Mr. JENNER. He didn't say anything about having been pointed out as
being an atheist?
Mr. THORNLEY. No; he wasn't offended at this at all. He was--it was
done in a friendly manner, anyway, and he just said to me--the first
thing he said to me was with his little grin; he looked at me and he
said, "What do you think of communism?" And I replied I didn't think
too much of communism, in a favorable sense, and he said, "Well, I
think the best religion is communism." And I got the impression at
the time that he said this in order to shock. He was playing to the
galleries, I felt.
Mr. JENNER. The boys who were sitting around?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Engaged in scuttlebutt?
Mr. THORNLEY. Right. He was smirking as he said this and he said it
very gently. He didn't seem to be a glass-eyed fanatic by any means.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have occasion to discuss the same subject
thereafter?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. From time to time?
Mr. THORNLEY. From time to time.
Mr. JENNER. Was it reasonably frequent?
Mr. THORNLEY. I would say about a half dozen times in that time period.
Mr. JENNER. In those subsequent discussions were some of them private
in the sense you were not gathered around with others?
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, I don't recall us ever having a private serious
discussion. A couple of times we were working together. There would be
others around, not on a constant basis anyway, but coming and going,
and as I recall a couple of times we were thrown together. Working
together, we weren't having a serious discussion; we were joking.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have occasion in those additional half dozen
instances of discussions with him, the viewpoint you have just
expressed, that is, that his initial raising of the issue was more by
way of provoking or shocking those about him rather than any utterances
on his part of sincerity in a belief that communism was itself a
religion?
Mr. THORNLEY. It became obvious to me after a while, in talking to
him, that definitely he thought that communism was the best--that the
Marxist morality was the most rational morality to follow that he knew
of. And that communism was the best system in the world.
I still certainly wouldn't--wouldn't have predicted, for example, his
defection to the Soviet Union, because once again he seemed idle in his
admiration for communism. He didn't seem to be an activist.
Mr. JENNER. Would you explain what you mean by idle in his admiration
of the communistic system?
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, it seemed to be theoretical. It seemed strictly a
dispassionate appraisal--I did know at the time that he was learning
the Russian language. I knew he was subscribing to Pravda or a Russian
newspaper of some kind from Moscow. All of this I took as a sign of his
interest in the subject, and not as a sign of any active commitment to
the Communist ends.
Mr. JENNER. You felt there was no devotion there. That it was somewhat
of an intellectual interest, a curiosity. But I don't want to put words
in your mouth, so tell me.
Mr. THORNLEY. I wouldn't put it quite that weakly. While I didn't feel
there was any rabid devotion there, I wouldn't call it a complete idle
curiosity either. I would call it a definite interest.
Mr. JENNER. A definite interest.
Mr. THORNLEY. But not a fanatical devotion.
Mr. JENNER. You said you knew at that time that he was studying
Russian. How did you become aware of that?
Mr. THORNLEY. Probably by hearsay once again. I do remember one time
hearing the comment made by one man in the outfit that there was some
other man in the outfit who was taking a Russian newspaper and who was
a Communist and when I said, "Well, who is that?" he said, "Oswald,"
and I said, "Oh, well." That is probably where I learned it.
Mr. JENNER. How did you learn that he was a subscriber to Pravda and
the other Russian publications you have mentioned?
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, I don't think--it was either Pravda or some other
Russian publication.
Mr. JENNER. I see.
Mr. THORNLEY. The way I learned that was a story that I believe Bud
Simco, a friend of mine in the same outfit, in the outfit at the same
time, told me that one time a lieutenant, and I forget which lieutenant
it was (I do remember at the time I did know who he was talking about)
found out that Oswald, by--he happened to be in the mailroom or
something, and saw a paper with Oswald's address on it.
Mr. JENNER. That is the officer happened to be in the mailroom?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes; and that it was written--he noticed this paper was
written in Russian and at the time got very excited, attempted to
draw this to the attention of Oswald's section chief, the commanding
officer, and, of course, there was nothing these people could do
about it, and at the time the story was related to me. I remember
I thought it was rather humorous that this young, either second or
first lieutenant should get so excited because Oswald happened to be
subscribing to a Russian newspaper.
Mr. JENNER. Was this lieutenant's name Delprado?
Mr. THORNLEY. I will bet it was. That is very familiar. I think so.
Mr. JENNER. Have you ever subscribed to a Russian language newspaper or
other publications?
Mr. THORNLEY. Other Russian publications?
Mr. JENNER. Yes, sir.
Mr. THORNLEY. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Have you ever subscribed to a publication that was printed
in the Russian language?
Mr. THORNLEY. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Have you ever been a subscriber to any literature by way of
news media or otherwise, published by any organization reputed to be
communistic or pink or that sort of thing? I don't want to get it too
broad.