Shop, has stated that he found on his workbench on November 23 an
undated work tag with the name “Oswald” on it, indicating that sometime
during the first 2 weeks of November three holes had been bored in a
rifle and a telescopic sight mounted on it and bore-sighted. However,
Ryder and his employer, Charles W. Greener, had no recollection of
Oswald, of his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, of the transaction allegedly
represented by the repair tag, or of any person for whom such a repair
was supposedly made. The rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas
School Book Depository had two holes in it bored for the installation
of a scope prior to shipment to Oswald in March 1963. The Commission
concluded that it is doubtful whether the tag produced by Ryder was
authentic. All of the evidence developed proves that Oswald owned only
the one rifle--the Mannlicher-Carcano--and that he did not bring it or
a second rifle to the Irving Sports Shop.[A12-33]
_Speculation._--Ammunition for the rifle found on the sixth floor of
the Texas School Book Depository had not been manufactured since the
end of World War II. The ammunition used by Oswald must, therefore,
have been at least 20 years old, making it extremely unreliable.
_Commission finding._--The ammunition used in the rifle was American
ammunition recently made by the Western Cartridge Co., which
manufactures such ammunition currently. In tests with the same kind of
ammunition, experts fired Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano rifle more than
100 times without any misfires.[A12-34]
_Speculation._--The assertion that Oswald’s palmprint appeared on the
rifle is false. The FBI told newsmen in an off-the-record briefing
session that there was no palmprint on the rifle.
_Commission finding._--The FBI confirmed that the palmprint lifted
by the Dallas police from the rifle found on the sixth floor of the
Texas School Book Depository Building was Oswald’s palmprint. The
FBI informed the Commission that no FBI agent made statements of any
type to the press concerning the existence or nonexistence of this
print.[A12-35]
_Speculation._--If Oswald had been gloveless, he would have left
fingerprints on the rifle because he would not have had time to wipe
the prints off the rifle after he had fired it.
_Commission finding._--An FBI fingerprint expert testified that the
poor quality of the metal and wooden parts would cause them to absorb
moisture from the skin, thereby making a clear print unlikely. There
is no evidence that Oswald wore gloves or that he wiped prints off the
rifle. Latent fingerprints were found on the rifle but they were too
incomplete to be identified.[A12-36]
_Speculation._--Gordon Shanklin, the special agent in charge of the
Dallas office of the FBI, stated that the paraffin test of Oswald’s
face and hands was positive and proved that he had fired a rifle.
_Commission finding._--The paraffin tests were conducted by members
of the Dallas Police Department and the technical examinations by
members of the Dallas City-County Criminal Investigation Laboratory.
The FBI has notified the Commission that neither Shanklin nor any other
representative of the FBI ever made such a statement. The Commission
has found no evidence that Special Agent Shanklin ever made this
statement publicly.[A12-37]
_Speculation._--Marina Oswald stated that she did not know that her
husband owned a rifle nor did she know that he owned a pistol.
_Commission finding._--There is no evidence that Marina Oswald ever
told this to any authorities. On the afternoon of November 22, she
told the police that her husband owned a rifle and that he kept it
in the garage of the Paine house in Irving. Later, at Dallas police
headquarters, she said that she could not identify as her husband’s the
rifle shown her by policemen. When Marina Oswald appeared before the
Commission she was shown the Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 rifle found on the
sixth floor of the Depository and identified it as the “fateful rifle
of Lee Oswald.”[A12-38]
_Speculation._--The picture of Oswald taken by his wife in March or
April 1963 and showing him with a rifle and a pistol was “doctored”
when it appeared in magazines and newspapers in February 1964. The
rifle held by Oswald in these pictures is not the same rifle that was
found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building.
_Commission finding._--Life magazine, Newsweek, and the New York Times
notified the Commission that they had retouched this picture. In doing
so, they inadvertently altered details of the configuration of the
rifle. The original prints of this picture have been examined by the
Commission and by photographic experts who have identified the rifle as
a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5, the same kind as the one found on the sixth
floor of the Texas School Book Depository. FBI experts testified that
the picture was taken with Oswald’s camera.[A12-39]
_Speculation._--The rifle picture of Oswald was a composite one with
Oswald’s face pasted on somebody else’s body.
_Commission finding._--Marina Oswald has testified that she took this
picture with a camera owned by her husband and subsequently identified
as Oswald’s Imperial Reflex camera. She identified the man in the
picture as her husband. Experts also state the picture was not a
composite.[A12-40]
_Speculation._--After firing the shots, Oswald could not have disposed
of the rifle and descended the stairs to the lunchroom in time to get a
drink from a soft drink machine and be there when Patrolman Baker came
in.
_Commission finding._--A series of time tests made by investigators
and by Roy S. Truly and Patrolman M. L. Baker at the request of the
Commission, show that it was possible for Oswald to have placed the
rifle behind a box and descended to the lunchroom on the second floor
before Patrolman Baker and Truly got up there. Oswald did not have a
soft drink bottle in his hand at the time he was confronted by Baker
and he was not standing by the soft drink machine. He was just entering
the lunchroom; Baker caught a glimpse of him through the glass panel in
the door leading to the lunchroom vestibule.[A12-41]
_Speculation._--There were other people present in the lunchroom at the
time that Baker and Truly saw Oswald there.
_Commission finding._--Baker and Truly have both stated that there
was no one in the lunchroom other than Oswald at the time that they
entered. No other witness to this incident has been found.[A12-42]
_Speculation._--Police were sealing off all exits from the building by
the time Oswald got to the second floor.
_Commission finding._--Police may have begun to take up positions
at the exits to the building as early as 12:33, but it is unlikely
that they had blocked them off completely until 12:37 p.m. at the
earliest. Oswald was seen in an office, walking toward an exit leading
to the front stairway, at about 12:33 p.m. Oswald probably had at
least 7 minutes in which to get out of the building without being
stopped.[A12-43]
OSWALD’S MOVEMENTS BETWEEN 12:33 AND 1:15 P.M.
One of the major theses urged in support of the theory that Oswald did
not murder Patrolman Tippit was that his known movements after he left
the Texas School Book Depository would not have permitted him to have
arrived at 10th Street and Patton Avenue in time to encounter Tippit by
1:16 p.m. Careful reenactments by investigative agencies and by members
of the Commission staff of Oswald’s movements from the time he left
the Texas School Book Depository until he encountered Tippit verified
that Oswald could reach his roominghouse at 1026 North Beckley Avenue
at approximately 1 p.m. or earlier. The housekeeper at the roominghouse
testified that Oswald spent only a few minutes at the house, leaving
as hurriedly as he had arrived. During police interrogation after his
arrest, Oswald admitted to riding both bus and taxi in returning to his
roominghouse after the assassination of the President. From 1026 North
Beckley Avenue, Oswald could easily have walked the nine tenths of a
mile to 10th Street and Patton Avenue where he encountered Tippit.
_Speculation._--A detailed and remarkably clear description of Oswald
was sent over the police radio in Dallas at 12:36 p.m., November 22,
1963.
_Commission finding._--The radio logs of the Dallas Police Department
and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office show that no description of a
suspect in the assassination of the President was broadcast before
12:45 p.m. on that day. No reference to Oswald by name was broadcast
before he was arrested. The description of the suspect that was
broadcast was similar to that of Oswald, but it lacked some important
specific details such as color of hair and eyes. The information for
the initial broadcasts most probably came from Howard Brennan, who saw
Oswald in the window when he was firing the rifle.[A12-44]
_Speculation._--Oswald did not have time for all of the movements
imputed to him between his departure from the Texas School Book
Depository and his encounter with Tippit.
_Commission finding._--Time tests of all of Oswald’s movements
establish that these movements could have been accomplished in the time
available to him.[A12-45]
_Speculation._--Oswald was stopped by police as he left the building
and was permitted to pass after he told them he worked in the building.
_Commission finding._--The Commission has found no witness who
saw Oswald leave the building. This speculation is probably a
misinterpretation of the fact that he was stopped in the lunchroom
by Patrolman Baker before he left the building and was allowed to
proceed after Truly, the Depository superintendent, identified him as
an employee there. Police did not seal off the building until at least
several minutes after Oswald could have left.[A12-46]
_Speculation._--The log of the cabdriver who took Oswald to North
Beckley Avenue, William W. Whaley, shows that Oswald entered his cab at
12:30 p.m. Since this occurred at some distance from the point of the
President’s assassination, Oswald could not have shot the President.
_Commission finding._--Whaley’s log does show 12:30 p.m., but he has
testified that he was not accurate in logging the time that passengers
entered his cab, that he usually logged them at 15-minute intervals,
and that it was undoubtedly some time later than 12:30 when Oswald
entered his cab. Sometimes he did not make entries in his logbook until
three or four trips later. The bus transfer in Oswald’s possession
was issued after 12:36 p.m. The Commission has determined that Oswald
probably entered Whaley’s cab at about 12:47 or 12:48 p.m.[A12-47]
_Speculation._--The distance from the Greyhound terminal in Dallas,
where Oswald entered the cab, to North Beckley Avenue, where he
probably left the cab, is something over 3 miles--normally a 10-minute
cab drive. Given the traffic jam that existed at the time, it is
doubtful that Whaley could have made the trip in less than 15 minutes.
One estimate has placed the time at 24 minutes from the Greyhound
terminal to Oswald’s roominghouse.
_Commission finding._--The distance from the Greyhound bus terminal
at Jackson and Lamar Streets to the 500 block of North Beckley is 2.5
miles. Oswald actually got out in the 700 block of North Beckley. The
distance was, therefore, less than 2.5 miles. Whaley has testified to
the Commission that the trip took 6 minutes. Test runs made by members
of the Commission staff under traffic conditions somewhat similar to
those that existed on November 22, took approximately 5 minutes and
30 seconds. To walk from Beckley and Neely, which is the 700 block of
Beckley, where Oswald probably left the cab, to 1026 North Beckley,
took Commission staff members 5 minutes and 45 seconds.[A12-48]
_Speculation._--Oswald was on his way to Jack Ruby’s apartment when he
was stopped by Patrolman Tippit.
_Commission finding._--There is no evidence that Oswald and Ruby knew
each other or had any relationship through a third party or parties.
There is no evidence that Oswald knew where Ruby lived. Accordingly,
there is neither evidence nor reason to believe that Oswald was on his
way to Ruby’s apartment when he was stopped by Tippit.[A12-49]
MURDER OF TIPPIT
Speculations on the murder of Tippit centered about assertions that he
was elsewhere than he was supposed to be when he was shot, that he knew
the man who shot him, and that the description of the murderer given by
one of the eyewitnesses did not fit Oswald’s description.
The Commission found that Tippit was unquestionably patrolling in an
area to which he had been directed by police headquarters. There was
no evidence to support the speculation that Tippit and Oswald knew
each other or had ever seen each other before. The description of the
murderer imputed to one of the witnesses was denied by her and had no
support from any other eyewitness.
_Speculation._--Tippit was driving alone in his police car even though
standing orders for police in Dallas were that radio cars of the type
Tippit was driving must have two policemen in them.
_Commission finding._--Dallas police officials stated that department
policy required about 80 percent of the patrolmen on the day shift, 7
a.m. to 3 p.m., to work alone. Tippit was one of the patrolmen assigned
to work alone that day.[A12-50]
_Speculation._--Tippit was violating an order he had received the day
before not to leave the sector to which he had been assigned. This
sector was supposed to be in downtown Dallas at the time he stopped
Oswald.
_Commission finding._--A review of Tippit’s file in the Dallas Police
Department and the department’s radio log revealed that following the
shooting of the President, Tippit was directed to move into and remain
in the central Oak Cliff area available for any emergency.[A12-51]
_Speculation._--The police had been withdrawn from the area in which
Tippit found Oswald.
_Commission finding._--Other police cars were operating in the Oak
Cliff area at the same time as Tippit. They participated in the
subsequent search for and apprehension of Tippit’s slayer.[A12-52]
_Speculation._--Tippit violated a procedure governing radio cars when
he failed to notify headquarters that he was stopping to question a
suspect.
_Commission finding._--The Dallas Police Department had no requirement
or regulation for police officers to notify headquarters when stopping
to question a suspect. Therefore, Tippit did not violate any police
radio procedure in failing to notify the radio dispatcher that he was
stopping Oswald.[A12-53]
_Speculation._--Tippit could not have recognized Oswald from the
description sent out over the police radio.
_Commission finding._--There is no certain way of knowing whether
Tippit recognized Oswald from the description put out by the police
radio. The Dallas Police Department radio log shows that the police
radio dispatcher at 1:29 p.m. noted a similarity between the broadcast
descriptions of the President’s assassin and Tippit’s slayer. It is
conceivable, even probable, that Tippit stopped Oswald because of the
description broadcast by the police radio.[A12-54]
_Speculation._--Tippit and his killer knew each other.
_Commission finding._--Investigation has revealed no evidence that
Oswald and Tippit were acquainted, had ever seen each other, or had any
mutual acquaintances. Witnesses to the shooting observed no signs of
recognition between the two men.[A12-55]
_Speculation._--Mrs. Helen Markham, a witness to the slaying of Tippit,
put the time at just after 1:06 p.m. This would have made it impossible
for Oswald to have committed the killing since he would not have had
time to arrive at the shooting scene by that time.
