Mr. DONOVAN. Sloppy--no; he was not sloppy.
Mr. ELY. I wonder, Mr. Donovan, if you could return to your description
of the way Oswald performed his job, perhaps with particular reference
to how he reacted to stress situations.
Mr. DONOVAN. Yes. I have been on watch with him when an emergency
arose, and in turning around and reporting it to the crew chief and to
myself--and to me, simultaneously, he would tell you what the status
of the emergency was, if anyone could tell, and what he thought the
obvious action we should take. And he was right. There was usually an
obvious solution. Then he waited for you to tell him what to do, and he
did it, no matter what you told him.
Mr. ELY. Did he remain calm at all times; or was he excitable with
regard to his job?
Mr. DONOVAN. I don't recall him being particularly excitable.
Mr. ELY. Would you characterize him as "very cool," or do you think
that might be overstating the case in the other direction?
Mr. DONOVAN. I just think in that respect he was normal.
Mr. ELY. Did you have occasion to observe the relation between Oswald
and his fellow enlisted men?
Mr. DONOVAN. At times; yes.
Mr. ELY. Did it seem that he was normal to you with regard to mixing
with his peers?
Mr. DONOVAN. No; he did not share a common interest with them. For
better or for worse, the average young American male in that age is
interested in saving enough money to go buy another beer and get
another date. This I don't believe would characterize him at all. He
read a great deal.
Mr. ELY. Excuse me. Do you remember anything that he read specifically?
Mr. DONOVAN. No; I know that the men always told me that he subscribed
to a Russian newspaper.
Mr. ELY. When you say Russian newspaper, do you recall whether that was
one printed in the Russian language?
Mr. DONOVAN. No; I do not.
Mr. ELY. You never saw that newspaper?
Mr. DONOVAN. I never saw the newspaper.
Mr. ELY. Did you ever question Oswald about his reading of it?
Mr. DONOVAN. Yes; I did. And he did not apparently take this stuff as
gospel--although----
Mr. ELY. When you say that, are you implying that it not only was a
Russian newspaper, but it was also a Communist newspaper?
Mr. DONOVAN. Yes; I implied that. And I felt that he thought this
presented a very different and perhaps equally just side of the
international affairs in comparison with the United States newspapers.
Mr. ELY. Was the paper printed in Russia, do you know?
Mr. DONOVAN. I do not know.
Mr. ELY. And, of course, you don't know the name of the paper?
Mr. DONOVAN. That is correct.
Mr. ELY. Did he tell you at that time why he subscribed to the paper?
Mr. DONOVAN. Yes; he said he was interested in learning Russian. And he
took great pride in the fact that he could speak it. He couldn't prove
it by me, because I don't speak Russian. But he said he could, and his
contemporaries believed he could. As far as I know, he could.
Mr. ELY. But you also got the idea that he enjoyed this paper for its
ideological content?
Mr. DONOVAN. To a degree. I think he enjoyed international affairs in
all respects. He enjoyed studying them. He thought there were many
great--there were many grave injustices concerning the affairs in the
international situation.
I know that he constantly brought up the idea that our Government must
be run by many incompetent people. And, as I stated, and you have
probably read in your reports or the newspapers, that he was very well
versed, at least on the superficial facts of a given foreign situation.
His bond with me was that I was a recent graduate of the Foreign
Service School, at least fairly well acquainted with situations
throughout the world. And he would take great pride in his ability to
mention not only the leader of a country, but five or six subordinates
in that country who held positions of prominence. He took great pride
in talking to a passing officer coming in or out of the radar center,
and in a most interested manner, ask him what he thought of a given
situation, listen to that officer's explanation, and say, "Thank you
very much."