Mr. Rankin. You are correct—October 22, 1959, is the date on the letter.
Mrs. Oswald. That is incorrect.
Mr. Rankin. And on the envelope it is October 30, 1961, Vernon, Tex. Mrs. Oswald, can you explain that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. Evidently Lee put the date incorrect—because I had no contact with Lee from the time—I had one contact with Lee from the time that he defected to Russia. And the only contact was when he was at the Metropole Hotel in Moscow. Then the next contact was when the State Department wrote me his address, which was July, or June 1961. So where Lee put the 1959, I would say it was just an error, because the postmark proves the date.
As I have been saying FBI instead of Secret Service—I mean it is just——
Mr. Rankin. A slip of some kind?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. Is the 1959 letter available, the Metropole Hotel letter?
Mrs. Oswald. When we go into the defection, I have letters from 1959 that I myself have sent to Lee and have been returned, and, gentlemen, they are unopened, and I will give you the privilege of opening my thoughts to my son. They were returned unopened, because he was not located.
Mr. Rankin. I might answer your question, Mr. Dulles. We have a copy of the Metropole letter of 1959.