Mr. OSWALD. West Ridglea Elementary School.
Mr. JENNER. So at this point each of you was attending a different
school?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. And Lee was 9 years old.
You continued at Arlington Heights Junior High School for how long?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir--W. C. Stripling Junior High School. For 1 year,
the ninth grade.
If I may, sir, perhaps correct something--I don't know for sure which
way it was. When I said Lee attended West Ridglea Elementary School, I
think perhaps the first year he attended Arlington Heights Elementary
School, because I don't believe the West Ridglea Elementary School was
completed at that time.
Mr. JENNER. We might take you in sequence so that at least I don't get
confused.
You spent a year at W.C. Stripling High School?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. So we now have--we are now into '49-'50, is that correct?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And after a year at W.C. Stripling High School, you
enrolled where?
Mr. OSWALD. At Arlington Heights High School.
Mr. JENNER. And that would be in the fall of 1949?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And you attended Arlington Heights High School how long?
Mr. OSWALD. I attended my sophomore year. In my sophomore year I
started----
Mr. JENNER. Would that be 1951, the end of your sophomore year?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; 1950 would be the end of the school year. That
summer there I started a job with an A&P Supermarket there in Fort
Worth.
I might say along this period mother seemed to be having difficulty
keeping a job or making enough money and so forth to raise us. I stayed
out of school that next year and worked for A&P.
Mr. JENNER. Out of school 1950-51?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did your brother remain in school--John?
Mr. OSWALD. John at this time was in the Coast Guard.
Mr. JENNER. Already in the Coast Guard?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. All right. And you worked at the A&P during this period?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you contribute your earnings to your mother?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. They were probably not a great amount at this age. Do you
recall what they were, per week?
Mr. OSWALD. Perhaps my starting salary was somewhere around $48 a week,
or something like that. I believe by the end of the year I had become a
checker, and perhaps it was $65 or $70 a week.
Mr. JENNER. What proportion of that did you contribute to the
sustaining of the family?
Mr. OSWALD. I would say practically all of it, but what I needed for
expenses, a little spending money.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know whether your brother John made an allotment of
any kind to your mother or sent her any money?
Mr. OSWALD. To my knowledge, he did not.
Mr. JENNER. Was there any illness or disability of any kind that
contributed to your mother's difficulty in obtaining positions during
this period?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; she was not disabled. I don't recall any
particular length of illness that she had at this time that would not
allow her to work.
Mr. JENNER. What was the reason, if you recall, she was having
difficulty in obtaining work, or was there any particular reason?
Mr. OSWALD. None that I recall, sir. No particular reason I can recall.
Mr. JENNER. Your brother Lee was living at home during this time?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Was he working after school, or making any effort to earn
some money?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he was not. He might have on occasion mowed
somebody's lawn or something like that, where he would have a little
spending money, or something. But nothing frequently, consistently.
Mr. JENNER. I see.
Proceeding with you, at the end of the school year '50-'51--I assume
you continued working there the summer of '51?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And did you reenter school that fall?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. JENNER. Where?
Mr. OSWALD. Arlington Heights High School.
Representative FORD. May I ask a question?
During this 1-year period that you worked for the A&P, Mr. Oswald, were
you the principal source of income for your mother, Lee, and yourself?
Mr. OSWALD. Mother was working. Whether or not I was making more than
she was at that time, I do not know.
Representative FORD. She was working spasmodically or regularly during
this period?
Mr. OSWALD. I believe almost regularly, very little off. I cannot
recall right now what she was doing. I think perhaps during this period
she was selling insurance.
Representative FORD. While she was in this occupation, who took care of
Lee?
Mr. OSWALD. Well, no one did. Lee was, of course, at school. When he
returned home from school in the afternoon, he managed for himself,
until I or my mother returned home from work.
Representative FORD. He was 9 or 10?
Mr. McKENZIE. Eleven years old.
Representative FORD. Thank you.
