Richard Edward Snyder (December 10, 1919 – January 9, 2012) was a

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

official best known for his role as the senior Moscow consular official handling

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

's attempted defection to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1959 and return to the US in 1961.

Background

Snyder was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

in 1919. He was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for actions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe, in helping to evacuate his wounded comrades while under enemy fire. He spent 10 years in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

and retired at the rank of major. Snyder graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1948 and completed a Master's degree in Russian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1956.

Career

From October 1949 to September 1950 Snyder served in the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

; by his own account, he had no further links to the agency after that date, although according to agency records, he was used as a "spotter" at Harvard during his studies there to identify persons of potential interest to the agency. HSCA (1979)
Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives
p215 From 1950 to 1970 Snyder was employed as a

Japanese and Russian specialist. Much of Snyder's career was spent in Japan, but after he earned his Master's degree in Russian Studies in 1956, Snyder served as a senior consular official at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from July 1959 to July 1961. In Moscow he dealt with

(accepting Oswald's US passport in October 1959 and returning it to him in July 1961), met with the American defector to the USSR Robert Edward Webster on October 17, 1959, and attended the trial of U2 pilot

Francis Gary Powers Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929August 1, 1977) was an American pilot who served as a United States Air Force officer and a CIA employee. Powers is best known for his involvement in the 1960 U-2 incident, when he was shot down while fly ...

. After returning to Japan, Snyder was later involved in preparing the restoration to Japan of administrative control of the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

in 1972.

References

External links

Snyder's testimony
to the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Richard Edward 1919 births 2012 deaths Yale University alumni Harvard University alumni Military personnel from Newark, New Jersey People of the Central Intelligence Agency United States Department of State officials United States Army reservists American expatriates in the Soviet Union