_Commission finding._--The shooting of Tippit has been established
at approximately 1:15 or 1:16 p.m. on the basis of a call to police
headquarters on Tippit’s car radio by another witness to the
assassination, Domingo Benavides. In her various statements and in
her testimony, Mrs. Markham was uncertain and inconsistent in her
recollection of the exact time of the slaying.[A12-56]
_Speculation._--Mrs. Helen Markham is the only witness to the killing
of Tippit.
_Commission finding._--Other witnesses to the killing of Tippit
include Domingo Benavides, who used Tippit’s car radio to notify the
police dispatcher of the killing at 1:16 p.m., and William Scoggins,
a cabdriver parked at the corner of 10th Street and Patton Avenue.
Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis saw a man with a pistol in
his hand walk across their lawn immediately after they heard the sound
of the shots that killed Tippit. The man emptied the shells from his
pistol and turned the corner from 10th Street onto Patton Avenue.
All of these witnesses, except Benavides, subsequently picked Oswald
out of a lineup as the slayer. Benavides did not feel that he could
make a positive identification and never attended a lineup for the
purpose.[A12-57]
_Speculation._--Mrs. Markham said that the man she saw shooting Tippit
was about 30, short, with bushy hair, and wearing a white coat. Since
Oswald does not fit this description he could not be the killer.
_Commission finding._--In evaluating Helen Markham’s testimony the
Commission is aware of allegations that she described the killer of
Patrolman Tippit as short, stocky, and with bushy hair, which would
not be a correct description of Oswald. It has also been alleged that
Mrs. Markham identified Oswald in the lineup because of his clothing
rather than his appearance. When Oswald appeared in the lineup at which
Mrs. Markham was present, he was not wearing the jacket which he wore
at the time of the shooting, and Mrs. Markham has testified that her
identification was based “mostly from his face.”[A12-58] Moreover,
Mrs. Markham has denied that she ever described the man who killed
Tippit as short, stocky, and with bushy hair. The Commission reviewed
the transcript of a telephone conversation in which Mrs. Markham was
alleged to have made such a description. In the transcription Mrs.
Markham reaffirmed her positive identification of Oswald and denied
having described the killer as short, stocky, and bushy haired.[A12-59]
_Speculation._--Another witness to the slaying of Patrolman Tippit, an
unidentified woman, was interviewed by the FBI but was never called
as a witness by the President’s Commission on the Assassination of
President Kennedy. This witness is alleged to have stated that she saw
two men involved in the shooting and that they ran off in opposite
directions afterward.
_Commission finding._--The only woman among the witnesses to the
slaying of Tippit known to the Commission is Helen Markham. The FBI
never interviewed any other woman who claimed to have seen the shooting
and never received any information concerning the existence of such a
witness. Two women, Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis, saw the
killer immediately after the shooting as he crossed the lawn at the
corner of Patton Avenue and 10th Street, but they did not witness the
shooting itself. They were both interviewed by the FBI and appeared
before the Commission. The Commission has no evidence that there was
any witness to the slaying other than those identified in chapter
IV.[A12-60]
_Speculation._--No witness saw Oswald between the time he was supposed
to have reloaded his gun near the scene of the slaying and his
appearance at the shoestore on Jefferson Boulevard.
_Commission finding._--Six witnesses identified Oswald as the man they
saw in flight after the murder of Tippit. The killer was seen, gun in
hand, by Ted Callaway and Sam Guinyard in the block of Patton Avenue
between 10th Street and Jefferson Boulevard after the shooting of
Tippit. They saw him run to Jefferson and turn right. On the evening
of November 22, Callaway and Guinyard picked Oswald out of a police
lineup as the man they saw with the gun. Two other men, Warren Reynolds
and Pat Patterson, saw a man with a pistol in his hand running south
on Patton Avenue. They followed him for a block on Jefferson Boulevard
and then lost sight of him. Both men subsequently identified pictures
of Oswald as the man they saw with the gun. Harold Russell also saw a
man with a gun running south on Patton Avenue and later identified him
from pictures as Oswald. Mrs. Mary Brock saw a man she later identified
as Oswald walk at a fast pace into the parking lot behind the service
station at the corner of Jefferson and Crawford, where Oswald’s jacket
was found shortly after.[A12-61]
_Speculation._--When Oswald left his roominghouse at about 1 p.m. on
November 22 he had on a zipper-type tan plaid jacket.
_Commission finding._--The jacket that Oswald was wearing at the time
of the slaying of Tippit was a light-gray jacket. According to Marina
Oswald, her husband owned only two jackets--one blue and the other
light gray. The housekeeper at 1026 North Beckley Avenue, Mrs. Earlene
Roberts, was not certain about the color of the jacket that Oswald was
wearing when he left the house.[A12-62]
_Speculation._--Oswald wore an olive-brown plain jacket which is
visible in all the pictures of him after his arrest.
_Commission finding._--At the time of his arrest, Oswald was not
wearing a jacket. The jacket that was subsequently recovered in a
parking lot and identified as Oswald’s was a light-gray one. There are
no witnesses who have stated that Oswald was wearing an olive-brown
jacket immediately before or after his arrest. The Commission has seen
no pictures of Oswald taken subsequent to his arrest that show him in
such a jacket. Pictures taken shortly after his arrest show him in the
shirt that Mrs. Bledsoe described him as wearing when she saw him on
the bus at approximately 1:40 p.m.[A12-63]
_Speculation._--Oswald’s landlady, Mrs. A. C. Johnson, said that Oswald
never had a gun in the room.
_Commission finding._--In her testimony before the Commission, Mrs.
Johnson said that he “never brought that rifle in my house. * * *
He could have had this pistol, I don’t know, because they found the
scabbard.”[A12-64] As shown in chapter IV, Oswald kept his rifle in the
Paine garage in Irving while he was living in Dallas during October and
November. The pistol was small and easily concealed.[A12-65]
_Speculation._--There was absolutely no place to hide a gun in Oswald’s
room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue.
_Commission finding._--In the search of Oswald’s room after his
apprehension police found a pistol holster. Oswald’s landlady, Mrs.
A. C. Johnson, stated that she had not seen the holster before. There
is no reason to believe that Oswald could not have had both a pistol
and the holster hidden in the room. Oswald’s pistol was a small one
with the barrel cut down to 2¼ inches. It could have been concealed in
a pocket of his clothes.[A12-66]
_Speculation._--Oswald did not pick up the revolver from his room at 1
p.m.
_Commission finding._--There is reason to believe that Oswald did pick
up the revolver from his room, probably concealing it beneath his
jacket. This likelihood is reinforced by the finding of the pistol
holster in the room after the assassination, since this indicates that
Oswald did not store the pistol at the home of Mrs. Paine where he
spent the night before the assassination.[A12-67]
_Speculation._--No one saw Oswald enter the Texas Theatre.
_Commission finding._--A nearby shoe store manager, Johnny C. Brewer,
and the theatre cashier, Julia Postal, saw Oswald enter the lobby of
the theatre from where he went on into the theatre proper.[A12-68]
_Speculation._--Not a single one of the people in the Texas Theatre at
the time of Oswald’s arrest has come forward or been brought forward to
give an eyewitness account of the arrest.
_Commission finding._--Johnny C. Brewer, the shoe store manager, and
two patrons of the theatre--John Gibson and George Jefferson Applin,
Jr.--were present in the theatre and testified before the Commission on
the circumstances of Oswald’s arrest at the Texas Theatre. Only 6 or 7
people were seated on the main floor of the theatre.[A12-69]
_Speculation._--There is no independent witness aside from the police
who testified that Oswald was carrying a gun when arrested by the
police.
_Commission finding._--Johnny Brewer testified before the Commission
that he saw Oswald pull a gun and that he saw it taken away from him by
a policeman.[A12-70]
OSWALD AFTER HIS ARREST
The Commission found that assertions that the Dallas police treated
Oswald brutally and denied him his constitutional rights to legal
counsel had no foundation in fact. Insinuations that Dallas police
officials and District Attorney Henry M. Wade fabricated or altered
evidence to establish the guilt of Oswald were baseless. It is true
that police officials and the district attorney made errors in giving
evidential information to the press, but these were clearly the result
of misapprehensions or ignorance rather than intent, and at the worst
represent bad judgment. At least one imputed fabrication of fact,
further embellished by repetition, never really occurred. Sinister
connotations were evoked by the attribution to the district attorney
of the statement that a taxicab driver named Darryl Click drove Oswald
from downtown Dallas to the area of his roominghouse in Oak Cliff. It
has been correctly ascertained that no such taxicab driver existed in
Dallas. On the other hand, the district attorney, who was quoted in a
newspaper transcript as making the statement, never made the statement
nor did any one else. Audio tapes of the district attorney’s press
conference make clear that the person who transcribed the conference
rendered a reference to the “Oak Cliff” area of Dallas as a person,
“Darryl Click”. This error in transcription is the sole source for the
existence of a “Darryl Click” as a taxicab driver.
_Speculation._--Oswald was the victim of police brutality.
_Commission finding._--Oswald resisted arrest in the Texas Theatre and
drew a gun. He received a slight cut over his right eye and a bruise
under his left eye in the course of his struggles. During the time he
was in police custody, he was neither ill-treated nor abused.[A12-71]
_Speculation._--Oswald was never formally charged with the
assassination of the President; he was charged only with the shooting
of Patrolman J. D. Tippit.
_Commission finding._--Oswald was arraigned for the murder of President
Kennedy before Justice of the Peace David Johnston on the fourth
floor of the Police Department building at 1:35 a.m., November 23.
Previously, he had been arraigned before Johnston for the murder of
Tippit at 7:10 p.m., November 22.[A12-72]
_Speculation._--The police questioned Oswald extensively about the
Tippit murder on the first day of his detention. They did not question
him about the assassination of President Kennedy.
_Commission finding._--Dallas police officials stated that they
questioned Oswald repeatedly on November 22 about the assassination
of President Kennedy and his relationship to it. At the first
interrogation, Captain Fritz asked Oswald to account for himself at the
time the President was shot. FBI agents who were present also stated
that he was questioned about the assassination of the President.[A12-73]
_Speculation._--Oswald’s attempts to get legal counsel were
deliberately thwarted by the police and he was cut off from outside
calls that would have permitted him to obtain a lawyer.
_Commission finding._--On November 23, Oswald was visited by the
president of the Dallas Bar Association, H. Louis Nichols, who offered
him help in getting a lawyer; Oswald refused the offer. Oswald was told
by the police that he could use the telephone when he wished, and he
did make telephone calls. He attempted to call attorney John Abt in New
York but was unsuccessful in reaching him. Mrs. Paine testified that
at Oswald’s request she tried without success to reach Abt. Oswald was
also visited by his wife, mother, and brother, to any of whom he could
have turned for help in getting counsel.[A12-74]
OSWALD IN THE SOVIET UNION
Oswald’s residence in the Soviet Union for more than 2½ years aroused
speculation after his arrest that he was an agent of the Soviet Union
or in some way affiliated with it. This speculation was supported by
assertions that he had received exceptionally favored treatment from
the Soviet Government in securing permission to enter and leave the
country, especially the latter, because his Russian wife and child were
permitted to leave with him. The careful analysis of these speculations
in chapter VI of this report led to the Commission’s conclusion that
there is no credible evidence that Oswald was an agent of the Soviet
Government and that he did not receive unusually favorable treatment
in entering or leaving the Soviet Union or in returning to the United
States.
_Speculation._--A young private in the Marine Corps in the 1950’s could
not study Marxism, learn Russian, and read Soviet newspapers without
any adverse repercussions in his unit.
_Commission finding._--Although Oswald’s interest in the Soviet
Union was well known, his interest in Marxism was apparently known
to only a few of his fellow marines. While stationed in California,
he studied Russian. In February 1959, while still in the Marines,
he took an official test on his proficiency in Russian and was
rated “Poor.” In California at about this time he probably read a
Russian-language newspaper. The reactions of his fellow Marines who
were aware of his interests in Marxism and the Soviet Union were
apparently not antagonistic and did not deter him from pursuing these
interests.[A12-75]
_Speculation._--Oswald learned Russian during his service in the
Marines as part of his military training.
_Commission finding._--Oswald never received any training from the
Marine Corps in the Russian language. His studies of Russian were
entirely on his own time and at his own initiative.[A12-76]
_Speculation._--Oswald could not have saved $1,600 from his Marine pay
for his trip to Russia in 1959.
_Commission finding._--In November 1959, Oswald told an American
reporter in Moscow, Aline Mosby, that he had saved $1,500 (not $1,600)
while in the Marines. It is entirely consistent with Oswald’s known
frugality that he could have saved the money from the $3,452.20 in
pay he received while he was in the Marines. Moreover, despite his
statement to Aline Mosby, he may not actually have saved $1,500, for
it was possible for him to have made the trip to Russia in 1959 for
considerably less than that amount.[A12-77]
_Speculation._--It is probable that Oswald had prior contacts with
Soviet agents before he entered Russia in 1959 because his application
for a visa was processed and approved immediately on receipt.
_Commission finding._--There is no evidence that Oswald was in touch
with Soviet agents before his visit to Russia. The time that it took
for him to receive his visa in Helsinki for entrance to the Soviet
Union was shorter than the average but not beyond the normal range for
the granting of such visas. Had Oswald been recruited as a Russian
agent while he was still in the Marines, it is most improbable that he
would have been encouraged to defect. He would have been of greater
value to Russian intelligence as a Marine radar operator than as a
defector.[A12-78]
_Speculation._--Soviet suspicion of Oswald is indicated by the fact
that he was sent off to work in a radio plant in Minsk as an unskilled
hand at the lowest rate of pay although he qualified as a trained radar
and electronics technician.
