Mr. JENNER. What kind of cutting--you say with the shears--is it a
power-operated shears?
Mr. BARGAS. A power-operated shears.
Mr. JENNER. Go ahead.
Mr. BARGAS. And then after that, I put him to work.
Mr. JENNER. Now, I would like to stick to that beginning a little
bit--do you recall what inquiries you made of him as to his immediate
history, that is, did you inquire of him as to past positions, if any,
he had held?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. When you talked with him, I take it from your answer that
you did inquire of him as to what sheet metal work experience he had
had, if any?
Mr. BARGAS. If any.
Mr. JENNER. And his response was--what did he say?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, he said he had had some when he was in the service
and that's all, and he didn't give no full detail as to what he was
doing or how he was doing it.
Mr. JENNER. And you didn't inquire?
Mr. BARGAS. No; I didn't.
Mr. JENNER. I take it, then, at that stage of the game it was your
impression or your thought, since this was to be a low hourly rated
employee, that you would soon find out if he had any experience?
Mr. BARGAS. Right, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And you intended to train him in any event?
Mr. BARGAS. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Now, do you have any recollection of his appearance on that
occasion, how he was attired with respect to cleanliness, did he have a
suit coat on, a jacket, or a T-shirt, or if you have no recollection,
then just say you don't?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. This was just an employment in the ordinary course of
business that you do frequently?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And nothing with respect to this man impressed you or now
stands out?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. At this initial interview?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall inquiring of him as to where he lived?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. As to whether he had a telephone or not?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Was he married--did he have a family?
Mr. BARGAS. The only thing--he was married but he never stated--he
never said what nationality his wife was or anything like that. As a
matter of fact, he never--we never communicated that much. In other
words, we didn't talk--we didn't communicate between each other that
much.
Once or twice I tried to talk with him, you know, we usually try to
find out how the employees are getting along, whether they like their
jobs they are working at and if not, then we try to place them in a
different position, and I make them satisfactory and that way I feel
that a man can put out more.
Mr. JENNER. That's right.
Mr. BARGAS. And so, I tried to talk to him once or twice and all I
would get "yes", "no" and that was it, and as long as I gave him the
job he went and done it as everybody else in the plant, so I didn't
have no grudge on him or nothing at all. I assigned him a job and he
done it and I was satisfied.
Mr. JENNER. He was a somewhat uncommunicative person?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. But this did not interfere with his work?
Mr. BARGAS. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. As far as you were concerned, even though he was
uncommunicative, he was doing his work and he wasn't causing any
trouble, so as far as his personality was concerned, you let that pass?
Mr. BARGAS. It was satisfactory with me.
Mr. JENNER. What kind of an employee was he, or what is your impression
and present recollection?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, as much as I can remember of the short time he was
there, it was a very short time he was there--he was a good employee. I
imagine if he pursued that trade, he might have come out to be a pretty
good sheet metal man--I don't know.
Mr. JENNER. But at least that's your impression?
Mr. BARGAS. That's my impression.
Mr. JENNER. I take it he did not volunteer anything with respect to his
past or his family or his current activities outside the plant?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. What were his relations, if any, with respect to other
employees?
Mr. BARGAS. None whatever.
Mr. JENNER. Do you mean by that that he kept to himself?
Mr. BARGAS. Totally.
Mr. JENNER. Totally--what about lunch times--employees usually get
together at lunch time?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, everybody used to get together over there except
himself. He would take his lunch and move over to the side there and
eat his lunch by himself and he didn't talk to nobody about nothing, so
nobody ever even messed with him, I mean as far as that's concerned.
Mr. JENNER. What impression did you have as to whether he was
indifferent to his work, happy with his work--what impression do you
have as to his reaction to his work?
Mr. BARGAS. None that I can remember.
Mr. JENNER. Nothing stands out?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have any impression as to whether he ever sought to
be particularly industrious or tried to impress you?
Mr. BARGAS. No; the only thing I can remember--he just done his
job--that's all.
Mr. JENNER. He was prompt, was he, in the mornings?
Mr. BARGAS. As far as I can remember he was there every day.
Mr. JENNER. And he had a good attendance record, as far as you can
recall?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have any recollection of anybody employed at the
plant with whom Oswald did or might have associated after work hours or
on weekends?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. And as far as you observed, during the days of employment,
he kept pretty much to himself anyhow?
Mr. BARGAS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever observe anything with respect to his
temperament--was he quick tempered, was there any incident that
occurred that would give you a basis for an opinion?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. How long did he work there, to the best of your
recollection?
Mr. BARGAS. I believe it was up until September, if I'm not mistaken,
somewhere right along in there.
Mr. JENNER. Would this serve to refresh your recollection, that he
worked until on or about October 8th 1962?
Mr. BARGAS. No; I don't remember.
Mr. JENNER. Could he have worked until October 8th?
