Mr. SPECTER. Will you please state your full name for the record, Mr.
Rowland?
Mr. ROWLAND. Arnold Louis Rowland.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your address?
Mr. ROWLAND. 1131 Aphinney.
Mr. SPECTER. And in what city do you reside?
Mr. ROWLAND. This is Dallas, Tex.
Mr. SPECTER. How long have you resided in Dallas, Tex.
Mr. ROWLAND. About 9 months at present.
Mr. SPECTER. Where did you live before coming to Dallas?
Mr. ROWLAND. In Salem, Oreg.
Mr. SPECTER. How long did you live in Salem, Oreg.
Mr. ROWLAND. About 3 months.
Mr. SPECTER. Where did you live before moving to Salem, Oreg.
Mr. ROWLAND. Dallas.
Mr. SPECTER. How long did you live in Dallas at that time?
Mr. ROWLAND. About 4 years.
Mr. SPECTER. Where were you born?
Mr. ROWLAND. Corpus Christi, Tex.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you lived in Texas most of your life?
Mr. ROWLAND. Most of my life.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your age at the present time, Mr. Rowland?
Mr. ROWLAND. Eighteen.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your exact date of birth, please?
Mr. ROWLAND. April 29, 1945.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your marital status.
Mr. ROWLAND. Married.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you any children?
Mr. ROWLAND. No.
Mr. SPECTER. How long have you been married?
Mr. ROWLAND. Ten months.
Mr. SPECTER. What education have you had, sir?
Mr. ROWLAND. High school.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you attending high school at the present time?
Mr. ROWLAND. I have finished, and fixing to go to college.
Mr. SPECTER. When did you graduate from high school?
Mr. ROWLAND. June 1963.
Mr. SPECTER. How have you been occupied or employed since June of 1963?
Mr. ROWLAND. Worked in Oregon at three different jobs. Exchange Lumber
Co. as a shipping clerk, Meier Frank Co. as a clothes salesman, and
part time at West Foods. The business was mushroom processing. That was
during the summer.
Upon my return to Dallas, I worked part time, while doing some
postgraduate work, at the Pizza Inn. At present I am working with the
P. F. Collier Co.
Mr. SPECTER. What sort of work are you doing with P. F. Collier?
Mr. ROWLAND. That is promotional advertising.
Mr. SPECTER. What college are you attending, if any, at the present
time?
Mr. ROWLAND. None at the present.
Mr. SPECTER. What postgraduate work had you been doing that you just
mentioned?
Mr. ROWLAND. Studies in math and science.
Mr. SPECTER. Where were you studying these courses?
Mr. ROWLAND. This was a high school in Dallas as advanced courses.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you been accepted in any college?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes; several. Texas A. & M., Rice, SMU, Arlington.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have plans to attend one of those colleges?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Which one do you plan to enter?
Mr. ROWLAND. Preferably Rice.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have an entry date set?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; I am trying for a scholarship for it.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you been in the military service?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; I haven't.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the general condition of your health.
Mr. ROWLAND. Good.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the condition of your eyesight?
Mr. ROWLAND. Very good.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you wear glasses at any time?
Mr. ROWLAND. No.
Mr. SPECTER. When, most recently, have you had an eye test, if at all?
Mr. ROWLAND. About 7 months ago.
Mr. SPECTER. And you know the results of that test?
Mr. ROWLAND. Very good vision.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know what classification the doctor placed on it?
Mr. ROWLAND. No; I don't remember it.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you recollect if it was 20-20?
Mr. ROWLAND. He said it was much better than that.
Mr. SPECTER. And what doctor examined your eyes?
Mr. ROWLAND. This was the firm of doctors Finn and Finn.
Mr. SPECTER. F-i-n-n and F-i-n-n?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Where are they located?
Mr. ROWLAND. The Fidelity Union Life Building in Dallas.
Mr. SPECTER. Approximately how long ago was that examination?
Mr. ROWLAND. About 6 months.
