Mr. JENNER. Why do you not make them on the Xerox machine?
I had asked you to read that portion of the letter so we can place the
matter in context.
Mr. OSWALD. "I know what was said about me when I left the United
States as Mother sent me clippings from the newspapers. However, I
realize it was just the shock of the news which made you say all those
things. However, I will just remind you again not to make any statement
or comments if you are approached by the newspapers between now and the
time we actually arrive in the United States."
Mr. JENNER. Is he referring then to things that were reported in the
newspaper clippings that you said or is he referring to something
you said to him before he departed for Russia, or is he referring to
something you said in a letter you may have written him when he was in
Russia?
Mr. OSWALD. He is referring, sir, to the clippings of newspapers
that mother had sent him containing reportedly my statements to the
newspapers at the time we were advised on October 31, 1959 that Lee was
in Russia.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have occasion to make any comments to newspaper
reporters when it became known that he was about to return to the
United States?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. JENNER. And did those come to your brother's attention?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; they did not.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever discuss them or he with you?
Mr. OSWALD. When the newspaper reporters contacted me prior to his
arrival in New York City, I did not divulge my knowledge of his
departure as per this letter of May 22, 1962, the approximate date
he would be in the United States. I did not give them any indication
whatsoever at that time that he was leaving the Soviet Union.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever respond to that particular letter?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. DULLES. May I ask a question here?
You indicated that your brother was disappointed when he arrived at
Love Airfield and the newspapermen were not there when he came back
from Russia.
Did the newspapermen thereafter talk with your brother at your house or
elsewhere?
Mr. OSWALD. They attempted to, sir. I say "they." It was, more
specifically, one newspaperman.
Mr. JENNER. But he did not succeed in getting an interview?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Reference is made in your brother's letter to you of
November 17, 1962, which is Commission Exhibit 320, to Thanksgiving
dinner. Would you obtain that exhibit, please?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I have it.
Mr. DULLES. What Thanksgiving, 1962?
Mr. JENNER. 1962, sir.
Was the Thanksgiving dinner held at your home on Thanksgiving Day,
November 1962?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Would you tell us all of the circumstances preceding,
leading up to and what occurred on that date and who attended the
Thanksgiving dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. Lee and Marina and their small child had moved to Dallas,
Tex.
Mr. JENNER. Where in Dallas, Tex.? Do you recall?
Mr. OSWALD. I did not have any address, sir. I had only a post office
box, Box 2915, Dallas, Tex.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. OSWALD. My older brother John had called me from San Antonio, Tex.,
prior to Thanksgiving 1962, indicating that he was going to be able to
take a leave----
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me, Mr. Oswald.
Mr. Chairman, there is some confusion respecting this Thanksgiving
dinner.
Mr. OSWALD. Where John was stationed in the Air Force--he called me
from San Antonio stating that he would be able to take a leave during
the period of Thanksgiving of November 1962 and that they would travel
from San Antonio, Tex., to my home in Fort Worth, Tex. I wrote Lee and
asked him would it be possible for him to join us at that time with his
family.
Mr. JENNER. Did you indicate in your letter that his brother John and
wife were to join you on that occasion?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. JENNER. Did you indicate that anyone in addition, to wit, your
mother, was also to join you on that occasion?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. OSWALD. In reference to the letter dated November 17, 1962, from
Lee Harvey Oswald----
Mr. JENNER. That is Commission Exhibit 320.
Mr. OSWALD. It replied to my letter: "In answer to your kind
invitation for Thanksgiving, we love to come and will be in Fort Worth
Thanksgiving morning and we shall come by bus and give you a ring on
the phone from the bus station (about 9:10). See you soon. Lee."
Mr. JENNER. Did he come to Fort Worth?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. For that particular occasion?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. When did he arrive?
Mr. OSWALD. Approximately nine to ten o'clock in the morning.
Mr. JENNER. Of Thanksgiving Day?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Was he accompanied by anyone?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; he was.
Mr. JENNER. Who?
Mr. OSWALD. Marina N. Oswald and the baby June Lee Oswald.
Mr. JENNER. Did all of you have Thanksgiving dinner on that day?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; we did.
Mr. JENNER. Did both Lee and Marina attend that dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; they did.
Mr. JENNER. And John Pic and his wife?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; they did.
Mr. JENNER. You and your wife?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Your children?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. The children of Lee and Marina?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. McKENZIE. The child. There was only one at that time.
Mr. JENNER. That is right, the child June. Anyone else?
Mr. OSWALD. The children of John and Marge Pic.
Mr. JENNER. But your mother did not attend the dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Had you invited her?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I had not.
Mr. JENNER. As far as you know, she was unaware of it?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Was any comment made that she was not present, about the
fact that she was not present at the dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; there was not.
Mr. JENNER. Was anything said about what your brother Lee was doing by
way of employment in Dallas?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; there was.
Mr. JENNER. What was said, and by whom?
Mr. OSWALD. I feel like I had asked Lee what he was doing at that
particular time, and his reply to me was that he was working for a
traffic outfit in Dallas, the name of which I do not recall. However,
he did state the name of the firm. I do not recall the name of the
firm. And that it was to him very interesting work. He thought that he
could perhaps learn this type of work and progress in it quite ably.
Mr. DULLES. How did he appear to you mentally and physically on this
occasion of the Thanksgiving dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. Very fit physically and very alert mentally.
