Mr. GERACI. The only thing I remember about Florida is when he asked
was headquarters down there. He could have, but I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now did you ever see Oswald after that?
Mr. GERACI. No; that was the last time; first and last.
Mr. LIEBELER. How about Carlos? Did you see him after that?
Mr. GERACI. Yes. That time when we found out that it was Oswald
who killed him, well, then I went there, you know, to get things
straightened out and talk with Carlos a little about him, you know.
Mr. LIEBELER. You went back and talked with Carlos, about this meeting
with Oswald, after the assassination? Is that right?
Mr. GERACI. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember whether you saw Carlos between the time
that you met Oswald and the assassination?
Mr. GERACI. Carlos?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. GERACI. Not that I remember.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us approximately when it was that you met
Oswald? Was it July or August?
Mr. GERACI. Well, last time the FBI man came, I estimated around late
July. I couldn't remember now, so I will just stick with late July.
That seems to stick pretty good. Vance said the same thing himself when
the FBI man questioned him, so I am pretty sure it was between late
July--middle July to late July.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you form any opinion about Oswald when you met him?
Mr. GERACI. When I met him?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes. What did you think of him?
Mr. GERACI. Well, when he went in there, I noticed he was a little
nervous.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did he show his nervousness? Do you remember?
Mr. GERACI. Well, the way he talked, you know. Well, you know, the way
he talked I guess, kind of, you know, searching around for words and
all that, and I remember he leaned on the table, and I remember reading
once that, you know, if you exert some physical exertion, it kind of
helps you tend to calm down or something like that. Anyway, I could
tell by the way he was leaning on the table that maybe he was nervous.
Mr. LIEBELER. Other than this nervousness, did you form any other
opinion about it?
Mr. GERACI. Not particularly.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he appear to be an intelligent person?
Mr. GERACI. Intelligent person?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. GERACI. Sort of. He didn't appear stupid or anything like that. He
seemed OK, you know. He didn't seem like a Communist. Seemed like he
just wanted to, you know, help out too, sort of.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you subsequently learn that Oswald was arrested by
the New Orleans Police Department for distributing Fair Play for Cuba
Committee leaflets?
Mr. GERACI. I didn't know that until after he killed Kennedy and it was
in the papers.
Mr. LIEBELER. You didn't hear it?
Mr. GERACI. On the radio?
Mr. LIEBELER. On the radio or television.
Mr. GERACI. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you think you have now told us everything that you can
remember about this meeting you had with Oswald and Carlos? Is there
anything else that you can think of?
Mr. GERACI. No. There might be one thing. Carlos, when he talked to me
and Vance and my friend, Bill Dwyer, the first time, you know, he made
speeches and all that. When he met him--I don't know--seemed like maybe
he didn't want him or something. I am not too sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. Carlos didn't seem to open up to Oswald?
Mr. GERACI. That is right. He opened up enough, you know, but he didn't
give him any speeches or anything like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. If you can think of anything else that occurred, we would
like to have you tell us.
Mr. GERACI. OK.
Mr. LIEBELER. If you can't, I don't have any other questions.
Mr. GERACI. He did seem like--I guess he did seem like the type who was
a little antisocial.
Mr. LIEBELER. He didn't seem to be too friendly?
Mr. GERACI. No. He seemed friendly. I mean, he seemed friendly, you
know, but he--maybe like he didn't have enough experience with people,
sort of. He seemed friendly though. That is one thing.
Mr. LIEBELER. I don't have any other questions.
Mrs. GERACI. Do you have a record of me reporting Carlos to the FBI? Do
you have that in the record anywhere where I found out--he told me he
was going to collect money for Cuba, but I didn't know he was giving
out these little tickets as he called them, and then when I found out
he had collected $10 and brought it down and I saw the receipts and he
had more tickets, we forbade him to go down there, and Carlos called
the house to try to get him a--what is it--a license or permit to go
from house to house and collect money.
Mr. GERACI. He never called me.
Mrs. GERACI. He did call me.
Mr. GERACI. He called you? Carlos?
Mrs. GERACI. I spoke with him on the phone.
Mr. GERACI. That is because I told him--when I collected, a man told me
to do something like that, that I needed a license, so I went and told
Carlos, "You have to get a license." He said, "Don't collect any more
until I get one." Then he went to city hall and got some stuff he had
to fill out.
Mr. LIEBELER. This wasn't Oswald who told you you couldn't collect?
Mr. GERACI. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Oswald didn't have anything to do with this?
Mr. GERACI. No; this was before I knew Oswald. This is a man works some
place--who works in a cleaner's, I remember. I went there and he said
I had to get a license to do that, so I called Carlos on the phone and
told him.
Mrs. GERACI. Then when Carlos called the house, I realized he was still
involved in this.
Mr. GERACI. I told you I was.
Mrs. GERACI. I put my foot down and told him he couldn't do it any
more, and I called the FBI.
Mr. GERACI. And the Better Business Bureau.
Mrs. GERACI. They told me to call the Better Business Bureau, but the
man at the FBI told me he couldn't give out any information as to
whether this was a Communist organization or not, and the headquarters
were in Miami, and the best thing to do would be not to let him get
involved in it any more. Then I called the Better Business Bureau, and
they were supposed to check with Miami, but I never did get a report
back from him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was this before or after you met Oswald?
Mr. GERACI. This was before.
Mrs. GERACI. But he has the receipt at home with the date on it. When
he gave Carlos money, Carlos gave him a receipt.
Mr. GERACI. I remember Carlos making out a check to give the money to
Miami too. When I gave him the money, he put the money in his bank and
made out a check to the headquarters.
Mrs. GERACI. We met Carlos just now in the hall, and he told me the
best thing Philip could do would be listen to his parents and be a
good student. Right now that would be the way he could help combat
communism. And I told him I thought he was too young to get involved
in things like this, selling tickets for Cuba and all this stuff. Last
year he was only 15 and too young to be involved in all that mess. The
man at the FBI told me that an organization could be all right today
and next week it would be Communist-controlled and how was I to know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know who you talked to at the FBI?
Mrs. GERACI. Gee, I may have his name at home with these slips of paper
that I took from him.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is not really important. I just wondered if you
remembered.
Mrs. GERACI. Well, I wanted his name cleared for getting mixed up with
Carlos, because I didn't know from beans about Carlos. He could be a
Communist. I don't know who is and who isn't. When I found out he met
Oswald, I nearly died. The week this happened he was camping with the
Boy Scouts and gone Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when the stuff was on
TV.
Mr. GERACI. I was in school when he got shot.
Mrs. GERACI. But you were in camp, but you didn't see a lot of the
funeral and all that stuff showing Oswald's picture.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you first become aware that Oswald was the fellow
you met? Did Vance talk to you about it? Do you remember?
Mr. GERACI. The first time was when the FBI agent came to my house
and asked did I see an ex-marine and showed a picture and all that. I
didn't even know it before that. It was just then that I realized.