_Commission finding._--The Soviet Government probably was suspicious
of Oswald, as it would be of any American who appeared in Moscow and
said he wanted to live in the Soviet Union. Under the circumstances it
is to be expected that he would be placed in a position that would not
involve national security. Moreover, Oswald had been a radar operator,
not a technician, in the Marines. His total income in Russia was higher
than normal because his pay was supplemented for about a year by
payments from the Soviet “Red Cross,” an official agency of the Soviet
Government. Oswald believed that these payments really came from the
MVD. It is a policy of the Soviet Government to subsidize defectors
from Western nations who settle in the Soviet Union, in order that
their standard of living may not be too much lower than their previous
standard in their own country. [A12-79]
_Speculation._--Oswald was trained by the Russians in a special school
for assassins at Minsk.
_Commission finding._--Commission investigations revealed no evidence
to support this claim or the existence of such a school in Minsk during
the time Oswald was there. Oswald belonged to a hunting club near
Minsk, but there is no evidence that this was other than an ordinary
hunting club.[A12-80]
_Speculation._--Marina Oswald’s father was an important part of the
Soviet intelligence apparatus.
_Commission finding._--Marina Oswald’s father died while she was still
an infant. This reference is presumably to her uncle, Ilya Prusakov,
who was an executive in the lumber industry, which position carried
with it the rank of lieutenant colonel or colonel in the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MVD). Since 1953 the MVD has not been concerned with
internal security or other police functions.[A12-81]
_Speculation._--It was most exceptional that Oswald was able to bring
his wife and child out of the Soviet Union with him.
_Commission finding._--There is no reason to believe that the Oswalds
received unusually favorable treatment in being permitted or assisted
to leave the Soviet Union together. Other American citizens have
brought their Russian wives out of the Soviet Union, both before and
after Oswald.[A12-82]
_Speculation._--Oswald never would have been permitted to return to the
United States if Soviet intelligence had not planned to use him in some
way against the United States.
_Commission finding._--There is no evidence that Oswald had any working
relationship with the Soviet Government or Soviet intelligence. The
Russians have permitted other American defectors to return to the
United States.[A12-83]
_Speculation._--Since the exit visa for Marina Oswald was granted so
promptly the Soviet authorities must have wanted Marina to accompany
her husband.
_Commission finding._--Marina Oswald’s exit visa application was not
acted upon with unusual rapidity. It took at least 5½ months from the
time the Oswalds applied until they were notified of permission in
December 1961. There have been many instances where visas were granted
more quickly to other Soviet wives of American citizens.[A12-84]
_Speculation._--Soviet authorities gave Oswald notice a month
and a half in advance that they had granted him an exit visa, an
unprecedented act for the Soviet Government.
_Commission finding_--The Oswalds were notified on December 25,
1961, that their requests for exit visas had been granted by Soviet
authorities. Marina Oswald picked up her visa, valid until December 1,
1962, on January 11, 1962, 17 days after receiving notice that it was
available. Oswald did not pick up his visa until May 22. The Soviets
did not give the Oswalds any advance notice; the visas could have been
picked up immediately had the Oswalds so desired. Because his exit visa
had a 45-day expiration time after date of issuance, Lee Oswald delayed
picking it up until he knew when he was leaving. He could not arrange
a departure date until he received permission from the Department of
State in May to return to the United States.[A12-85]
OSWALD’S TRIP TO MEXICO CITY
Oswald’s trip to Mexico City in late September and early October 1963,
less than 2 months before he assassinated President Kennedy, has
provoked speculation that it was related in some way to a conspiracy
to murder the President. Rumors include assertions that he made a
clandestine flight from Mexico to Cuba and back and that he received
a large sum of money--usually estimated at $5,000--which he brought
back to Dallas with him. The Commission has no credible evidence that
Oswald went to Mexico pursuant to a plan to assassinate President
Kennedy, that he received any instructions related to such an action
while there, or that he received large sums of money from any source in
Mexico.
_Speculation_--Oswald could not have received an American passport in
June 1963 within 24 hours without special intervention on his behalf.
_Commission finding_--Oswald’s passport application was processed
routinely by the Department of State. No person or agency intervened
specially on his behalf to speed the issuance of the passport. The
passports of 24 other persons, on the same list sent to Washington from
New Orleans, were authorized at the same time. The Passport Office of
the Department of State had no instructions to delay issuance of or to
deny a passport to Oswald.[A12-86]
_Speculation._--The Walter-McCarran Act specifically requires anyone
who has attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship to file an affidavit
stating why he should receive a U.S. passport. Therefore, Oswald should
have been required to file such an affidavit before receiving his
passport in June 1963.
_Commission finding._--The Internal Security Act of 1950
(Walter-McCarran Act) contains no reference to an affidavit
being required of a U.S. citizen who has attempted to expatriate
himself.[A12-87]
_Speculation._--Oswald did not have money for his trip to Mexico in
September 1963.
_Commission finding._--An analysis of Oswald’s finances by the
Commission indicates that he had sufficient money to make the trip
to and from Mexico City. There is no evidence that he received any
assistance in financing his trip to Mexico. The total cost of his 7-day
trip has been reliably estimated at less than $85.[A12-88]
_Speculation._--Oswald was accompanied on his trip to Mexico City by a
man and two women.
_Commission finding._--Investigation has revealed that Oswald traveled
alone on the bus. Fellow passengers on the bus between Houston and
Mexico City have stated that he appeared to be traveling alone and that
they had not previously known him.[A12-89]
_Speculation._--While in Mexico, Oswald made a clandestine flight to
Havana and back.
_Commission finding._--The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald
made any flight to Cuba while he was in Mexico. He never received
permission from the Cuban Government to enter Cuba nor from the Mexican
Government to leave Mexico bound for Cuba. A confidential check of the
Cuban airline in Mexico City indicates that Oswald never appeared at
its office there.[A12-90]
_Speculation._--Oswald came back from Mexico City with $5,000.
_Commission finding._--No evidence has ever been supplied or obtained
to support this allegation. Oswald’s actions in Mexico City and after
his return to Dallas lend no support to this speculation.[A12-91]
_Speculation._--On November 27, 1963, in a speech at the University of
Havana, Fidel Castro, under the influence of liquor, said “The first
time that Oswald was in Cuba * * *.” Castro therefore had knowledge
that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to Cuba.
_Commission finding._--Castro’s speeches are monitored directly by the
U.S. Information Agency as he delivers them. A tape of this speech
reveals that it did not contain the alleged slip of the tongue. Castro
did refer to Oswald’s visit to the “Cuban Embassy” in Mexico which he
immediately corrected to “Cuban consulate.” The Commission has found no
evidence that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to Cuba.[A12-92]
OSWALD AND U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Rumors and speculations that Oswald was in some way associated with
or used by agencies of the U.S. Government grew out of his Russian
period and his investigation by the FBI after his return to the United
States. Insinuations were made that Oswald had been a CIA agent or had
some relationship with the CIA and that this explained the supposed
ease with which he received passports and visas. Speculation that he
had some working relationship with the FBI was based on an entry in
Oswald’s notebook giving the name and telephone number of an agent from
the FBI office in Dallas. The Directors of the CIA and the FBI have
testified before the Commission that Oswald was never in the employ of
their agencies in any capacity. The Commission has concluded on the
basis of its own investigations of the files of Federal agencies that
Oswald was not and had never been an agent of any agency of the U.S.
Government (aside from his service in the Marines) and was not and had
never been used by any U.S. Government agency for any purpose. The FBI
was interested in him as a former defector and it maintained a file on
him.
_Speculation._--Oswald was an informant of either the FBI or the CIA.
He was recruited by an agency of the U.S. Government and sent to Russia
in 1959.
_Commission finding._--Mrs. Marguerite Oswald frequently expressed
the opinion that her son was such an agent, but she stated before
the Commission that “I cannot prove Lee is an agent.”[A12-93] The
Directors of the CIA and of the FBI testified before the Commission
that Oswald was never employed by either agency or used by either
agency in any capacity. Investigation by the Commission has revealed no
evidence that Oswald was ever employed by either the FBI or CIA in any
capacity.[A12-94]
_Speculation._--Oswald told Pauline Bates, a public stenographer in
Fort Worth, Tex., in June 1962, that he had become a “secret agent”
of the U.S. Government and that he was soon going back to Russia “for
Washington.”
_Commission-finding._--Miss Bates denied a newspaper story reporting
that Oswald had told her that he was working for the U.S. Department of
State. She stated that she had assumed incorrectly that he was working
with the Department of State when he told her that the State Department
had told him in 1959 that he would be on his own while in the Soviet
Union.[A12-95]
_Speculation._--The FBI tried to recruit Oswald. An FBI agent’s name,
telephone number, and automobile license number were found among
Oswald’s papers.
_Commission finding._--FBI officials have testified that they had never
tried to recruit Oswald to act on behalf of the FBI in any capacity.
The Commission’s investigation corroborates this testimony. An FBI
agent, James P. Hosty, Jr., had given his name and telephone number to
Mrs. Ruth Paine so that she could call and give him Oswald’s address in
Dallas when she learned it. Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald have stated
that Mrs. Paine gave Oswald a slip of paper with the agent’s name and
telephone number on it. Marina Oswald had taken down the license number
of Hosty’s car on one of his visits and given it to her husband.[A12-96]
_Speculation._--Dallas police must have known where Oswald was living
in the city because Mrs. Paine had given the address of Oswald’s room
on North Beckley Avenue to the FBI some time before the assassination.
_Commission-finding._--Mrs. Paine had never given the address of
Oswald’s roominghouse to the FBI, nor had she known the address prior
to the assassination. Therefore, the Dallas police could not have
learned the address from the FBI which did not know the address before
the assassination. The Dallas Police did not know that Oswald was in
the city before the assassination.[A12-97]
_Speculation._--It has been FBI policy for 20 years to inform employers
of Communists or suspected Communists employed by them. It is a
mystery, therefore, how Oswald retained his job at the Texas School
Book Depository.
_Commission finding._--The FBI advised the Commission that it has
never been its policy to inform employers that they have Communists
or suspected Communists working for them and that the FBI does
not disseminate internal security information to anyone outside
the executive branch of the U.S. Government. FBI agents had no
contacts with Texas School Book Depository officials until after the
assassination.[A12-98]
_Speculation._--Municipal and Federal police had observed Oswald
closely for some time but had not regarded him as a potential killer.
_Commission finding._--The Dallas police had not been aware of Oswald’s
presence in the city before the assassination. The FBI knew that Oswald
was in Dallas from an interview with Mrs. Paine, but no FBI agents
had interviewed him there before the assassination. The FBI had not
regarded him as a potential killer.[A12-99]
_Speculation._--The FBI probably knew that Oswald had the rifle before
the President’s murder because it was most unlikely that it could have
traced the ownership of the rifle within 1 day if it had not already
had information on the rifle.
_Commission finding._--The FBI successfully traced the purchase of the
rifle by Oswald within 24 hours of the assassination. It had had no
previous information about the rifle.[A12-100]
_Speculation._--The FBI interviewed Oswald 10 days before the
assassination.
_Commission finding._--The last FBI interview with Oswald, before the
assassination, took place in New Orleans in August 1963, when he asked
to see an FBI agent after his arrest by police for disturbing the
peace, the outcome of his distribution of Fair Play for Cuba handbills.
Neither Special Agent Hosty nor any other FBI agent saw or talked with
Oswald between his return to Dallas, on October 3, and November 22.
Hosty did interview Mrs. Paine at her home about Oswald on November 1
and 5, 1963. He also saw Marina Oswald briefly on November 1 at Mrs.
Paine’s house, but he did not interview her.[A12-101].
CONSPIRATORIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Rumors concerning accomplices and plots linked Oswald and Ruby with
each other, or with others, including Patrolman J. D. Tippit, Gen.
Edwin A. Walker, and Bernard Weissman of the nonexistent American
Factfinding Committee, in a conspiratorial relationship. The Commission
made intensive inquiry into the backgrounds and relationships of Oswald
and Ruby to determine whether they knew each other or were involved in
a plot of any kind with each other or others. It was unable to find
any credible evidence to support the rumors linking Oswald and Ruby
directly or through others. The Commission concluded that they were not
involved in a conspiratorial relationship with each other or with any
third parties.
_Speculation._--Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and Patrolman J. D.
Tippit lived within a few blocks of each other.
_Commission finding._--Oswald’s room was 1.3 miles from Ruby’s
apartment and Tippit lived 7 miles away from Ruby. Tippit’s residence
was about 7 miles from Oswald’s room.[A12-102]
_Speculation._--Since Oswald did not have the money to repay the
$435.61 he had received from the Department of State to cover part of
the expenses of his return from Russia, he must have received help from
some other source. Ruby lent Oswald money to pay back the loan and lent
him small amounts of money thereafter.
_Commission finding._--The Commission has no credible evidence that
Oswald received any money from Ruby or anyone else to repay his
State Department loan, nor that he received small amounts of money
from Ruby at any time. An exhaustive analysis of Oswald’s income and
expenditures, made for the Commission by an Internal Revenue Service
expert, reveals that Oswald had sufficient funds to make the State
Department repayments from his earnings.[A12-103]
_Speculation._--Just before Oswald was shot by Ruby, he looked directly
at Ruby in apparent recognition of him.
