Wednesday, April 10, 1963: Edwin Walker and Lee Harvey Oswald

From The Associated Press:

     DALLAS -- A bullet from a high-powered rifle whizzed through a window Wednesday night, narrowly missing former Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker, who was sitting at a desk filling out his income tax.

     The bullet bored a one-inch hole in the wall and fell out on the other side on some packages. Splinters from the bullet's casing struck Walker in the arm.

     "I want a purple heart," said Walker, who was not seriously injured.

     Walker grabbed a pistol and made a search for the would-be assassin. He would not say who he though did it.

     "We have lots of enemies in Dallas and everywhere," Walker said. "It looks like the mayor is going to have to start giving out purple hearts."

     Walker seemed more perturbed by the fact he did not get his income tax finished than he did about the attempt on his life.

     Police theorized whoever fired the shot must have done so in an alley about 50 yards from the window. The bullet struck in the middle of the window. Walker was seated about 15 feet from the window.

     Walker, 53, resigned from the Army to become a spokesman for conservative causes.

     He was arrested during the riot at the University of Mississippi last fall and was charged with rebellion, insurrection and seditious conspiracy. He was cleared of the charges.

Note: The Warren Commission report (1964) concluded that the shot was fired by Lee Harvey Oswald, using the same rifle that was later used to kill President Kennedy. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) stated "that the evidence strongly suggested that Oswald attempted to murder General Walker."

Photo from Corbis Images, dated October 1, 1962. Caption reads: Former Major General Edwin A. Walker, who led U.S. troops into Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 to force integration at Central High School, is led away at bayonet point by U.S. troops after refusing to move from the courthouse in downtown Oxford. Walker has been in Oxford to support the stand taken by Governor Ross Barnett, who is attempting to prohibit Negro James Meredith from registering at the University of Mississippi.

* Excerpts from Warren Commission report (from Assassinations Archives and Research Center): @ and @

* Walker's testimony to Warren Commission (from history-matters.com): @

* Excerpts from House Select Committee report (from archives.org): @ and @ and @

* Video of Walker after shooting: @

* Links to FBI and Senate documents on Walker (from maryferrell.org): @

* Walker entry from Texas State Historical Association: @

* Chronology of Oswald's life (from "Frontline," PBS): @ 

* Earlier post on Oswald buying rifle (March 12, 1963): @

---