Mr. JENNER. So you were 3 years older than Oswald. He was born October
18, 1939?
Mr. POWERS. Yes; that's correct.
Mr. JENNER. Did any incident occur during your travel from the Naval
Air Base in Jacksonville to Keesler Field in Biloxi, Miss., with
respect to Oswald which arrested your attention or was there any
question about him?
Mr. POWERS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Or was this relatively uneventful?
Mr. POWERS. It was uneventful, you might say. There is nothing that
you would care to attach any significance to other than to the fact
that for the most of us, this was the first time that we ever were on a
train and this was somewhat a new experience for the most part for most
of us.
Mr. JENNER. I see. And how many days travel were you given?
Mr. POWERS. I believe it was an overnight travel. So it probably--2
days, May 3 to May 4, is when we actually reported in here; departed
Jacksonville, Fla., on 2 May 1957 and arrived in Biloxi, Miss., 4 May.
So we reported for duty on that particular day.
Mr. JENNER. So you were then there May 4, 1957?
Mr. POWERS. That's correct.
Mr. JENNER. What was the nature of your training, and then after that,
give his training, in Keesler Field.
Mr. POWERS. The nature of my training was to be trained in the
operation of radar equipment which was used to guide or locate aircraft
in the air. His training was completely parallel to mine. It was
similar; it was the same in context.
Mr. JENNER. And is that likewise true of these other men?
Mr. POWERS. That's also correct, yes.
Mr. JENNER. And your assignments from day to day were relatively
parallel then?
Mr. POWERS. I would think they were exactly parallel as far as
attending classes. We went to the same classes, we were at the same
level of instruction throughout the whole school. I mean we were
brought right along. Some were above the others, and in retention of
what they were learning; we still were similar, I would say exact in
the classes that we did attend.
Mr. JENNER. These were in general--this was aircraft control and
warning operator course?
Mr. POWERS. That's correct, yes.
Mr. JENNER. And it included the classes of uses of radar and other
aircraft warning devices?
Mr. POWERS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Were you awarded the--what is known as the M.O.S., Military
Occupation Specialty?
Mr. POWERS. Yes; we were. I believe coming out of--excuse me--coming
out of Jacksonville, Fla., we were given a general M.O.S. of 6700, and
then after--
Mr. JENNER. Explain what that means to me.
Mr. POWERS. M.O.S. is a Military Occupational Specialty, and all it
does is categorize you as to what you are going to fall in when they
issue you orders; and 6700 is aircraft, as I understand; my memory may
be somewhat faded or dim.
And when we did come out of Keesler, then we were added the additional
digit of 47 which would make us a ground--I better not say "ground
control," radar operator for--as a guess, I would call it an early
warning system.
Mr. JENNER. And how long did you boys remain at Keesler?
Mr. POWERS. Exact dates would be from 4 May to 4 June 1957, is when we
picked up our orders to go to California.
Mr. JENNER. That's a month from the day?
Mr. POWERS. I'm sorry. It says here, "You will stand transferred June
19, 1957, and you will report to your temporary duty station at 12 July
1957." This is when we were--2400 hours--we were supposed to report in
the temporary duty station, which was El Toro, Calif.
Mr. JENNER. Did you boys travel out to El Toro?
Mr. POWERS. From 19 June to 12 July 1957. This was somewhat blurred
here. 16 days delay and 4 days travel by commercial. So it would
be--June is 30--it would be 11 and 12, which would be 20----
Mr. JENNER. 16 days. 11 and 12, that would be 23 days.
Mr. POWERS. Yes; so actually it must be 19 days and 4 days travel by
commercial carrier. 14 days--rather 19 days' delay.
Mr. JENNER. Did you boys travel out to El Toro?
Mr. POWERS. No; we did not. Most of us went on leave from there
to--rather from Mississippi to our homes and spent time there, and then
proceeded to California by commercial vehicle.
Mr. JENNER. And were you living in Minneapolis at that time?
Mr. POWERS. No; I was not. My leave address, Rural Route No. 2,
Owatonna, Minn. That was my parents' home.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have any recollection of Oswald while he was at
Keesler? That is, did he continue to be--you used the term "loner"--was
he a loner while he was at Keesler Field?
Mr. POWERS. I would say yes and no. A "loner" is a real poor term to
use.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. POWERS. I think that he was an individual that found it hard to
come in close relationship to any one individual, and I don't say that
he was one that did try to avoid it, but it seems like almost he was
always striving for a relationship, but whenever he did come, he would
get into the group or something that his--that his--just his general
personality would alienate the group against him.
And to me, he was an individual that--an individual that could come
to a point that I don't--that he would come to a point in his life
where he would have to face a decision, now, this is just again a
personal opinion; he had a large homosexual tendency, as far as I was
concerned, and, well, maybe not these tendencies, but a lot of feminine
characteristics as far as the other individuals of the group were
concerned, and I think possibly he was an individual that would come to
a point in his life that would have to decide one way or the other.
Mr. JENNER. On what?
Mr. POWERS. On a homosexual or leading a normal life, and again, now,
this is a personal opinion.
And I think this, more than any other factor, was the reason that he
was on the outside of the group in this particular group that we were
in there in Mississippi.
He was always an individual that was regarded as a meek person, one
that you wouldn't have to worry about as far as the leadership was
concerned, a challenge for leadership or anything.
He could easily be led, an individual that was influenced I think by
education, and was impressed by a person who had some education, an
intelligent individual.
He had the name of Ozzie Rabbit, as I recall.
Mr. JENNER. Of what?
Mr. POWERS. Ozzie Rabbit.
Mr. JENNER. Ozzie Rabbit?
Mr. POWERS. Yes; now, this goes back to what I had said before that he
was the meek mild individual that a person felt if he had something,
that he wouldn't really fight to keep it. He would take the easy way
out to avoid conflict. But then again, I'm trying to recall this in my
mind, and I'm not sure whether something--whether it is something that
is really true or something that I want to recall----