_Commission finding._--The Commission has been unable to establish as a
fact any kind of relationship between Ruby and Oswald other than that
Oswald was Ruby’s victim. The Commission has examined television tapes
and motion picture films of the shooting and has been unable to discern
any facial expression that could be interpreted to signify recognition
of Ruby or anyone else in the basement of the building.[A12-104]
_Speculation._--The Dallas police suspected Oswald and Ruby of being
involved in an attack on General Walker and planned to arrest the two
when the FBI intervened, at the request of Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy, and asked the police not to do so for reasons of state.
_Commission finding._--This allegation appeared in the November 29,
1963, issue (actually printed on November 25 or 26) of a German weekly
newspaper, Deutsche National Zeiting und Soldaten Zeitung, published
in Munich. The allegation later appeared in the National Enquirer
of May 17, 1964. The Commission has been reliably informed that the
statement was fabricated by an editor of the newspaper. No evidence
in support of this statement has ever been advanced or uncovered. In
their investigation of the attack on General Walker, the Dallas police
uncovered no suspects and planned no arrests. The FBI had no knowledge
that Oswald was responsible for the attack until Marina Oswald revealed
the information on December 3, 1963.[A12-105]
_Speculation._--Ruby and Oswald were seen together at the Carousel Club.
_Commission finding._--All assertions that Oswald was seen in the
company of Ruby or of anyone else at the Carousel Club have been
investigated. None of them merits any credence.[A12-106]
_Speculation._--Oswald and General Walker were probably acquainted
with each other since Oswald’s notebook contained Walker’s name and
telephone number.
_Commission finding._--Although Oswald’s notebook contained Walker’s
name and telephone number there was no evidence that the two knew each
other. It is probable that this information was inserted at the time
that Oswald was planning his attack on Walker. General Walker stated
that he did not know of Oswald before the assassination.[A12-107]
_Speculation._--Patrolman J.D. Tippit, Bernard Weissman, and Jack Ruby
met by prearrangement on November 14, 1963, at the Carousel Club.
_Commission finding._--Investigation has revealed no evidence to
support this assertion. Nor is there credible evidence that any of the
three men knew each other.[A12-108]
_Speculation._--Ruby’s sister, Mrs. Eva Grant, said that Ruby and
Tippit were “like two brothers.”
_Commission finding._--Mrs. Grant has denied ever making this statement
or any statement like it, saying it was untrue and without foundation.
Ruby was acquainted with another Dallas policeman named Tippit, but
this was G.M. Tippit of the special services bureau of the department,
not the Tippit who was killed.[A12-109]
_Speculation._--Jack Ruby was one of the most notorious of Dallas
gangsters.
_Commission finding._--There is no credible evidence that Jack Ruby was
active in the criminal underworld. Investigation disclosed no one in
either Chicago or Dallas who had any knowledge that Ruby was associated
with organized criminal activity.[A12-110]
_Speculation._--The shooting in Dallas on January 23, 1964, of Warren
A. Reynolds, who witnessed the flight of Patrolman Tippit’s slayer
on November 22 and followed him for a short distance, may have been
connected in some way with the assassination of President Kennedy and
the slaying of Patrolman Tippit. A man arrested for the attempt on
Reynolds, Darrell Wayne Garner, was released as a result, in part, of
testimony by Betty (Nancy Jane Mooney) MacDonald, who had allegedly
worked at one time as a stripper at Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club.
_Commission finding._--This rumor, originally publicized by a
newspaper columnist on February 23, 1964, was apparently based on the
alleged connection between Betty MacDonald and the Carousel Club.
Investigation revealed no evidence that she had ever worked at the
Carousel Club. Employees of the club had no recollection that she
had ever worked there. Betty MacDonald was arrested and charged with
disturbing the peace on February 13, 1964. After being placed in a cell
at the Dallas city jail, she hanged herself. The Commission has found
no evidence that the shooting of Warren Reynolds was in any way related
to the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman
Tippit.[A12-111]
OTHER RUMORS AND SPECULATIONS
Many rumors and speculations difficult to place in the categories
treated above also required consideration or investigation by the
Commission. In some way or other, much of this miscellany was related
to theories of conspiracy involving Oswald. The rest pertained to
peripheral aspects that were of sufficient import to merit attention.
The Commission’s findings are set forth below.
_Speculation._--Oswald was responsible in some way for the death of
Marine Pvt. Martin D. Schrand.
_Commission finding._--This rumor was mentioned by at least one of
Oswald’s fellow Marines. Private Schrand was fatally wounded by a
discharge from a riot-type shotgun while he was on guard duty on
January 5, 1958, near the carrier pier, U.S. Naval Air Station, Cubi
Point, Republic of the Philippines. The official Marine investigation
in 1958 found that Schrand’s death was the result of an accidental
discharge of his gun and that no other person or persons were involved
in the incident. The rumor that Oswald was involved in Schrand’s death
in some way may have had its origin in two circumstances: (1) Oswald
was stationed at Cubi Point at the time of Schrand’s death; (2) on
October 27, 1957, while stationed in Japan, Oswald accidentally shot
himself in the left elbow with a .22 derringer that he owned. The
Commission has found no evidence that Oswald had any connection with
the fatal shooting of Private Schrand.[A12-112]
_Speculation._--The Texas School Book Depository is owned and operated
by the city of Dallas, and Oswald was therefore a municipal employee.
Accordingly, he could have secured his job at the Depository only if
someone in an official capacity vouched for him.
_Commission finding._--The Texas School Book Depository is a private
corporation unconnected with the city of Dallas. Oswald therefore was
not a municipal employee. He obtained his position at the Depository
with the assistance of Mrs. Ruth Paine, who learned of a possible
opening from a neighbor and arranged an interview for him with
Superintendent Roy S. Truly at the Depository.[A12-113]
_Speculation._--Prior to the assassination Dallas police searched other
buildings in the area of the Texas School Book Depository but not the
School Book Depository itself.
_Commission finding._--The Dallas police and the Secret Service both
notified the Commission that, other than the Trade Mart, they had
searched no buildings along the route of the President’s motorcade or
elsewhere in Dallas in connection with the President’s visit. It was
not Secret Service practice to search buildings along the routes of
motorcades.[A12-114]
_Speculation._--Sheriff E. J. Decker of Dallas County came on the
police radio at 12:25 p.m. with orders to calm trouble at the Texas
School Book Depository.
Commission finding.--The final edition of the Dallas Times-Herald
of November 22 (p. 1, col. 1) reported that “Sheriff Decker came on
the air at 12:25 p.m.” and stated: “‘I don’t know what’s happened.
Take every available man from the jail and the office and go to the
railroad yards off Elm near the triple underpass.’” The article in the
Times-Herald did not mention the time that the President was shot. The
radio log of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office shows that Sheriff
Decker came on the air at 40 seconds after 12:30 p.m. and stated:
“Stand by me. All units and officers vicinity of station report to the
railroad track area, just north of Elm--Report to the railroad track
area, just north of Elm.” The radio log does not show any messages
by Sheriff Decker between 12:20 p.m. and 40 seconds after 12:30
p.m.[A12-115]
_Speculation._--Police precautions in Dallas on November 22 included
surveillance of many people, among them some who did no more than speak
in favor of school integration.
_Commission finding._--The Dallas Police Department notified the
Commission that on November 22 it had no one under surveillance as
a precaution in connection with President Kennedy’s visit except at
the Trade Mart. The Commission received no evidence that the Dallas
police had under surveillance people who spoke in favor of school
integration.[A12-116]
_Speculation._--Oswald was seen at shooting ranges in the Dallas area
practicing firing with a rifle.
_Commission finding._--Marina Oswald stated that on one occasion in
March or April 1963, her husband told her that he was going to practice
firing with the rifle. Witnesses have testified that they saw Oswald
at shooting ranges in the Dallas area during October and November
1963. Investigation has failed to confirm that the man seen by these
witnesses was Oswald.[A12-117]
_Speculation._--Oswald could drive a car and was seen in cars at
various places.
_Commission-finding._--Oswald did not have a driver’s license.
Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine have testified that he could not drive
a car, and there is no confirmed evidence to establish his presence
at any location as the driver of a car. Mrs. Paine did give Oswald
some driving lessons and he did drive short distances on these
occasions.[A12-118]
_Speculation._--Oswald received money by Western Union telegraph from
time to time for several months before the assassination of President
Kennedy.
_Commission finding._--An employee in the Western Union main office in
Dallas, C. A. Hamblen, made statements that he remembered seeing Oswald
there on some occasions collecting money that had been telegraphed to
him. In his testimony before the Commission, Hamblen was unable to
state whether or not the person he had seen was Lee Harvey Oswald.
Western Union officials searched their records in Dallas and other
cities for the period from June through November 1963 but found no
money orders payable to Lee Oswald or to any of his known aliases. A
Western Union official concluded that the allegation was “a figment
of Mr. Hamblen’s imagination.”[A12-119] The Commission has found no
evidence to contradict this conclusion.[A12-120]
_Speculation._--On his way back from Mexico City in October 1963,
Oswald stopped in Alice, Tex., to apply for a job at the local radio
station.
_Commission finding._--This rumor apparently originated with the
manager of radio station KOPY, Alice, who stated that Oswald visited
his office on the afternoon of October 4 for about 25 minutes.
According to the manager, Oswald was driving a battered 1953 model car
and had his wife and a small child in the car with him. Oswald traveled
from Mexico City to Dallas by bus, arriving in Dallas on the afternoon
of October 3. The bus did not pass through Alice. On October 4, Oswald
applied for two jobs in Dallas and then spent the afternoon and night
with his wife and child at the Paine residence in Irving. Investigation
has revealed that Oswald did not own a car and there is no convincing
evidence that he could drive a car. Accordingly, Oswald could not have
been in Alice on October 4. There is no evidence that he stopped in
Alice to look for a job on any occasion.[A12-121]
_Speculation._--Oswald or accomplices had made arrangements for his
getaway by airplane from an airfield in the Dallas area.
_Commission finding._--Investigation of such claims revealed that
they had not the slightest substance. The Commission found no
evidence that Oswald had any prearranged plan for escape after the
assassination.[A12-122]
_Speculation._--One hundred and fifty dollars was found in the dresser
of Oswald’s room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue after the assassination.
_Commission finding._--No money was found in Oswald’s room after the
assassination. Oswald left $170 in the room occupied by his wife at the
Paine residence in Irving. At the time of his arrest Oswald had $13.87
on his person.[A12-123]
_Speculation._--After Oswald’s arrest, the police found in his room
seven metal file boxes filled with the names of Castro sympathizers.
_Commission finding._--The Dallas police inventories of Oswald’s
property taken from his room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue do not
include any file boxes. A number of small file boxes listed in the
inventory as having been taken from the Paine residence in Irving
contained letters, pictures, books and literature, most of which
belonged to Ruth Paine, not to Oswald. No lists of names of Castro
sympathizers were found among these effects.[A12-124]
_Speculation._--Oswald’s letters vary so greatly in quality (spelling,
grammar, sentence structure) that he must have had help in preparing
the better constructed letters or someone else wrote them for him.
_Commission finding._--There is no evidence that anyone in the United
States helped Oswald with his better written letters or that anyone
else wrote his letters for him. His wife stated that he would write
many drafts of his more important letters. His mother indicated that
he would work hard over the drafts of some of his letters. It is clear
that he did take greater pains with some of his letters than with
others and that the contrasts in quality were accordingly substantial.
It is also clear that even his better written letters contained
some distinctive elements of spelling, grammar, and punctuation
that were common to his poorer efforts. Oswald wrote in his diary
that he received help from his Intourist Guide, Rima Shirokova, in
the preparation of his letter of October 16, 1959, to the Supreme
Soviet.[A12-125]
_Speculation._--A Negro janitor who was a witness to the shooting and
was supposed to be able to identify Oswald as the killer was held in
protective custody by the Dallas police until he could appear before
the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
_Commission finding._--Investigation revealed that this story had no
foundation in fact. No such witness was kept in protective custody by
the Dallas police for appearance before the Commission. The story had
its origin in a newspaper account based on hearsay.[A12-126]
_Speculation._--The Secret Service incarcerated Marina Oswald
immediately after the assassination.
_Commission finding._--Marina Oswald was given protection by the Secret
Service for a period of time after the assassination. She had freedom
to communicate with others at anytime she desired, to go where she
pleased, or to terminate the protection at any time.[A12-127]
_Speculation._--Mrs. Marguerite Oswald was shown a photograph of Jack
Ruby by an FBI agent the night before Ruby killed her son.
_Commission finding._--On the night of November 23, 1963, Special Agent
Bardwell D. Odum of the FBI showed Mrs. Marguerite Oswald a picture
of a man to determine whether the man was known to her. Mrs. Oswald
stated subsequently that the picture was of Jack Ruby. The Commission
has examined a copy of the photograph and determined that it was not a
picture of Jack Ruby.[A12-128]
_Speculation._--The son of the only witness to the Tippit slaying was
arrested after talking to some private investigators and soon plunged
to his death from an unbarred jail window.
