Mr. Jenner. Had that sort of thing occurred prior thereto, in which your mother felt that she was ill and she went to physicians, and the physicians indicated otherwise?
Mr. Oswald. Not to my knowledge, sir.
Mr. Jenner. She was not chronic in that respect?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, not to my knowledge.
Mr. Dulles. Was she hospitalized at any time in connection with this injury?
Mr. Oswald. Not to my knowledge, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Did she have to give up her work for a period of time, or did she continue working?
Mr. Oswald. I believe she did miss a short period of time when the accident occurred.
Mr. Dulles. Thank you.
Mr. Jenner. But she was at work on the day you visited her?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, that is correct.
Mr. Jenner. Were you forewarned that your brother was returning from the service earlier than he was scheduled to return?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, I don't believe I was.
Mr. Jenner. Were you forewarned that he was returning at all at this particular time—that is, on or about the 11th of September, 1959?
Mr. Oswald. If I may take a moment, please, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Yes, sir.
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, I was not aware that he was being released from the service earlier.
Mr. Jenner. Had you received any communication from him prior to his return—that is a communication that was reasonably near the time of his return?
Mr. Oswald. The only one that I have a record of, sir, is a letter dated—postmarked June 6, 1959, at Santa Ana, California, addressed to me at my Fort Worth address of 7313 Davenport, return address, Pfc. L. H. Oswald, Santa Ana, California. The letter itself is undated.
Mr. Jenner. You have made reference, Mr. Oswald, to a letter you received in an envelope postmarked June 6, 1959, from your brother. You have the original of that letter before you?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I do.
Mr. Jenner. Now, that letter—did you receive in addition to this letter until September 11, 1959, any other letter from your brother?
Mr. Oswald. Not that I can recall, sir, or that I have record of.
Mr. Jenner. Now, this letter in the third paragraph reads, "Well, pretty soon I will be getting out of the Corps, and I know what I want to be and how I am going to be it, which I guess is the most important thing in my life"—"in life." Have I read it correctly?
Mr. Oswald. You have, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Did you respond to that letter?
Mr. Oswald. Not to my recollection did I respond to the letter, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Now, when your brother was mustered out, on or about September 11, 1959, did you have a discussion with him with respect to this subject matter—that is what he wanted to be in life, and how he was going to go about it?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, I did not—to this extent. He did, of course, indicate to me that he wanted to go to New Orleans, Louisiana, and live and find a job there, and he did not indicate what type of job or what type of work he wanted to do.
Mr. Jenner. For the purpose of the record, Mr. Chairman, this letter has been identified and is in evidence as Commission Exhibit No. 296.
How did you learn that your brother was in Fort Worth, upon his being mustered out of the Marines?
Mr. Oswald. I believe, sir, he called me on arrival at Fort Worth.
Mr. Jenner. That was the first notice or knowledge that you had that he had been discharged?
Mr. Oswald. I believe that is correct.
Mr. Jenner. Is that correct?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. And his call to you was the first notice or knowledge you had that he was in Fort Worth?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, that is correct.
Mr. Jenner. It necessarily follows, and I take it it is a fact, that your mother had not called you to advise you that he was being discharged or would be discharged at or about that time?
Mr. Oswald. Not that I can remember, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Might I ask you at this point whether your brother ever talked to you about his experience in the Marines. Did he tell you anything about that, give you any incidents? I think you only had one day—that would have taken place on that one day, between the three or four days between his return and going off again.
Mr. Jenner. Or may I add, Mr. Chairman, any correspondence he had in the Marines, and any leaves.
Mr. Dulles. We have no letters, have we, from the witness?
Mr. Jenner. No, but I thought there might possibly be some.
Mr. Dulles. I don't want to interrupt, but it seemed to me to fit in at this particular point.
Mr. Oswald. I do not recall, other than general discussion, about the Marine Corps. I recall—and I believe this was on his leave in 1958, when we discussed this—I had asked him did he know any of my drill instructors, and I at the time recalled a senior drilling instructor at Camp Pendleton, by the name of Sgt. Cobie. And he stated he did not. However, he did run across, while he was in boot camp, some other drill instructor, but he could not recall his name, who stated he recalled me, or asked him one day did he have a brother that had been in the Marine Corps a few years before. He said yes, he had. And apparently this man did remember me, because he asked was I the right guide in that platoon. And my brother Lee did not know that I was. I do recall that conversation.
Mr. Jenner. Did you have any other conversation with him or any correspondence from him in which the subject matter of his career in the Marines was discussed, or to which allusion was made?
Mr. Oswald. I certainly received other letters during the course of his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. I do not recall any specific instance that reflected what his opinion was of the Marine Corps, nor that at any time I remember did he refer to any happenings or incidents while he was in the Marine Corps that perhaps might upset him, or might have made him happy.
Mr. Jenner. Nothing either way?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Completely bland in that respect?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Do you recall whether any of those letters are available now? Do you have those letters?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I believe I do not have those. I say I believe I do not. I have looked for just everything that I could possibly find on Lee's life, and letters and so forth, and I have not run across any others.
Mr. Jenner. I was about to ask you that. You have made a thorough search?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I have.
Mr. Dulles. If you should find them, you will make them available to us, will you not?
Mr. Oswald. Certainly, sir.
Mr. Dulles. Thank you.
Just one more question on that, if I may. I would gather that the correspondence you had during his stay in Russia was more voluminous than while he was in the Marine Corps, from what you tell me.
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it certainly was. There was certainly a larger flow of letters from him, and from me to him, at this time than there was during his stay