Mr. JENNER. I think Representative Ford's question may have been
induced by the fact you said that at about this time of which we are
speaking your mother was having trouble retaining her position or
obtaining positions. I assumed from that, perhaps incorrectly, that
there were gaps, there were times when she was not employed, and,
therefore, did need you to remain out of school to help. Is that a fair
statement?
Mr. OSWALD. I would say that is a fair statement and generally so. A
little more comes to mind there.
I believe, perhaps, that she might have been selling insurance. I
think she was acting at that time as what you would call a hostess
or a welcoming party for the city of Fort Worth. In other words, she
went out and met new people coming into Fort Worth--something along
that line. And apparently it wasn't very much money, very little. And
I think during this period also she was trying to locate other types
of work that would perhaps earn her more. I believe that would be more
accurate to what I really had in mind, there.
Mr. JENNER. But during all of the period, from the divorce of your
mother and Mr. Ekdahl, proceeding from that time forward, she again
returned to what she had been doing prior to the marriage--that is,
working to sustain the family?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. And if I may use the expression you did, Lee was left
to shift for himself during the daytime, get to school, get back to
school, and be around until either you boys returned to the home or
your mother returned to the home?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Because he didn't have anybody particularly assigned or who
undertook to care for him?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir.
I might say you mentioned "you boys." Of course at this time John was
in the Coast Guard, so it was either myself or my mother.
Mr. JENNER. And particularly during the year you were employed at the
A&P, and your mother was also employed, then certainly during that
period there was no one even available to take care of him, is that
correct?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct.
Mr. JENNER. What were your hours?
Mr. OSWALD. My hours varied somewhat. We had different types of shifts
for different days. Normally perhaps from 7 to 4 or 5 o'clock, and on
the weekends--stock day was Wednesday, when all shipments came in, to
restock the store. That was Wednesday and Saturday. Usually they were
long days. I worked from 7 o'clock to 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock at night.
And on Saturdays practically always after the store was closed, we did
the cleanup, and rewaxing the floors and sometimes it was anywhere
from 10 to 10:30 at night, and perhaps even 11 o'clock before I was
home.
Mr. DULLES. Did Lee's school at that time keep him until about 4
o'clock, do you know?
Mr. OSWALD. I believe, sir, that would be--he was, of course, at that
time, attending West Ridglea Elementary School. I believe it would be
about 3 o'clock, because I believe high school at that time--we were
getting out at 3:40. And I believe the elementary school was either 40
minutes or an hour earlier.
Mr. JENNER. You attended Arlington Heights High School for the school
year '51-'52?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. And what about the year '52-'53?
Mr. OSWALD. July 1952 I joined the Marine Corps.
Mr. JENNER. And in July 1952, when you joined the Marine Corps, what do
you recall was your status as far as your schooling was concerned?
Mr. OSWALD. I completed my junior year in high school.
Mr. DULLES. Did you enlist for 3 years?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And your brother was still in the Coast Guard?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; he was still in the Coast Guard at that time.
Mr. JENNER. And, at that time, I take it your brother Lee was attending
Arlington Heights High School? That would be 1952?
Mr. OSWALD. Just a minute, please.
In 1952 Lee was 13 years old. He would be attending W. C. Stripling
Junior High School then.
Mr. JENNER. I see. For the school year 1951-52?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir. Junior high school there was from the seventh to
the ninth grades. And as soon as he was through with his sixth year, he
started attending W. C. Stripling Junior High School.
Mr. JENNER. As soon as he finished the sixth year at Ridglea Elementary
School, he entered W. C. Stripling High School, as a seventh grader?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir--junior high school.
Mr. JENNER. Now, the condition that you described as to Lee shifting
for himself during the daytime, when your mother was away working
and you were away working, and your brother John was in the Coast
Guard, continued, I take it, when he began attendance and while he was
attending W. C. Stripling Junior High School?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Was there a discussion, a family discussion when you
enlisted in the Marines, or prior to your enlisting in the Marines, as
to your doing so, and quitting high school?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; there was not.
Mr. JENNER. That was of your own volition?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you talk to your mother in advance about it?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Not at all?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Had anything preceded in the way of family discussion of
your brother John's entry into the Coast Guard?