly stood to respond.
Tushenskiy smiled. "Please be seated, Sasha. Give us your thoughts on what we are discussing here."
"Sir, I am afraid that I can offer little to that which has been discussed. I believe that the loss of the American president is indeed a tragedy. He was a recognized world leader, and it appeared to me that even after our disagreement over Cuba last year he has not held our government in contempt. Relations seemed to be improving. With regard to the accused assassin living in our country for such an extended period and with such apparent free reign, it should concern all of us! If the facts as you have revealed to us are accurate, there is much room for the United States to once again look upon us with great suspicion."
A bit nervous at finding himself the center of attention in the room with so much military seniority, he continued. "Through my studies and brief experience in the United States, I have learned that the Americans are a very benevolent society. They are not prone to over react to crises, but rather evaluate the circumstances rationally. So, I would not expect their politicians to initially jump to hostile accusations regarding this man's alleged relationship with our country. Sir, that is about all I can add to this very serious situation."
"Thank you, Sasha. I believe that we can all agree with your thoughtful comments. Comrades, I apologize for keeping you all so late this evening. I ask that each of you carefully monitor your own sources of information, and please advise me of anything you believe to be important. Dobre'niche."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Dallas by CHRIS ADAMS. Copyright © 2013 by Chris Adams, with Mary Ward. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements.................... xiii
Prologue.................... xv
One.................... 1
Two.................... 13
Three.................... 28
Four.................... 42
Five.................... 57
Six.................... 68
Seven.................... 75
Eight.................... 87
Nine.................... 99
Ten.................... 112
Eleven.................... 126
Twelve.................... 134
Thirteen.................... 148
Fourteen.................... 165
Fifteen.................... 174
Sixteen.................... 190
Seventeen.................... 201
Eighteen.................... 212
Epilogue.................... 219
Codicil.................... 237
Glossary.................... 241
Russian Proverbs.................... 243
The Authors.................... 245