_Commission finding._--According to Mrs. Helen Markham, one of the
witnesses to the Tippit slaying, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald and two men
who claimed to be reporters from Philadelphia sought to interview her
on June 27, 1964. Mrs. Markham did not wish to be interviewed and put
them off. Afterward, Mrs. Markham’s son, William Edward Markham, talked
with Mrs. Oswald and the men about the Oswald matter and the shooting
of Patrolman Tippit. William Edward Markham had been in Norfolk, Va.,
at the time of the assassination and had not returned to Dallas until
May 7, 1964. He had no personal knowledge of the shooting of Patrolman
Tippit. On June 30, 1964, another of Mrs. Markham’s sons, James Alfred
Markham, was arrested at Mrs. Markham’s apartment by Dallas Police on a
charge of burglary. While trying to escape, he fell from the bathroom
of the apartment to a concrete driveway about 20 feet below. He was
taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, treated for injuries, and after 6½
hours was taken to jail. As of July 31, 1964, he was in Dallas County
Jail awaiting trial. There was also a warrant outstanding against him
for parole violation.[A12-129]
_Speculation._--The headquarters detachment of the U.S. Army, under
orders from [Secretary of Defense Robert S.] McNamara’s office, began
to rehearse for the funeral more than a week before the assassination.
_Commission finding._--This assertion is based on an interview with
U.S. Army Capt. Richard C. Cloy that appeared in the Jackson, Miss.,
Clarion-Ledger of February 21, 1964. The newspaper quotes Captain Cloy,
who was a member of the Army unit charged with conducting funeral
ceremonials in honor of deceased Chiefs of State, as having said that,
“we were in a state of readiness and had just finished a funeral
rehearsal because there was grave concern for President Hoover’s
health. But we never expected that our practice was preparing us for
President Kennedy.”[A12-130]
_Speculation._--The ship in which Oswald went to Europe in 1959 stopped
in Havana on the way.
_Commission finding._--Oswald boarded the SS _Marion Lykes_ in New
Orleans and it sailed on September 20, 1959. It docked in Le Havre,
France, on October 8 with only one previous stop--at another French
port, La Pallice.[A12-131]
APPENDIX XIII
Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald
EARLY YEARS
Marguerite Claverie, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, was born in
New Orleans in 1907,[A13-1] into a family of French and German
extraction.[A13-2] Her mother died a few years after Marguerite was
born, leaving her and five other young children in the care of their
father, a streetcar conductor.[A13-3] Although Marguerite describes
herself as “a child of one parent,” she recalls being “one of the
most popular young ladies in the [grammar] school,” and thinks of her
childhood as a “very full happy” one.[A13-4] Her older sister, Mrs.
Lillian Murret, remembers Marguerite as “a very pretty child, a very
beautiful girl,”[A13-5] as does a former acquaintance, Clem H. Sehrt,
who knew the Claveries.[A13-6] The family was poor but, according to
Mrs. Murret, was a “happy family * * * singing all the time.”[A13-7]
Marguerite had 1 year of high school.[A13-8] Shortly before she was 17,
she went to work as a receptionist for a law firm in New Orleans.[A13-9]
In August 1929, while she was still working at the law firm, Marguerite
married Edward John Pic, Jr.,[A13-10] a quiet man of her own age,
who worked as a clerk for T. Smith & Son, a New Orleans stevedoring
company.[A13-11] The marriage was not a success, and by the summer of
1931 she and Pic were separated.[A13-12] Marguerite was then 3 months
pregnant; she told her family that Pic did not want any children and
refused to support her.[A13-13] Pic ascribed the separation simply
to their inability to get along together.[A13-14] A boy was born on
January 17, 1932, whom Marguerite named John Edward Pic.[A13-15] Pic
saw his son occasionally until he was about 1 year old; after that, he
did not see the boy again[A13-16] but contributed to his support until
he was 18 years old.[A13-17]
During her separation from her first husband, Marguerite saw a
great deal of Robert Edward Lee Oswald, an insurance premium
collector,[A13-18] who also was married but was separated from his
wife.[A13-19] In 1933, Marguerite was divorced from Pic[A13-20] and,
Oswald’s wife also having obtained a divorce,[A13-21] they were married
in a Lutheran church on July 20.[A13-22] Marguerite has described
the period of her marriage to Oswald as “the only happy part” of her
life.[A13-23] A son was born on April 7, 1934, who was named for
his father;[A13-24] Oswald wanted to adopt John Pic, but his mother
objected on the ground that John’s father might cut off the support
payments.[A13-25] In 1938, the Oswalds purchased a new house on Alvar
Street for $3,900,[A13-26] in what John remembered as “a rather nice
neighborhood.”[A13-27] The house was across the street from the William
Frantz School,[A13-28] which first John and later both he and Robert,
Jr., attended.[A13-29] On August 19, 1939, little more than a year
after the Oswalds bought the Alvar Street house, Robert Oswald died
suddenly of a heart attack.[A13-30]
Two months later, on October 18, 1939, a second son was born.[A13-31]
He was named Lee after his father; Harvey was his paternal
grandmother’s maiden name.[A13-32] For a while after her husband’s
death, Mrs. Oswald remained in the Alvar Street house without working;
she probably lived on life insurance proceeds.[A13-33] Sometime
in 1940, she rented the house to Dr. Bruno F. Mancuso, the doctor
who had delivered Lee.[A13-34] (Dr. Mancuso continued to rent the
house until 1944,[A13-35] when Marguerite obtained a judgment of
possession against him.[A13-36] She sold the house for $6,500 to
the First Homestead and Savings Association, which resold it to Dr.
Mancuso.)[A13-37] She herself moved to a rented house at 1242 Congress
Street, where she lived for about half a year.[A13-38] For part of
this period after Oswald’s death, the two older boys were placed in
the Infant Jesus College, a Catholic boarding school in Algiers,
La., a suburb of New Orleans.[A13-39] Neither they nor their mother
liked this arrangement,[A13-40] which John thought was intended to
save money;[A13-41] it lasted for less than a year, after which the
boys returned to the school Frantz and then transferred to the George
Washington Elementary School.[A13-42]
On March 5, 1941, Mrs. Oswald purchased a frame[A13-43] house at
1010 Bartholomew Street, for $1,300.[A13-44] According to John’s
recollection, the neighborhood was not as pleasant as Alvar
Street; the house had a backyard, and the family kept a dog named
“Sunshine.”[A13-45] A neighbor, Mrs. Viola Peterman, recalls that
Mrs. Oswald kept to herself but appeared to be “a good mother to her
children.”[A13-46] She opened a shop in the front room, where she sold
things like sewing supplies and small groceries.[A13-47] Oswald’s
Notion Shop, as it was called,[A13-48] failed to make money,[A13-49]
and on January 16, 1942, Mrs. Oswald sold the house back to the Third
District Home Association, from which she had purchased it, for a
profit of $800.[A13-50]
Probably in contemplation of the sale of the house, Mrs. Oswald
applied in December 1941 to the Evangelical Lutheran Bethlehem Orphan
Asylum Association for the admission of her two older sons to the
orphan asylum, known as the Bethlehem Children’s Home; she stated
on the application that she could contribute $20 per month to their
maintenance and would supply shoes and clothing.[A13-51] She had
inquired also about Lee, who was too young to be admitted.[A13-52]
John and Robert were accepted and entered the home on January 3,
1942.[A13-53]
Mrs. Oswald moved to an apartment at 831 Pauline Street,[A13-54] and
returned to work. In December 1942, she listed her occupation as
“telephone operator”;[A13-55] this may be the job she held at the
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., a company for which she worked at some
point during this period.[A13-56] She left Lee for much of this time
with his aunt, Mrs. Murret, who thought him a good looking, friendly
child, but could not devote a great deal of attention to him because
she had five children of her own.[A13-57] In the late spring of 1942,
Lee was watched for several weeks by Mrs. Thomas Roach, who lived with
her husband in the same house as the Oswalds.[A13-58] Lee evidently
did not get along with Mrs. Roach who told the next occupant of the
house that Lee was a bad, unmanageable child who threw his toy gun at
her.[A13-59] Apparently referring to the Roaches, Mrs. Oswald testified
that she had once hired a couple to care for Lee; the couple neglected
him, so she “put them out” and cared for Lee herself until Mrs. Murret
was able to help her again.[A13-60] Soon after the incident with the
Roaches, Mrs. Oswald moved again,[A13-61] this time to 111 Sherwood
Forest Drive, near the Murrets.[A13-62]
Mrs. Murret took care of Lee for several months longer. Near Lee’s
third birthday, Mrs. Oswald again inquired about his admission into the
Bethlehem Children’s Home,[A13-63] perhaps because a disagreement with
her sister made it impossible to leave him with her any longer.[A13-64]
He was admitted on December 26.[A13-65] On his application, Mrs. Oswald
agreed to contribute $10 per month and to supply shoes and clothing, as
for the other boys.[A13-66]
Lee remained in the home for about 13 months, but according to John’s
testimony, left on several occasions to spend short periods of time
with his mother or the Murrets.[A13-67] John and Robert have pleasant
memories of the home,[A13-68] which apparently gave the children a good
deal of freedom.[A13-69] Robert described it as nondenominational but
having “a Christian atmosphere”; “it might have been just a Protestant
home.”[A13-70] Mrs. Oswald visited them regularly,[A13-71] and they
occasionally left the home to visit her or the Murrets.[A13-72]
In July 1943, Mrs. Oswald was hired to manage a small hosiery
store.[A13-73] This is probably the store to which she referred in her
testimony as the “Princess Hosiery Shop on Canal Street,” at which, she
testified, she was left by herself and “in 6 days’ time * * * hired
four girls.”[A13-74] Her employer remembers her as a neat, attractive,
and hardworking woman, an aggressive person who would make a good
manager.[A13-75] She was not good with figures, however, and after
several months he discharged her.[A13-76] At about this same time, she
met Edwin A. Ekdahl, an electrical engineer older than herself, who was
originally from Boston but was then working in the area.[A13-77] They
saw each other often. Ekdahl met the boys[A13-78] and, according to
John’s testimony, on at least one occasion, they all spent a weekend at
a summer resort area in Covington, La.[A13-79]
By January 1944, Mrs. Oswald and Ekdahl had decided to marry.[A13-80]
She withdrew Lee from the Children’s Home[A13-81] and moved with him
to Dallas, where Ekdahl expected to be located.[A13-82] They planned
to postpone the marriage until the end of the school year so that
the older boys could complete the year at the home before they left
it.[A13-83] In the meantime, she would care for Ekdahl,[A13-84] who was
recovering from a serious illness, probably a heart attack.[A13-85]
Mrs. Oswald has testified that when she arrived in Dallas, she decided
that she did not want to marry Ekdahl after all.[A13-86] Using part
of the proceeds from the sale of the Alvar Street house,[A13-87] she
purchased a house at 4801 Victor Street,[A13-88] a portion of which she
rented.[A13-89] In June, John and Robert left the Children’s Home and
joined their mother in Dallas.[A13-90] They entered the nearby Davy
Crockett Elementary School the following September.[A13-91]
Ekdahl visited Mrs. Oswald on weekends and stayed at Victor
Street.[A13-92] By the following year she had resolved her doubts about
marrying him, influenced in part by his substantial income[A13-93]
and perhaps by the visit some time earlier of his sister, who favored
the marriage because of his ill health.[A13-94] Explaining that she
expected to travel a great deal, Mrs. Oswald tried unsuccessfully to
return the older boys to the home in February 1945.[A13-95] She and
Ekdahl were married in May.[A13-96] After a brief honeymoon, they
returned to Victor Street.[A13-97]
Ekdahl got along well with the boys, on whom he lavished much
attention.[A13-98] John testified that Ekdahl treated them as if they
were his own children and that Lee seemed to find in Ekdahl “the father
he never had”; John recalled that on one occasion he told Lee that
Ekdahl and his mother had become reconciled after a separation, and
that “this seemed to really elate Lee, this made him really happy that
they were getting back together.”[A13-99]
Because Ekdahl’s business required him to make frequent trips, in
September, John and Robert were placed in the Chamberlain-Hunt
Military Academy at Port Gibson, Miss.;[A13-100] their mother paid the
tuition herself, using the proceeds from the sale of the Alvar Street
property.[A13-101] They remained at the academy for the next 3 years,
returning home only for vacations.[A13-102] Lee accompanied his parents
on their travels.[A13-103] Mrs. Myrtle Evans, who had known both
Marguerite and Ekdahl before their marriage,[A13-104] testified that
Marguerite insisted on keeping Lee with her; Mrs. Evans thought that
Marguerite was “too close” to Lee and “spoiled him to death,” which
hurt her marriage to Ekdahl.[A13-105]
Sometime in the fall after John and Robert were at boarding school,
the Ekdahls moved to Benbrook, a suburb of Fort Worth, where they
lived on Granbury Road,[A13-106] in a house of stone or brick, set on
a large plot of land.[A13-107] Records of the Benbrook Common School
show Lee’s admission into the first grade on October 31; his birth date
is incorrectly given as July 9, 1939, his mother presumably having
given that date to satisfy the age requirement.[A13-108] On February
8, 1946, he was admitted to the Harris Hospital in Fort Worth with
“acute mastoiditis.”[A13-109] A mastoidectomy was performed without
complications, and Lee left the hospital in 4 days.[A13-110] (In 1955,
Lee indicated on a school form that he had an “abnormal ear drum in
left ear,”[A13-111] presumably a reference to the mastoidectomy;
but when he entered the Marines 1 year later, physical examination
disclosed no physical defects.)[A13-112]
The Ekdahls’ marriage quickly broke down. Before they had been married
a year, Marguerite suspected Ekdahl of infidelity.[A13-113] She
thought him stingy,[A13-114] and there were frequent arguments about
his insistence that she account for her expenditures and his refusal
to share his money with her.[A13-115] In the summer of 1946, she left
Ekdahl, picked up John and Robert at Chamberlain-Hunt, and moved with
the boys to Covington, La.,[A13-116] where they lived for at least part
of the time at 311 Vermont Street. [A13-117] Mrs. Evans described them
at Covington, possibly during this summer, as “really a happy family”;
Lee seemed like a normal boy but “kept to himself” and seemed not “to
want to be with any other children.”[A13-118] The separation continued
after the two boys returned to boarding school, and in September Lee
was enrolled in the Covington Elementary School.[A13-119] His record at
Benbrook had been satisfactory--he was present on 82 school days and
absent on 15, and received all A’s and B’s[A13-120]--but he had not
completed the work of the first grade, in which he was enrolled for a
second time.[A13-121]
Lee received no grades at the Covington School, from which he was
withdrawn on January 23, 1947,[A13-122] because his parents, now
reconciled, were moving to Fort Worth, where they lived at 1505 Eighth
Avenue.[A13-123] Four days later, he enrolled in the Clayton Public
School; he was still in the first grade, which he completed in May with
B’s in every subject except physical education and health, in which
he received A’s.[A13-124] In the fall, he entered the second grade in
the same school but, relations between his parents having deteriorated
again, was withdrawn before any grades were recorded.[A13-125]
After the move to Fort Worth, the Ekdahls continued to argue
frequently; according to John, “they would have a fight about every
other day and he would leave and come back.”[A13-126] That summer,
Marguerite obtained what she regarded as proof that Ekdahl was having
some sort of affair. According to her testimony, a neighbor told
her that Ekdahl had been living on Eighth Avenue with another woman
while she was in Covington.[A13-127] Then, at a time when Ekdahl was
supposed to be out of town,[A13-128] she went with John and several of
his friends to an apartment in Fort Worth; one of the boys posed as a
telegram carrier, and when the door opened she pushed her way into the
apartment and found Ekdahl in his shirt sleeves in the company of a
woman in a negligee.[A13-129]
Despite this apparent confirmation of her suspicions, Marguerite
continued to live with Ekdahl until January 1948.[A13-130] In
January, according to Ekdahl’s allegations in the subsequent divorce
proceedings, she “directed * * * [him] to leave the home immediately
and never to return,” which he did.[A13-131] Ekdahl filed suit for
divorce in March.[A13-132] The complaint alleged that Marguerite
constantly nagged Ekdahl and argued “with reference to money matters,”
accused him of infidelity, threw things at him, and finally ordered him
out of the house; that these acts were unprovoked by Ekdahl’s conduct
toward her; that her acts endangered his already impaired health; and
that her “excesses, harsh and cruel treatment and outrages” toward him
made it impossible for them to live together.[A13-133] She denied all
these allegations.[A13-134] After a trial, at which John testified
and, he thought, Lee was called to the stand but was excused without
testifying,[A13-135] the jury found on special issues that Marguerite
was “guilty of excesses, cruel treatment, or outrages” unprovoked by
Ekdahl’s conduct.[A13-136] On June 24, the court granted the divorce
and approved an agreement between the parties disposing of their
property between them and awarding Marguerite $1,500; at her request,
the divorce restored to Marguerite her former name, Marguerite C.