Mr. JENNER. Discussion on that day occurred between you and your
half-brother, John Pic, did it not, respecting your brother Lee's
un-American beliefs?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; it did.
Mr. JENNER. Would you relate that discussion between yourself--was it
confined to a discussion between yourself and John Pic?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; it was.
Mr. JENNER. Did you raise the subject?
Mr. OSWALD. I believe I did, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You were concerned about his un-American beliefs, were you
not?
Mr. OSWALD. I was not concerned about them. I wanted to state to John,
since he had not been in contact with Lee when Lee was in Russia, or
when he was at my home in Fort Worth, that this conversation took place.
Mr. JENNER. You state it.
Mr. DULLES. Was John present?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. He was present.
Mr. McKENZIE. It was to John.
Mr. DULLES. Was he present?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he was not. I was about to say that this
conversation took place on our way from my house to the bus station to
pick up Lee, Marina and June the morning of Thanksgiving 1962. I do
not recall the circumstances preceding this particular point of why I
brought it up other than I do recall mentioning that the FBI had talked
to Lee and apparently that everything was all right because they were
not proceeding to discuss with him at any length and they were not
holding him for any reason, so I assumed that everything was all right
in that respect.
Mr. JENNER. I see.
Have you exhausted your present recollection of that conversation?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I have.
Mr. DULLES. How did you know that the FBI had talked with Lee?
Mr. OSWALD. Lee had told me and I was aware that they had called my
house and requested Lee to come down to their office in Fort Worth and
talk with them.
Mr. DULLES. Did he report to you on that conversation at all? The
details of it?
Mr. OSWALD. A very small detail of it, sir.
Mr. JENNER. What details?
Mr. OSWALD. I asked him when I returned home from work that afternoon
how did it go. He said, "Just fine." He said they asked him at the last
whether or not he was an agent for the United States Government. His
reply was "Don't you know?"
Mr. JENNER. You recited that yesterday.
Mr. McKENZIE. This was testified to yesterday. It is repetition.
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you at that time say to John that the FBI had--excuse
me--had assured you that Lee was all right and not dangerous to our
country?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I had not.
Mr. JENNER. Did you say to John on that occasion or any other occasion
that he need not worry about Lee in connection with possible danger to
our country?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. JENNER. When was that?
Mr. OSWALD. This was on the same occasion on the trip to the bus
station as I have so indicated, that I had assumed, since they were not
holding Lee or questioning him to any frequency, because at that time
they had only questioned him to my knowledge one time, that everything
as far as un-American views that he expressed when he went to Russia,
everything was cleared and they had no reason to hold him or suspect
him of anything.
Mr. DULLES. Did you know about the Fair Play for Cuba incident in New
Orleans at this time?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. JENNER. Did your brother Lee and Marina leave your home after
Thanksgiving dinner?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; they did.
Mr. JENNER. That same day?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have occasion to see your brother at any time from
that moment when he departed until sometime on the 22d of November 1963?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. McKENZIE. Mr. Jenner, may I interrupt you one more time?
In response to your question, Mr. Chairman, it is my best recollection,
and I may be wrong and stand to be corrected if I am wrong, that the
Fair Play for Cuba or the pro-Castro leaflets that he was handing out
in New Orleans was in the summer of 1963.
Mr. DULLES. I think you may be right.
Do you remember that?
Mr. JENNER. Yes, that is correct.
Mr. DULLES. That is correct. It had not taken place.
Mr. McKENZIE. It had not taken place in November of 1962.
Mr. DULLES. Right.
Mr. McKENZIE. To the best of our knowledge.
Mr. JENNER. Did the witness have any opportunity to respond to my last
question?
Mr. McKENZIE. You had finished your question and I interrupted you
before you could make another question.
Mr. JENNER. You mean the witness had responded to it?
Mr. DULLES. No; I do not think he had.
Mr. JENNER. Would you read the pending question?
(The last question was read by the reporter.)
Mr. JENNER. Did you see Marina at any time subsequent to their
departure on Thanksgiving Day, November 1962 and November 22, 1963?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I had not.
Mr. DULLES. Did you have any telephone conversations with either of
them?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I had.
Mr. JENNER. In the interim period?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I had.
Mr. JENNER. Were there a number of those or were they infrequent?
Mr. OSWALD. I recall only one, sir.
Mr. JENNER. When did that take place?
Mr. OSWALD. Approximately two or three weeks after Thanksgiving of 1962.
Mr. JENNER. That would be sometime then in December of 1962?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you call him or did he call you?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he called me.
Mr. JENNER. You recognized his voice?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And was it day or night?
Mr. OSWALD. It was, I believe it was Sunday afternoon, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Sunday afternoon. And what was the occasion of his making
that call as you recall it?
Mr. OSWALD. That he was in town briefly.
Mr. JENNER. In Fort Worth?
Mr. OSWALD. In Fort Worth, Tex., and that I asked would we see him; he
said no, they were visiting some friends.
Mr. JENNER. "They" meaning he and Marina?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir, and that they would be leaving for Dallas very
shortly.
Mr. JENNER. That was a social call?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You have given the full of the conversation?
Mr. OSWALD. To the best of my remembrance; yes, sir. It was very short.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have occasion to talk to Marina over the telephone
on that particular time?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. JENNER. Did he talk with any other member of your family on that
occasion?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he did not.
Mr. JENNER. Other than that telephone conversation, had you had any
other conversation with your brother Lee from the time on Thanksgiving
Day, November 1962 to the time you saw him on November 22, 1963?