Mr. BARGAS. It is possible.
Mr. JENNER. But your present recollection is more like sometime in the
course of September when his employment was terminated?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. What were the circumstances respecting the termination of
his employment?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, what happened is--he went home one day, not during
working hours, but it was right after the regular working hours.
Mr. JENNER. After the regular quitting time?
Mr. BARGAS. After quitting time at 4:30, and he went home and he didn't
give any indication of whether he was going to quit or he was going to
leave or anything like that.
Mr. JENNER. You expected him back the next day?
Mr. BARGAS. I expected him back the next morning and if I'm not
mistaken, it was Friday, and Monday he didn't show up, I believe it
was; if I'm not mistaken--I can't place it, and so he didn't call in
and he didn't have a phone, as far as I can remember, so I never tried
to get in contact with him or anything like that, and I figured he may
have someone to call in or something like that, so I just let it ride,
and then he didn't show up the second day after that, so all I said
then was, "Well, I imagine he quit because a line of guys had done the
same thing."
In other words, a lot of them just never did show up and that's
all that happened. They would come back on the following Friday or
something like that and say, "I quit, I've got another job." That's
what the other guys would say.
Well, he was different--when he left the only thing he done was he
wrote in to the plant and told us where to send his check to. He said
he was up there in Irving somewhere--I don't remember the address or
exactly what place it was, but as far as I know that was it. I never
had seen him since then and the last time I heard of him was when his
name sounded off on the radio.
Mr. JENNER. Where were you then?
Mr. BARGAS. I was there at the plant.
Mr. JENNER. This was in the afternoon of November 22d?
Mr. BARGAS. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Of 1963?
Mr. BARGAS. Right.
Mr. JENNER. And you heard his name broadcast on the radio?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And that awakened your memory?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, it come to me--in other words--the name right
there, it rang a bell--in other words, because I remember some of the
names--in other words, when they say them, I can more or less remember
them, and then I even said to myself, well, I wasn't too sure of it
then, you know, because there are so many Oswalds, so when I got home
that afternoon, I was watching the television and there they came with
a flash picture of him and I remembered him.
Mr. JENNER. On the television?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And the flash picture you saw was Lee Harvey Oswald who had
been an employee under your supervision and direction?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes--he was the one that had been employed there.
Mr. JENNER. You recognized him?
Mr. BARGAS. I recognized him.
Mr. JENNER. And, did that excite you to look at other television
showings to confirm your recollection that the man under arrest by the
Dallas City Police was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former employee of Leslie
Welding Company?
Mr. BARGAS. Well, I followed the whole thing pretty well. I mean--it
wasn't that I was interested in knowing whether I knew the man, because
it didn't impress me very much of having known the man that done the
deed that he did, but I did follow it pretty close and as I said, as I
followed him more and more, I remembered him more and more.
Mr. JENNER. During the period of his employment, that was approximately
a couple of months or a little more--more or less--did he evidence any
disposition toward physical violence, quick temper, arguments with
fellow employees, or anything of that nature?
Mr. BARGAS. None that I can remember.
Mr. JENNER. I show you Commission Exhibits 451 and 453 through 456,
inclusive, and ask you to examine those photographs and tell me if
the man depicted on those photographs, in your opinion, bears any
resemblance to Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. BARGAS. [Examining exhibits referred to.] None of them.
Mr. JENNER. He does not?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. What about his skills, did he do a reasonably satisfactory
job?
Mr. BARGAS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Bargas, I think that's about all the questions I have.
I would like to ask you, however, this general question as to whether
anything has occurred to you, any incident or anything else that has
come to your mind that you think might be helpful to the Commission in
its investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy?
Mr. BARGAS. No.
Mr. JENNER. All right. You are privileged to read your deposition, if
you wish to, and to sign it, if you wish to. It isn't required and you
may waive it if you see fit--that is--forego it.
Miss Oliver will have it ready sometime during the week if you want to
call in to Mr. Sanders' office, the United States Attorney's office,
and come in and read it, you have a right to have a copy of your
deposition if you wish to purchase one, and Miss Oliver will be quite
willing to sell you one at whatever her rates are.
Do you have any preferences in this connection?
Mr. BARGAS. I would like to have one of those depositions--yes.
Mr. JENNER. When you call into Mr. Sanders and he will put you in touch
with Miss Oliver and you can make arrangements with her for a copy, and
I appreciate your coming in and regret any inconvenience to you, but
you have been helpful to us.
Mr. BARGAS. Well, I'm glad I have. As far as I know--I don't know--as
much as I knew about the man, I don't think I can tell you enough--as
much as I thought I knew the man. If I had known anything like that
about the man, he would have never been employed there.
Mr. JENNER. Well, so say we all.
Mr. BARGAS. But it's just one of those things.
Mr. JENNER. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Mr. BARGAS. All right.