Mr. JENNER. During this period of time?
Mr. POWERS. I think this idea of him being a somewhat weaker individual
held--well, he was in the squadron here--physically he was not an
overpowering individual, and "Ozzie," I think, stuck with him most of
the time through the time he was in the Marines or at least the period
that I was associated with him, and he did what he was told and never
went out of the way to do any more, or just doing the least minimum
that he could do as far as any type of work or anything like that,
and he would screw up once in a while; and now in the terms of the
Marine Corps, it would mean that he wouldn't always present himself in
a first-class manner as far as dress or shave or sloppy in appearance
sometimes.
Mr. JENNER. And how was he getting along with his fellow Marines during
this period?
Mr. POWERS. I think they accepted him just as they did everyone else,
because again you have a mixture of personalities, and I don't recall
that he was friendly with any one particular person more than the
other. Again I'm not sure because he was in this particular crew----
Mr. JENNER. Was there any scuttlebutt or rumor that he shot himself to
get out of the service?
Mr. POWERS. I don't know. There might have been. Now, that you
recall--you say that, you recall it to my mind; I'm not sure whether I
want to recall it or something that is actually fact.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. POWERS. I couldn't say truthfully.
Mr. JENNER. But any matter, it was pure scuttlebutt; it was pure
speculation?
Mr. POWERS. Yes, because nobody actually knew what was going on.
Mr. JENNER. What was the scuttlebutt as to his court-martial; was that
because he had the unregistered or private weapon?
Mr. POWERS. Now that you say that, this court-martial, this is
maybe where they came in and they were going to try to give him a
court-martial for shooting himself to get out. Again, maybe this is
something again that I want to recall or if it's actually true; now
that you mentioned it, there is something of that nature.
Mr. JENNER. When you use the expression "something that you want to
recall," what you mean by that, I take it, is you want to avoid the
tendency to recall something that----
Mr. POWERS. I have heard somewhere else.
Mr. JENNER. More than a speculation or hearsay, and you're telling me
that you're trying to confine yourself to actual fact?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And you're making that distinction for that reason?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Was there any rumor or scuttlebutt that he at one time had
been given some psychiatric attention?
Mr. POWERS. Now that you mentioned it, he might have been put in
the--he might have been sent to the psychiatric ward in Yokohama; I'm
not--again now that you mentioned it, again it comes in my mind.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have any--is this in the area of guessing?
Mr. POWERS. It's scuttlebutt-type of thing. It's guessing and no way to
substantiate it or anything of this nature.
Mr. JENNER. Okay. What did Oswald do for entertainment on leaves?
Mr. POWERS. This seems to me now that he made a statement, and this was
after he went out and procured or secured a female companionship and
set up housekeeping or whatever you want to call it in Japan, and this
was common practice--and it seems to me at one time he made a statement
that he didn't care if he returned to the United States at all. Now,
I'm almost--well, I can't say for sure, but I attribute this statement
to him again.
Mr. JENNER. Did he set up housekeeping, set up some Japanese girl; is
that what you mean?
Mr. POWERS. Yes. This is--this was the normal procedure over there, the
practice with a lot of individuals, and I think that he was one of the
ones that did--went for this type of thing. I'm not sure whether he
did, but I can attribute this statement to him that he did.
Mr. JENNER. In other words, you have a recollection of him having said
that somewhere?
Mr. POWERS. Yes; he said that, and again looking back, he was finally
attaining a male status or image in his own eyes, and this is why he
wanted to stay in that particular country.
Mr. JENNER. But he did say something to the effect that he'd just as
soon stay in Japan?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Rather than return to the United States?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Were you given liberty when you were at Atsugi the way you
were given liberty at Biloxi, that is, at certain hours of the day or
on weekends, you would have liberty?
Mr. POWERS. Gee, you have to secure liberty cards to get off the base
at Atsugi, and by doing this, some weekends you had a duty weekend,
and--but you have to be all squared away as far as your duty weekend,
and have no disciplinary action or anything of this nature against
you before you got your liberty card, and then you checked out to the
sergeant on duty and went on liberty.
Mr. JENNER. And how often were you permitted this liberty?
Mr. POWERS. As I recall, you could get it on every day.
Mr. JENNER. And what about weekends?
Mr. POWERS. And, say, weekends, and possibly once a month you had duty
weekend, so 3 weekends out of the month.
Mr. JENNER. So you would have 3 out of the 4?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Per month?
Mr. POWERS. Possibly every fifth one we stood, but I think it was 3.
Mr. JENNER. In other words, three out of four you had liberty, and 1 of
the weekends, the fourth one you stood on duty at camp?
Mr. POWERS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Did Oswald tend to take all the liberty that he could get?
Mr. POWERS. I couldn't truthfully say.
Mr. JENNER. All right. What was that operation called in the
Philippines, Operation Strong Back?
Mr. POWERS. I believe the second one was Strong Back, yes.
Mr. JENNER. When you say "second one," what do you mean by that?
Mr. POWERS. The first one they went down to--when I stayed down to play
football; I don't remember what that was.
Mr. JENNER. But the one that you attended was Operation Strong Back?
Mr. POWERS. I think so; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Were you boys ever sent to Formosa?
Mr. POWERS. Yes, we--this was on our way home. Now, this wasn't--he
was still in Japan, as I remember; he must have--yes, he was still in
Japan, and on our way home, we went to Formosa and no one got off the
ship; we just picked up some civilians, I believe, there.
Mr. JENNER. But Oswald was not there with you?