Oswald.[A13-137]
While the divorce suit was pending, Marguerite moved from Eighth Avenue
to a house on 3300 Willing Street, next to railroad tracks.[A13-138]
The boys found her there in May when they returned from the military
academy; for John, the move signified that they “were back down in the
lower class again.”[A13-139] Lee’s withdrawal from the Clayton School
on March 18, 1948,[A13-140] probably coincided with the move to Willing
Street. He entered the Clark Elementary School on the following day,
and in June completed the second grade with a record mostly of B’s
and A’s.[A13-141] Philip Vinson, a classmate at the Clayton School,
has described Lee at that time as “a quiet type of kid,” who “didn’t
make a lot of noise.”[A13-142] Lee was “stocky and well built,” which
made other boys look up to him and regard him as the leader of one of
their schoolyard “gangs.”[A13-143] Vinson thought that Lee was not a
bully and got along with his classmates, but had the impression that he
rarely played with them or brought them home after school.[A13-144]
Shortly after the divorce, Mrs. Oswald purchased a small house in
Benbrook, on what is now San Saba Street;[A13-145] John has testified
that it had a single bedroom, in which Lee slept with his mother, and
a screened porch where John and Robert slept.[A13-146] Mrs. Oswald
worked at a department store in Fort Worth, and left the three boys
home alone.[A13-147] A neighbor, Mrs. W. H. Bell, has stated that Lee
seemed to enjoy being by himself and to resent discipline;[A13-148]
another neighbor, Otis R. Carlton, stated that he once saw Lee chase
John with a knife and throw it at him, an incident which, Carlton said,
their mother passed off as a “little scuffle.”[A13-149] At the end of
the summer, Carlton purchased the property. He stated that he appraised
it at $2,750 at Mrs. Oswald’s request; she then insisted that he had
made an offer to purchase at that price, which he finally agreed to
do.[A13-150]
After the house was sold, the family returned to Fort Worth, a move
necessitated by Mrs. Oswald’s, and now John’s, employment.[A13-151]
Mrs. Oswald bought a two-bedroom, frame house at 7408 Ewing, from which
Robert and Lee could walk to school.[A13-152] John, who was then 16,
obtained a job as a shoe stockboy at Everybody’s Department Store; he
testified that he wanted to finish high school at the military academy,
but that his mother advised him to leave school and help to support
the family.[A13-153] He gave her $15 per week out of his salary of
$25.[A13-154] Robert returned to school.[A13-155]
Lee entered the third grade at the Arlington Heights Elementary
School.[A13-156] He remained at Arlington Heights for the entire
school year, completing the third grade with a satisfactory record,
which included A’s in social studies, citizenship, elementary science,
art, and music, and a D in spelling.[A13-157] In September 1949, he
transferred to the Ridglea West Elementary School, where he remained
for the next 3 years.[A13-158] Lee’s record at Ridglea is not
remarkable in any respect. In the fourth and fifth grades, he received
mostly B’s; in the sixth grade, B’s and C’s predominate.[A13-159]
He received D’s in both the fifth and sixth grades in spelling and
arithmetic; in the fourth and sixth grades, C’s are recorded for
Spanish,[A13-160] which may account for his rudimentary familiarity
with that language later on.[A13-161] In the fourth grade his IQ was
recorded at 103; on achievement tests in each of the 3 years, he twice
did best in reading and twice did worst in spelling.[A13-162]
Lee is generally characterized as an unexceptional but rather
solitary boy during these years. His mother worked in a variety of
jobs,[A13-163] and, according to her own testimony, told Lee not to
contact her at work except in an emergency.[A13-164] He ordinarily
returned home alone directly after school, in obedience to his
mother’s instructions.[A13-165] A fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Clyde I.
Livingston, described him as a lonely boy, quiet and shy, who did not
easily form friendships with other students.[A13-166] But Richard W.
Garrett has stated that he was a classmate of Lee in the fourth or
fifth grade and found him easy to get along with; he recalled playing
with Lee often at school and sometimes walking home together with
him.[A13-167] Mrs. Livingston recalled that at Christmas 1949, Lee gave
her a puppy and afterward came to her home to see the puppy and talk to
her and her family.[A13-168]
Lee’s relationship with his brothers was good but limited by the
difference in their ages.[A13-169] He still had a dog,[A13-170] but
there were few children of his age in the neighborhood, and he appears
to have been by himself after school most of the time.[A13-171] He read
a lot,[A13-172] had a stamp collection, and played chess and Monopoly
with his brothers.[A13-173] Mrs. Murret remembered that on a visit to
her home in New Orleans, Lee refused to play with other children or
even to leave the house; he preferred to stay indoors and read (mostly
“funnybooks”) or listen to the radio.[A13-174] After several weeks
with the Murrets, Lee wrote to his mother and asked her to come for
him.[A13-175] Hiram Conway, a neighbor on Ewing Street, thought Lee
was an intelligent child, who picked things up easily; although he did
not recall many specific incidents to support his impressions, Conway
regarded Lee as “a bad kid,” who was “quick to anger” and “mean when
he was angry, just ornery.”[A13-176] John’s general picture of Lee in
these years is that of “a normal healthy robust boy who would get in
fights and still have his serious moments.”[A13-177]
John returned to high school in January 1949, but continued to work
part time.[A13-178] Early in 1950, he entered the Coast Guard.[A13-179]
Robert left school soon after John’s departure and went to work
full time, contributing most of his earnings to the support of
his family.[A13-180] He returned to school in 1951-52, and after
completing his junior year in high school, joined the Marines in July
1952.[A13-181] In August, Mrs. Oswald and Lee moved to New York, where
John was living with his wife and a very young baby in an apartment at
325 East 92d Street; the apartment belonged to John’s mother-in-law,
who was temporarily away.[A13-182] Mrs. Oswald has explained that with
Robert gone she did not want Lee to be alone while she worked and that
she went to New York City “not as a venture,” but because she “had
family” there.[A13-183]
The visit began well. John testified of his meeting with Lee: “We met
in the street and I was real glad to see him and he was real glad to
see me. We were real good friends.”[A13-184] He took about a week of
leave and showed Lee the city; he remembered trips to the Museum of
Natural History and Polk’s Hobby Shop, and a ride on the Staten Island
ferry.[A13-185] But when it became obvious that his mother intended to
stay, the atmosphere changed. Mrs. Oswald did not get along with John’s
wife, with whom she quarreled frequently.[A13-186] There was difficulty
about her failure to contribute anything towards her own and Lee’s
support.[A13-187] According to John, his wife liked Lee and would have
been glad to have him alone stay with them but felt that his mother set
Lee against her; they never suggested that Lee remain with them since
they knew that it would not work out.[A13-188] The visit ended when Lee
threatened Mrs. Pic with a pocket knife during a quarrel,[A13-189] and
she asked Mrs. Oswald to leave.[A13-190] John testified that during
this same quarrel Lee hit his mother, who appeared to have lost all
control over him.[A13-191] The incident permanently destroyed the good
relationship between Lee and his brother.[A13-192]
Mrs. Oswald and Lee moved uptown to a one-room basement
apartment[A13-193] in the Bronx, at 1455 Sheridan Avenue.[A13-194]
While they were still at the Pics, he had been enrolled at the Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran School on Watson Avenue.[A13-195] He was withdrawn
on September 26, after several weeks of irregular attendance, and 4
days later enrolled in the seventh grade of Public School 117, a junior
high school.[A13-196] Mrs. Oswald found a job at one of the Lerner
Shops, a chain of dress shops for which she had worked briefly in Fort
Worth several years before.[A13-197] In January, they moved again, to
825 East 179th Street,[A13-198] and a few weeks later, she left the
employ of Lerner Shops.[A13-199] In April, she was working at Martin’s
Department Store in Brooklyn, where she earned $45 per week;[A13-200]
in May, she went to work for a chain of hosiery shops, with which she
remained until December.[A13-201] Lee was registered at Public School
117 until January 16, 1953,[A13-202] although the move to 179th Street,
which took him out of that school district, probably took place before
that date.[A13-203] He had been at Public School 117 for 64 schooldays,
out of which he had been present on 15 full and 2 half days;[A13-204]
he had received failing grades in most of his courses.[A13-205]
Lee’s truancy increased after he moved; he was now located in the
school district of Public School 44 but refused to go to school
there.[A13-206] On one occasion that spring, an attendance officer
located Lee at the Bronx Zoo; the officer testified that Lee was
clean and well dressed, but was surly and referred to the officer as
a “damned Yankee.”[A13-207] Several truancy hearings were held in
January, at the first of which at least, both Mrs. Oswald and Lee
evidently failed to appear.[A13-208] At a hearing on January 27, by
which time it was known that Lee was living in the Public School 44
district, it was decided to commence judicial proceedings if his
truancy continued.[A13-209] Meanwhile, on January 16, his mother called
the Community Service Society, to which she had been referred by the
Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and asked for an appointment
to discuss the problem.[A13-210] She mentioned that a truancy hearing
had been held and said that Lee would not attend school despite the
threat of official action; she thought that his behavior was due to
difficulty in adjusting to his new environment.[A13-211] An appointment
was scheduled for January 30, but she failed to appear, and the case
was closed.[A13-212] Sometime in February, the Pics visited the
Oswalds. John testified that his mother told him about Lee’s truancy
and asked how she could get Lee to accept psychiatric aid. Nothing came
of these discussions.[A13-213]
On March 12, the attendance officer in charge of Lee’s case filed a
petition in court which alleged that Lee had been “excessively absent
from school” between October and January, that he had refused to
register at Public School 44 or to attend school there, and that he
was “beyond the control of his mother insofar as school attendance is
concerned.”[A13-214] On the same day, Mrs. Oswald appeared in court
alone and informed the presiding judge that Lee refused to appear in
court.[A13-215] Evidently impressed by the proceedings, however, Lee
did register at Public School 44 on March 23.[A13-216] Nevertheless,
on April 16, Justice Delany declared him a truant, and remanded him to
Youth House until May 7 for psychiatric study.[A13-217]
In accordance with the regular procedures at Youth House, Lee took
a series of tests and was interviewed by a staff social worker
and a probation officer, both of whom interviewed Mrs. Oswald as
well.[A13-218] Their findings, discussed more fully in chapter VII of
the Commission’s report, indicated that Lee was a withdrawn, socially
maladjusted boy, whose mother did not interest herself sufficiently
in his welfare and had failed to establish a close relationship with
him.[A13-219] Mrs. Oswald visited Lee at Youth House and came away