Mr. SPECTER. Going to the day of November 22, 1963, how were you
occupied at that time, Mr. Rowland?
Mr. ROWLAND. I was attending classes in school part of the day, working
part time as a pizzamaker in Pizza Inn.
Mr. SPECTER. Had you regularly scheduled classes on the morning of
November 22, 1963?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes. I had classes up until 11. I just had two classes on
Friday.
Mr. SPECTER. And what school were you attending at that time?
Mr. ROWLAND. W. H. Adamson High.
Mr. SPECTER. How far is that from the intersection of Houston and Elm
Streets in Dallas, approximately?
Mr. ROWLAND. It must have been about a mile and a half.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe for the Commission what you did on that
morning, in a general way, up until approximately noon time?
Mr. ROWLAND. I went to my classes. My wife got out of school early. We
went to town. I had to go to work at 4, so we were going downtown to do
some shopping. We went early so we could see the President's motorcade.
Mr. SPECTER. What time did you arrive in town?
Mr. ROWLAND. We rode a bus from the school. We got to town
approximately a quarter to 12.
Mr. SPECTER. What school was your wife attending at that time?
Mr. ROWLAND. The same: Adamson.
Mr. SPECTER. What time did her classes end?
Mr. ROWLAND. She got out at 11 also.
Mr. SPECTER. And what did you do from the time you arrived in town at
approximately a quarter of 12 for the next 15 minutes?
Mr. ROWLAND. Trying to find a good vantage point. We walked about five
or six blocks.
Mr. SPECTER. From where did you walk?
Mr. ROWLAND. We got off at the junction, at the intersection of Main
and Houston, walked up toward Ervay, about four blocks, I would say
up to Akard. We walked from Houston to Akard on Main, and then we
walked back down Commerce and then over to the sheriffs or the county
courthouse, there was a lesser crowd there.
Mr. SPECTER. Is that the reason you selected the spot you ultimately
picked to watch the parade?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes, there was no one in front of us, no one around that
area.
Mr. SPECTER. I am going to show you a photograph, Mr. Rowland, which
has already been identified as Commission Exhibit No. 347 and first ask
you if you can identify what scene this represents.
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes; I can.
Mr. SPECTER. What scene is that?
Mr. ROWLAND. This is the triple underpass, this is the scene where the
President was assassinated.
Mr. SPECTER. What is this plaza called in Dallas?
Mr. ROWLAND. I don't know exactly. It is just known as the triple
underpass.
Mr. SPECTER. Is it known as Dealey Plaza to your knowledge?
Mr. ROWLAND. I have never heard it called that.
Mr. SPECTER. Can you point with your finger for me at the spot where
you were standing as best you can recollect it?
Mr. ROWLAND. We were about in this area on this sidewalk of this
building. I say approximately two-thirds of the distance between here
and here in this direction.
Mr. SPECTER. All right.
I have a substitute photograph for you to mark. I am now showing you
an identical scene on a photograph which has been heretofore marked as
Commission Exhibit No. 354. Will you mark with an arrow as closely as
possible to the point where you were standing?
Mr. ROWLAND. There is an elevator shaft below this second window on
that building that comes through a sidewalk. I was about 5 feet to the
left of it, about the third window or right here in this area.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you mark that a little more heavily, please?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes.
(Witness marking.)
Mr. SPECTER. What time were you so positioned?
Mr. ROWLAND. We got there about 5 after 12.
Mr. SPECTER. Did your position move at any time during the course of
the next half hour?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes. We did move to this corner, there were too many
people on this corner.
Mr. SPECTER. You are indicating back to the corner of Houston and Main?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes. Houston and Main there were too many crowds so we
came back to this street here, Commerce is that right; no, Elm and
Main. We came back to Elm and Main and figured it wouldn't be a very
good vantage point because of the crowd there so we went back to where
we were.
Mr. SPECTER. Where were you standing at the time the President's
motorcade passed by you?
Mr. ROWLAND. At that position.
(Witness marking.)