Mr. JENNER. And he was employed, as you stated, by a utility company in
Dallas at that time?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Now, do you have a recollection or did you come to learn
the arrangements, if any, between Mr. Ekdahl and your mother as to
the financing of the attendance of yourself and your brother John at
Chamberlain-Hunt Military Academy?
Mr. OSWALD. My mother told us that she was taking care of all the
expenses at the Academy.
Mr. JENNER. She told you at this time?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir. This is my recollection.
Mr. JENNER. And that was your understanding of both you and John at
that particular time?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. That she was financing your attendance at the military
academy?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Was she working at that time, or during the period that she
was married to Mr. Ekdahl was she a housewife?
Mr. OSWALD. I believe after the marriage to Mr. Ekdahl, she was not
working.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have a conversation with her, and did you then come
to learn, or have you subsequently come to learn as to how she did
finance your attendance at the military academy?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I do not. I assume at that particular time that--I
did not know the quantity of life insurance that my father had when he
passed away. I thought it was perhaps substantial. Perhaps to me at
that time, a young age, $4,000 or $5,000 was a lot of money. From the
insurance money, from my father's death, she was able to place us in
this military school in Mississippi.
Mr. JENNER. Do I recall correctly that you also testified earlier that
your mother sold--there was a home in New Orleans which was sold?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. And possibly some of the proceeds of the sale of that home
were still intact?
Mr. OSWALD. This would be my opinion, that it was. I do not know if the
home was paid for or anything.
Mr. JENNER. This is all speculation?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. McKENZIE. Mr. Jenner, if I may interrupt.
Robert, don't speculate, and don't give any conjecture. Tell what you
know, and give them the facts as fully as possible. But I am confident
that the Commission is not interested in any speculation.
Mr. JENNER. And if you do speculate, tell us so.
Mr. McKENZIE. Yes--indicate that you are speculating.
Mr. DULLES. Do we know the amount of insurance on Mr. Oswald's life?
Mr. JENNER. I cannot give you the figure, but it is small.
Mr. DULLES. It is known in the record?
Mr. JENNER. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. May I ask a question?
Following your mother's marriage to Mr. Ekdahl, did he move in to
the residence where you were living, or vice versa, or what were the
circumstances?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir. He did move into the home on Victor Street,
following the marriage.
Mr. DULLES. You were living, though, in the military academy. Was that
a school where you lived?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. You lived there?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Day and night?
Mr. OSWALD. During the period that we went to the military school, we
stayed there day and night, through the 9 months of the school year.
Mr. JENNER. What was the distance from Dallas--in general--to the
military school?
Mr. McKENZIE. It is approximately 600 or 700 miles.
Mr. OSWALD. It was 30 miles south of Vicksburg, Miss.
Mr. JENNER. Quite a distance?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. So you could not go home weekends?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; we did not go home weekends.
Mr. JENNER. From the time of the marriage of your mother to Mr. Ekdahl,
to the time you boys left for military school, you all lived in the
home on Victor Street?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. He moved into the home immediately upon the marriage?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Could I ask one question?
Was there a summer holiday, then, when you went home from the military
academy?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. You were home for 3 months, roughly?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. DULLES. That would be in the summer of '45?
Mr. OSWALD. The summer of '46.
Mr. JENNER. It might help if you tell us how long you and John remained
at the military school.
Mr. OSWALD. Three school years.
Mr. JENNER. That would be in 1945, 1946, and 1947.
So that you left the military school approximately in June of 1947, is
that correct?
Mr. OSWALD. That would be correct.
Mr. JENNER. '48 or '47?
Mr. OSWALD. Well, the school year would be 1945 through '46 would be 1
year, '46 through '47 would be 2 years, '47 through '48 would be the
third year.
Mr. JENNER. All right. June of '48?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir. And I might say there, when school--the last year
that we were there, when school was completed, mother had indicated
to us that she wanted us to go to summer school and stay up there
that summer. And we did, John and I, stay there at the school after
practically all the other ones had left, because I recall helping pack
away some old Springfield rifles at that time in Cosmolene.
Mr. JENNER. The marriage of your mother and Mr. Ekdahl terminated in
divorce, as I recall it.
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall approximately when that was?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir. I believe that this would be some time in '47.
I believe she had divorced Mr. Ekdahl before our final year at the
academy.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Liebeler will get the date. I don't recall it myself at
the moment.
Did your mother and Mr. Ekdahl have occasion during this 3-year period,
plus the summer school, to visit you and John in the military academy?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; they did. I recall Mr. Ekdahl coming there with
mother and Lee in a 1939 Buick at that time, that I recall. I don't
recall many occasions that Mr. Ekdahl was there. I might state that at
Christmas time I believe on each year that we were up at the military
school that we returned home. By home, I mean Fort Worth, or wherever
they were living. One year I believe it was Benbrook, Tex., outside of
Fort Worth.
Mr. JENNER. Now, would you be good enough, having mentioned that, to
state for the record where your mother and Mr. Ekdahl resided during
the period of time you were at the military school?