with a highly unfavorable impression; she regarded it as unfit for
her son.[A13-220] On the basis of all the test results and reports
and his own interview with Lee, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, the chief staff
psychiatrist, recommended that Lee be placed on probation with a
requirement that he seek help from a child guidance clinic, and that
his mother be urged to contact a family agency for help; he recommended
that Lee not be placed in an institution unless treatment during
probation was unsuccessful.[A13-221]
Lee returned to court on May 7. He and his mother appeared before
Justice McClancy, who discussed the Youth House reports with
them.[A13-222] He released Lee on parole until September 24, and
requested that a referral be made to the Community Service Society for
treatment.[A13-223] The probation officer called the society on the
same day but was told that it would probably not be able to take the
case because of its already full case load and the intensive treatment
which Lee was likely to require;[A13-224] it confirmed this position 1
week later and closed the case on May 31.[A13-225] An application was
made to the Salvation Army also, which turned it down because it could
not provide the needed services.[A13-226]
During the few weeks of school which remained, Lee attended school
regularly, and completed the seventh grade with low but passing
marks in all his academic subjects.[A13-227] (He received a failing
mark in a home economics course.)[A13-228] His conduct was generally
satisfactory and he was rated outstanding in “Social-Participation”;
the record indicates that he belonged to a model airplane club and had
a special interest in horseback riding.[A13-229] Robert Oswald visited
New York that summer, while he was on leave from the Marines.[A13-230]
Lee did not appear to him to be unhappy or to be acting abnormally,
nor did Robert observe that relations between Lee and his mother were
strained.[A13-231] Lee’s truancy the previous fall and winter was
apparently discussed only in passing, when Mrs. Oswald mentioned that
Lee had had to appear before a judge.[A13-232]
On September 14, Lee entered the eighth grade at Public School
44.[A13-233] His parole was due to end 10 days later. On September
24, however, Mrs. Oswald telephoned the probation officer and advised
that she could not appear in court; she added that there was no need
for her to do so, since Lee was attending school regularly and was
now well adjusted.[A13-234] The parole was extended until October 29,
before which date the school was to submit a progress report.[A13-235]
The report was highly unfavorable. Although Lee was attending school
regularly, his conduct was unsatisfactory; teachers reported that he
refused to salute the flag, did little work, and seemed to spend most
of his time “sailing paper planes around the room.”[A13-236] On October
29, Mrs. Oswald again telephoned to say that she would be unable to
appear. Justice Sicher continued Lee’s parole until November 19 and
directed the probation officer to make a referral to the Berkshire
Industrial Farm or Children’s Village.[A13-237]
Before the next hearing, Mrs. Oswald discussed Lee’s behavior with the
school authorities, who indicated to the probation officer that Lee’s
behavior improved considerably after her visit to the school.[A13-238]
He did, in fact, receive passing grades in most of his subjects in
the first marking period. His report also contains notations by his
teachers that he was “quick-tempered,” “constantly losing control,”
and “getting into battles with others.”[A13-239] Both Lee and his
mother appeared in court on November 19. Despite Mrs. Oswald’s request
that Lee be discharged, Justice Sicher stated his belief that Lee
needed treatment, and continued his parole until January 28, 1954; the
probation officer was directed to contact the Big Brothers counseling
service in the meantime.[A13-240]
At the request of the probation officer, the Big Brothers office
contacted Mrs. Oswald in December, and on January 4 a caseworker
visited her and Lee at home.[A13-241] The caseworker reported that
he was cordially received but was told by Mrs. Oswald that continued
counseling was unnecessary; she pointed out to him that Lee now
belonged to the West Side YMCA, which he attended every Saturday. The
caseworker reported, however, that Lee was plainly “displeased with
the idea of being forced to join various ‘Y’ organizations about which
he cared little.” Mrs. Oswald declared her intention to return to
New Orleans and was advised to obtain Lee’s release from the court’s
jurisdiction before she left.[A13-242] On the following day, she called
the probation officer, who was away on vacation, and was advised by
his office again not to take Lee out of the jurisdiction without the
court’s consent.[A13-243] The same advice was repeated to her by the
Big Brothers caseworker on January 6. [A13-244] Through all these
contacts, Mrs. Oswald had evidenced reluctance to bring Lee into
court, prompted probably by fear that he would be retained in some
sort of custody as he had been at the time of the commitment to Youth
House.[A13-245] Without further communication to the court, Mrs. Oswald
and Lee returned to New Orleans sometime before January 10.[A13-246] On
March 11, the court dismissed the case.[A13-247]
In New Orleans, Lee and his mother stayed with the Murrets at 757
French Street while they looked for an apartment.[A13-248] Lee
enrolled in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High School on
January 13[A13-249] and completed the school year without apparent
difficulty.[A13-250] He entered the ninth grade in September and again
received mediocre but acceptable marks.[A13-251] In October 1954, Lee
took a series of achievement tests, on which he did well in reading
and vocabulary, badly in mathematics.[A13-252] At the end of the
school year, on June 2, 1955, he filled out a “personal history.” He
indicated that the subjects which he liked best were civics, science,
and mathematics; those he liked least were English and art. His
vocational preferences were listed as biology and mechanical drawing;
his plans after high school, however, were noted as “military service”
and “undecided.” He said that reading and outdoor sports were his
recreational activities and that he liked football in particular. In
response to the question whether he had “any close friends in this
school,” he wrote, “no.”[A13-253]
Lee is remembered by those who knew him in New Orleans as a quiet,
solitary boy who made few friends.[A13-254] He was briefly a member of
the Civil Air Patrol,[A13-255] and considered joining an organization
of high school students interested in astronomy;[A13-256] occasionally,
he played pool or darts with his friend, Edward Voebel.[A13-257] Beyond
this, he seems to have had few contacts with other people. He read
a lot, starting at some point to read Communist literature which he
found at the public library;[A13-258] he walked or rode a bicycle,
sometimes visiting a museum.[A13-259] Except in his relations with
his mother, he was not unusually argumentative or belligerent, but he
seems not to have avoided fights if they came; they did come fairly
frequently, perhaps in part because of his aloofness from his fellows
and the traces of a northern accent in his speech.[A13-260] His only
close friendship, with Voebel, arose when Voebel helped him tend his
wounds after a fight.[A13-261] Friends of Mrs. Oswald thought that he
was demanding and insolent toward her and that she had no control over
him.[A13-262]
While Lee was in the eighth and ninth grades, Mrs. Oswald worked
first at Burt’s Shoestore[A13-263] and then at the Dolly Shoe
Co.[A13-264] One of her employers at Dolly, where she worked as a
cashier and salesclerk, remembered her as a pleasant person and
a good worker.[A13-265] At her request, the company hired Lee to
work part time; he worked there, mostly on Saturdays, for about
10 weeks in 1955.[A13-266] On the “personal history” record which
he filled out in school, he stated that he had been a “retail
shoesalesman”;[A13-267] but his employer recalled that they had tried
to train him as a salesman without success and that he had in fact been
a stockboy.[A13-268]
After a short period with the Murrets, Mrs. Oswald and Lee had moved
to an apartment owned by Myrtle Evans at 1454 Saint Mary Street,
which she and Mrs. Murret helped to furnish; later they moved to a
less expensive apartment in the same building, the address of which
was 1452 Saint Mary Street.[A13-269] Relations between Mrs. Oswald
and Mrs. Evans became strained,[A13-270] and in the spring of 1955
the Oswalds moved to a new apartment at 126 Exchange Place in the
French Quarter.[A13-271] Although Lee gave the Exchange Place address
on a school form at the end of the ninth grade,[A13-272] the school
authorities had apparently not been advised of these moves earlier,
because Mrs. Oswald did not want Lee to be transferred from Beauregard,
which she considered a good school.[A13-273] During the summer of
1955, Robert left the Marine Corps and spent a week with his mother
and Lee in New Orleans before moving to Fort Worth; he found Lee
unchanged.[A13-274]
That fall, Lee entered the 10th grade at Warren Easton High
School.[A13-275] He had been there for about a month when he presented
to the school authorities a note written by himself to which he had
signed his mother’s name. It was dated October 7, 1955, and read:
To whom it may concern,
Becaus we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month
Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers
such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you.
Sincirely
Mrs. M. Oswald[A13-276]
He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his
16th birthday.[A13-277] After his birthday, he tried to enlist in
the Marines, using a false affidavit from his mother that he was
17.[A13-278] (Some years before, John Pic had joined the Marine
Corps Reserve by means of his mother’s false affidavit that he was
17.)[A13-279] The attempt failed, and, according to his mother’s
testimony, Lee spent the next year reading and memorizing the “Marine
Manual,” which he had obtained from Robert and “living to when he is
age 17 to join the Marines.”[A13-280] He worked for the rest of the
school year. Between November 10 and January 14, he was a messenger boy
for Gerald F. Tujague, Inc., a shipping company, where he earned $130
per month.[A13-281] His employer remembers him as a quiet, withdrawn
person.[A13-282] In January he worked briefly as an office boy for
J. R. Michels, Inc.[A13-283] For several months thereafter, he was a
messenger for the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory.[A13-284] His military
record subsequently described his prior civilian jobs as follows:
Performed various clerical duties such as distributing mail,
delivering messages & answering telephone. Helped file records
& operated ditto, letter opening & sealing machines.[A13-285]
Anticipating that Lee would join the Marines as soon as he was 17, Mrs.
Oswald moved in July 1956 to Fort Worth,[A13-286] where she took an
apartment at 4936 Collinswood for herself, Lee, and Robert.[A13-287] In
September, Lee enrolled in the 10th grade at the Arlington Heights High
School[A13-288] but attended classes for only a few weeks. He dropped
out of school on September 28.[A13-289] A few days later, he wrote the
following letter to the Socialist Party of America:
October 3, 1956
Dear Sirs;
I am sixteen years of age and would like more information about
your youth League, I would like to know if there is a branch
in my area, how to join, ect., I am a Marxist, and have been
studying socialist principles for well over fifteen months I am
very interested in your Y.P.S.L.
