Mr. JENNER. Copies of the legislation, Senate Joint Resolution No. 137,
authorizing the creation of the Commission and President Johnson's
Order 11130, bringing the Commission into existence and fixing its
powers and duties and responsibilities?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And also a copy of the rules and regulations of the
Commission for the taking of depositions?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. I take it you understand the basic obligation placed
upon the Commission is to investigate the facts and circumstances
surrounding and bearing upon the assassination of President Kennedy,
and events collateral thereto.
In the course of doing that the Commission and its staff, and I, Albert
E. Jenner, Jr., a member of the Commission legal staff, have been
interviewing and taking the testimony of various persons who, among
other things, came in contact with a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. We
understand that you had some contact with him, fortuitous or otherwise
as it might be. Are we correct in that?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Would you tell us the--may I ask you this first. Were you
born and reared in this country?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Are you married or unmarried?
Mr. THORNLEY. Unmarried.
Mr. JENNER. Unmarried you said?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. What is your age?
Mr. THORNLEY. I am 26.
Mr. JENNER. When was your birthday?
Mr. THORNLEY. April 17, this last month.
Mr. JENNER. April 17 of this last month? I am poor in mathematics, what
year was your birth?
Mr. THORNLEY. 1938.
Mr. JENNER. When did you first become acquainted with him?
Mr. THORNLEY. I was--it was around Easter of 1959, either shortly
before or shortly after.
Mr. JENNER. Let's see. He was in the Marines at that time?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. I take it you also were?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. How long had you been in the Marines?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time I had been in the Marines over half a year.
I had been in the Reserve for many years. I had been on active duty for
over half a year.
Mr. JENNER. You were then 21 years of age?
Mr. THORNLEY. About; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Tell me about what your occupation and activity had been up
to the time you enlisted in the Marines.
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, the year before I was a student at the University
of Southern California, and before that I was a student at California
High School in Whittier, Calif.
Mr. JENNER. I take it then that you are a native Californian?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you receive your degree?
Mr. THORNLEY. No. I was--I completed my freshman year and then I went
on active duty to serve my 2-year obligation in the Marine Reserve.
Mr. JENNER. You did not return to college after you were mustered out
of the Marines?
Mr. THORNLEY. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Was your discharge honorable?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Where were you based when you first met Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. THORNLEY. At a subsidiary of El Toro Marine Base, referred to as
LTA, Santa Ana, Calif., or just outside of Santa Ana.
Mr. JENNER. What was your rank at that time?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time I was acting corporal.
Mr. JENNER. What was your assignment then?
Mr. THORNLEY. I was an aviation electronics operator. I was working in
an aircraft control center reading radarscopes and keeping track of
ingoing and outgoing flights.
Mr. JENNER. What was Lee Harvey Oswald's assignment and activity
service-wise at that period?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time his assignments and activities were primary
janitorial. He was--he had lost his clearance previously, and if I
remember, he was assigned to make the coffee, mow the lawn, swab down
decks, and things of this nature.
Mr. JENNER. What were the circumstances as you learned of them, or knew
of them at the time, as to how or why he lost his clearance as you put
it.
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, I asked somebody, and I was told, and I don't
remember who told me, it was a general rumor, general scuttlebutt
at the time, that he had poured beer over a staff NCO's head in an
enlisted club in Japan, and had been put in the brig for that, and
having been put in the brig would automatically lose his clearance to
work in the electronics control center.
Mr. JENNER. I was going to ask you what losing clearance meant. You
have indicated that--or would you state it more specifically.
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, that meant in a practical sense, that meant that he
was not permitted to enter certain areas wherein the equipment, in this
case equipment, was kept; that we would not want other unauthorized
persons to have knowledge of. And on occasion information, I imagine,
would also come to the man who was cleared, in the process of his work,
that he would be expected to keep to himself.
Mr. JENNER. I assume you had clearance?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir; I was, I think, cleared for confidential at the
time.
Mr. JENNER. Cleared for confidential. I was about to ask you what level
of clearance was involved.
Mr. THORNLEY. I believe it was just confidential to work there at El
Toro on that particular equipment.
Mr. JENNER. That is the clearance about which you speak when you talk
about Oswald having lost it?
Mr. THORNLEY. Oswald, I believe, had a higher clearance. This is also
just based upon rumor. I believe he at one time worked in the security
files, it is the S & C files, somewhere either at LTA or at El Toro.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever work in the security files?
Mr. THORNLEY. No, sir.