When Red Flags Were Ignored

The teenage Lee Harvey Oswald acted out with violence and fantasized about killing, but his mother refused to get him the help that he needed

Dear Friends,

This excerpt from my short book, The Gunman and His Mother, while the story of a young Lee Harvey Oswald many years ago, may also resonate to our times and the question of family responsibility amid the reality of a troubled family member prone to violence. It’s been 58 years and two days since President John F. Kennedy lost his life in Dallas, but the echoes of that day can still be felt. Hold your loved ones close this holiday season.

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It was a happy moment when twelve-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald and his half-brother, John Edward Pic, met up in the streets of New York in 1952. Born in New Orleans two months after his father died, Lee hadn't seen John in the two years since the latter left to join the Coast Guard. "I was real glad to see him and he was real glad to see me," recalled John, who was seven years older. "We were real good friends."