Sincerely
/s/ Lee Oswald[A13-290]
Accompanying the letter was an advertisement coupon, on which he
had checked the box requesting information about the Socialist
Party.[A13-291]
Lee became 17 on October 18. He enlisted in the Marines on October
24.[A13-292]
MARINES
On October 26, 1956, Lee Harvey Oswald reported for duty at the Marine
Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif., where he was assigned to
the Second Recruit Training Battalion.[A13-293] He was 68 inches
tall and weighed 135 pounds; he had no physical defects.[A13-294] On
October 30, he took a series of aptitude tests, on which he scored
significantly above the Marine Corps average in reading and vocabulary
and significantly below the average in tests in arithmetic and pattern
analysis. His composite general classification score was 105, 2 points
below the Corps average. He scored near the bottom of the lowest group
in a radio code test.[A13-295] His preference of duty was recorded as
Aircraft Maintenance and Repair, the duty assignment for which he was
recommended.[A13-296]
While he was at San Diego, Oswald was trained in the use of the M-1
rifle.[A13-297] His practice scores were not very good,[A13-298] but
when his company fired for record on December 21, he scored 212, 2
points above the score necessary to qualify as a “sharpshooter” on
a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale.[A13-299] He did not do nearly
as well when he fired for record again shortly before he left the
Marines.[A13-300] He practiced also with a riot gun and a .45-caliber
pistol when he was in the Marines but no scores were recorded.[A13-301]
Oswald was given a 4.4 rating in both “conduct” and “proficiency” at
the Recruit Depot, the highest possible rating being 5.0 and an average
rating of 4.0 being required for an honorable discharge.[A13-302] On
January 18, 1957, he reported to Camp Pendleton, Calif., for further
training and was assigned to “A” Company of the First Battalion, Second
Infantry Training Regiment.[A13-303] He was at Pendleton for a little
more than 5 weeks, at the end of which he was rated 4.2 in conduct
and 4.0 in proficiency.[A13-304] Allen R. Felde, a fellow recruit who
was with Oswald at San Diego and Pendleton, has stated that Oswald
was generally unpopular and that his company was avoided by the other
men.[A13-305] When his squad was given its first weekend leave from
Pendleton, all eight men took a cab to Tijuana, Mexico. Oswald left
the others and did not rejoin them until it was time to return to
camp. Felde said that this practice was repeated on other trips to Los
Angeles; Oswald accompanied the men on the bus to and from camp but did
not stay with them in the city.[A13-306] On February 27, he went on
leave for 2 weeks,[A13-307] during which he may have visited his mother
in Fort Worth.[A13-308]
On March 18, he reported to the Naval Air Technical Training Center
at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla.[A13-309] For the
next 6 weeks he attended an Aviation Fundamental School, in which
he received basic instruction in his specialty, including such
subjects as basic radar theory, map reading, and air traffic control
procedures.[A13-310] This course, as well as his next training
assignment at Keesler Air Force Base, required Oswald to deal with
confidential material.[A13-311] He was granted final clearance up
to the “confidential” level on May 3, “after [a] careful check
of local records had disclosed no derogatory data.”[A13-312] He
completed the course on the same day, ranking 46th in a class of
54 students.[A13-313] On the previous day, he had been promoted to
private, first class, effective May 1.[A13-314] At Jacksonville, he
received ratings of 4.7 in conduct and 4.5 in proficiency, the highest
ratings he ever attained.[A13-315]
Oswald left for Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., on the day
his course was completed;[A13-316] he traveled, probably by overnight
train, in a group of six marines led by Pfc. Daniel P. Powers, the
senior marine in charge.[A13-317] At Keesler, he attended the Aircraft
Control and Warning Operator Course, which included instruction in
aircraft surveillance and the use of radar.[A13-318] Powers was not
sure whether he had met Oswald before the trip to Biloxi[A13-319] but
remembers him there as “a somewhat younger individual, less matured
than the other boys,” who “was normally outside the particular group
of marines that were in this attachment to Keesler.”[A13-320] (Oswald
was in fact 3 years younger than Powers.)[A13-321] Powers testified
that Oswald had the nickname “Ozzie Rabbit.”[A13-322] Oswald generally
stayed to himself, often reading; he did not play cards or work out in
the gym with the others.[A13-323] He spent his weekends alone, away
from the base; Powers thought he left Biloxi and perhaps went “home”
to New Orleans, less than 100 miles away.[A13-324] He finished the
course seventh in a class of 30 marines on June 17,[A13-325] and on
June 25, was given an MOS (military occupational specialty) of Aviation
Electronics Operator.[A13-326] On June 20, he went on leave,[A13-327]
possibly visiting his mother.[A13-328] His ratings at Keesler were 4.2
in conduct and 4.5 in proficiency,[A13-329] which Powers thought was
“pretty good.”[A13-330]
On July 9, Oswald reported at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro,
Calif., near Santa Ana.[A13-331] He was classified as a replacement
trainee and attached to the Fourth Replacement Battalion.[A13-332] Six
weeks later, on August 22, he departed from San Diego for Yokosuka,
Japan, on board the U.S.S. _Bexar_.[A13-333] Powers testified that
while on board, Oswald taught him to play chess, which they played
frequently, sometimes for more than 4 hours a day.[A13-334] Like
most of the men on board, Oswald read a lot from the books which
were available. Powers thought he read “a good type of literature,”
remembering in particular Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”[A13-335]
The _Bexar_ docked at Yokosuka on September 12.[A13-336] Oswald
was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 1 (MACS-1), Marine
Air Group 11, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Atsugi, about 20
miles west of Tokyo.[A13-337] Oswald was a radar operator in MACS-1,
which had less than 100 men.[A13-338] Its function was to direct
aircraft to their targets by radar, communicating with the pilots by
radio.[A13-339] The squadron had also the duty of scouting for incoming
foreign aircraft, such as straying Russian or Chinese planes, which
would be intercepted by American planes.[A13-340]
On October 27, when Oswald opened his locker to remove some gear, a
derringer .22 caliber pistol fell to the floor and discharged; the
bullet hit him in the left elbow.[A13-341] Paul Edward Murphy, a fellow
marine who was in the next cubicle, heard the shot, rushed in, and
found Oswald sitting on the locker looking at his arm; without emotion,
Oswald said to Murphy, “I believe I shot myself.”[A13-342] He was in
the naval hospital at Yokosuka until November 15.[A13-343]
The Judge Advocate General concluded that Oswald had “displayed a
certain degree of carelessness or negligence” by storing a loaded
revolver in his locker, but that his injury was incurred “in the line
of duty” and was not the result “of his own misconduct.”[A13-344] He
was, however, charged with possession of an unregistered privately
owned weapon in violation of general orders. A court-martial followed
on April 11, 1958, when Oswald’s unit returned from maneuvers, and on
April 29 he was sentenced to be confined at hard labor for 20 days, to
forfeit $25 per month for 2 months, and to be reduced to the grade of
private.[A13-345] The confinement was suspended for 6 months, after
which that portion of the sentence was to be remitted.[A13-346]
Five days after Oswald left the hospital, MACS-1 embarked aboard the
_Terrell County_, LST 1157, for maneuvers in the Philippine Islands
area,[A13-347] According to Powers’ recollection, the squadron was
expected to return to Atsugi after maneuvers were completed, but an
international crisis developed; since another operation was scheduled
for a few months later, the squadron debarked at Cubi Point (Subic
Bay) in the Philippines and set up a temporary installation.[A13-348]
While he was in the Philippines, Oswald passed a test of eligibility
for the rank of corporal;[A13-349] in a semiannual evaluation, however,
he was given his lowest ratings thus far: 4.0 in conduct and 3.9 in
proficiency.[A13-350] The unit participated in exercises at Corregidor,
from which it sailed for Atsugi on March 7, 1958, aboard the U.S.S.
_Wexford County_, LST 1168.[A13-351] The _Wexford County_ reached
Atsugi 11 days later.[A13-352]
Oswald was court-martialed a second time on June 27, for using
“provoking words” to a noncommissioned officer (a sergeant) on June 20,
at the Bluebird Cafe in Yamato, and assaulting the officer by pouring a
drink on him.[A13-353] The findings were that Oswald spilled the drink
accidentally, but when the sergeant shoved him away, Oswald invited the
sergeant outside in insulting language.[A13-354] Oswald admitted that
he was rather drunk and had invited the sergeant outside but did not
recall insulting him.[A13-355] He was sentenced to be confined at hard
labor for 28 days and to forfeit $55;[A13-356] in addition, suspension
of the previous sentence of confinement was withdrawn.[A13-357] He
was in confinement until August 13.[A13-358] Meanwhile, a previously
granted extension of oversea duty was canceled,[A13-359] and he was
given ratings of 1.9 in conduct and 3.4 in proficiency.[A13-360]
On September 14, Oswald sailed with his unit for the South China
Sea area; the unit was at Ping Tung, North Taiwan on September 30,
and returned to Atsugi on October 5.[A13-361] On October 6, he was
transferred out of MACS-1 and put on general duty, in anticipation
of his return to the United States.[A13-362] He spent several days
thereafter in the Atsugi Station Hospital.[A13-363] On October
31, he received his last oversea ratings: 4.0 in both conduct and
proficiency.[A13-364]
Oswald appears generally to have been regarded by his fellows overseas
as an intelligent person who followed orders and did his work well,
but who complained frequently.[A13-365] He did not associate much
with other marines and continued to read a great deal.[A13-366] Paul
Murphy testified that Oswald could speak “a little Russian” while
he was overseas.[A13-367] Powers believed that Oswald became more
assertive in Japan and thought that he might have had a Japanese girl
friend.[A13-368] He departed from Yokosuka on board the USNS _Barrett_
on November 2, and arrived in San Francisco 13 days later.[A13-369] On
November 19, he took 30 days’ leave.[A13-370]
On December 22, Oswald was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No.
9 (MACS-9) at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, where he had
been briefly before he went overseas.[A13-371] He was one of about
seven enlisted men and three officers who formed a “radar crew,”
engaged primarily in aircraft surveillance.[A13-372] This work probably
gave him access to certain kinds of classified material, some of
which, such as aircraft call signs and radio frequencies, was changed
after his defection to Russia.[A13-373] For part of his time at El
Toro, Oswald may have been assigned to clerical or janitorial tasks on
the base.[A13-374] Some of his associates believed rumors,[A13-375]
incorrect according to official records,[A13-376] that he had lost his
clearance to work on radar crews; one recalled hearing that Oswald
had once had clearance above the “confidential” level and had lost it
because he “had poured beer over a staff NCO’s head in an enlisted club
in Japan, and had been put in the brig.”[A13-377]
The officer in command of the radar crew, Lt. John E. Donovan, found
him “competent in all functions,” and observed that he handled
himself calmly and well in emergency situations.[A13-378] Donovan
thought Oswald was not a leader but that he performed competently
on occasions when, as the senior man present, he served as crew
chief.[A13-379] This estimate was generally shared by his fellows,
most of whom thought that he performed his assigned duties adequately
but was deficient in disciplinary matters and such things as barracks
inspection.[A13-380] One of them recalled that after a number of bad
inspections, the other members of Oswald’s quonset hut complained
about him and secured his transfer to another hut.[A13-381] He was
thought to be an intelligent person, somewhat better educated and more
intellectually oriented than other men on the base.[A13-382] A few
of the men thought it more accurate to describe him as someone who
wanted to appear intelligent.[A13-383] He had a pronounced interest in
world affairs, in which he appears to have been better informed than
some of the officers, whose lack of knowledge amused and sometimes
irritated him; he evidently enjoyed drawing others, especially
officers, into conversations in which he could display his own superior
knowledge.[A13-384]
It seems clear from the various recollections of those who knew him at
El Toro that by the time Oswald returned to the United States, he no
longer had any spirit for the Marines; the attitudes which had prompted
his enlistment as soon as he was eligible were entirely gone, and his
attention had turned away from the Marines to what he might do after
his discharge. While no one was able to predict his attempt to defect
to Russia within a month after he left the Marines, the testimony of
those who knew him at El Toro, in contrast to that of his associates
in Japan, leaves no doubt that his thoughts were occupied increasingly
with Russia and the Russian way of life. He had studied the Russian
language enough by February 25, 1959, to request that he be given a
foreign language qualification test; his rating was “poor” in all
parts of the test.[A13-385] Most of the marines who knew him were aware
that he was studying Russian;[A13-386] one of them, Henry J. Roussel,
Jr., arranged a date between Lee and his aunt, Rosaleen Quinn, an
airline stewardess who was also studying Russian.[A13-387] (Miss Quinn
thought that Oswald spoke Russian well in view of his lack of formal
training; she found the evening uninteresting.[A13-388] Donovan, with
whom she had a date later, testified that she told him that Oswald was
“kind of an oddball.”)[A13-389] He read, and perhaps subscribed to, a
newspaper, possibly printed in Russian, which his associates connected
with his Russian bent.[A13-390]
Most of those who knew him were able to recount anecdotes which suggest
that he was anxious to publicize his liking for things Russian,
sometimes in good humor and sometimes seriously. Some of his fellows
called him “Oswaldskovich,” apparently to his pleasure.[A13-391]
He is said to have had his name written in Russian on one of his
jackets;[A13-392] to have played records of Russian songs “so loud
that one could hear them outside the barracks”;[A13-393] frequently
to have made remarks in Russian[A13-394] or used expressions like
“da” or “nyet,”[A13-395] or addressed others (and been addressed)
as “Comrade”;[A13-396] to have come over and said jokingly, “You
called?” when one of the marines played a particular record of Russian
music.[A13-397]
Connected with this Russophilia was an interest in and acceptance of
Russian political views and, to a lesser extent, Communist ideology.
Less obvious to his fellows generally,[A13-398] it nevertheless led him
into serious discussions with some of them. Donovan, who was a graduate
of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University,[A13-399]
thought Oswald was “truly interested in international affairs”[A13-400]
and “very well versed, at least on the superficial facts of a given
foreign situation.”[A13-401] He recalled that Oswald had a particular
interest in Latin America[A13-402] and had a good deal of information
about Cuba in particular.[A13-403] Oswald expressed sympathy for
Castro but, according to Donovan, “what he said about Castro was not
an unpopular belief at that time.”[A13-404] Donovan believed that
Oswald subscribed to the Russian newspaper--which Donovan thought was
a Communist newspaper--not only in order to read Russian but also
because he thought it “presented a very different and perhaps equally
just side of the international affairs in comparison with the United
States newspapers.”[A13-405] Donovan was clear, on the other hand, that
he never heard Oswald “in any way, shape or form confess that he was a
Communist, or that he ever thought about being a Communist.”[A13-406]
Private Kerry Thornley described himself as a close acquaintance,
but not a good friend, of Oswald, whom he met in the spring of
1959;[A13-407] he later wrote an unpublished novel in which he drew
heavily on his impressions of Oswald.[A13-408] Thornley generally
corroborates Donovan’s testimony but thought Oswald definitely believed
that “the Marxist morality was the most rational morality to follow”
and communism, “the best system in the world.”[A13-409] Thornley
thought this belief was “theoretical,” a “dispassionate appraisal”
which did not indicate “any active commitment to the Communist ends”;
he described Oswald as “idle in his admiration for communism.”[A13-410]
He recalled discussions about Marxism in which Oswald criticized
capitalism and praised the Soviet economic system.[A13-411] Thornley
testified that his association with Oswald ended when, in response
to Oswald’s criticism of a parade in which they both had to march,
he said “Well, comes the revolution you will change all that.”
Oswald, he said, looked at him “like a betrayed Caesar” and walked
away.[A13-412] Thornley attributed Oswald’s decision to go to Russia
to a growing disillusionment with the United States, especially its
role in the Far East, and a conviction that communism would eventually
prevail.[A13-413] He was surprised by the decision but expected Oswald
to adjust to Russian life and remain in Russia permanently.[A13-414]
Another marine, Nelson Delgado, met Oswald soon after the latter
arrived at El Toro.[A13-415] They were about the same age and had
similar interests; Oswald enjoyed trying to speak Spanish with Delgado,
who spoke it fluently.[A13-416] Delgado regarded him as a “complete
believer that our way of government was not quite right,” but did not
think he was a Communist.[A13-417] Their discussions were concerned
more with Cuba than Russia.[A13-418] They both favored the Castro
government and talked--“dreaming,” Delgado said--about joining the
Cuban Army or Government and perhaps leading expeditions to other
Caribbean islands to “free them too.”[A13-419] Oswald told Delgado that
he was in touch with Cuban diplomatic officials in this country; which
Delgado at first took to be “one of his * * * lies,”[A13-420] but later
believed.[A13-421]