Mrs. Oswald. Oh, did I? I am sorry. No, sir, the Russian language.
The Chairman. What days were these?
Mr. Rankin. What days were these that you talked to Mr. Gregory?
Mrs. Oswald. You mean the Russian language?
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mrs. Oswald. I do not have this information. But I can get it for you from the public library, because there was a public notice in the paper.
Mr. Rankin. Can you tell us approximately?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, it was just right before the assassination. I had taken two lessons. Yes, I had taken two lessons, and then I didn't go for the third lesson, because this was on a Friday—the lessons were on a Tuesday. So I had taken two lessons, the two Tuesdays prior to the assassination.
Mr. Rankin. I see.
So it would be around a little over 3 weeks before the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir. Two Tuesdays before, and then my next lesson would have been the Tuesday after the Friday of the assassination.
Yes, sir, that is the time.
So then I thought of Mr. Gregory.
Now, believe me, gentlemen—and I will swear again, if you want me to—nothing was said about Mr. Gregory and Marina being friends. But I do have a guardian angel. And, as I go along, some of the things I know have been from this guardian angel.
This was just a coincidence.
I thought of calling Mr. Peter Gregory. I have no friends in Fort Worth. I never—I live a very lonely life. I am not lonely. But I live to myself. I am kept very busy. I had my work, 24 hour duty. So really I have no friends. And because of Lee's defection, I didn't make any new friends.
So I am racking my mind who can I call for help. And I think of Mr. Peter Gregory. So I call Mr. Peter Gregory at 6:30 in the morning, Sunday, the 24th—Sunday morning the 24th.
And I didn't want the hotel operator to know who I was. So I gave a fictitious name. He said, "I am sorry,"—I said, "I can't tell you who I am, Mr. Gregory."
I am ahead of my story.
Marina, when I said, "Marina, we need help, honey. I am going to call a Mr. Gregory."
And I told her about me taking Russian lessons.
"Oh, Mama, I know Mr. Gregory, Lee know Mr. Gregory, the man at the library that gives Russian lessons."
So I find that very much of a coincidence.
So I called Mr. Gregory. I said, "Mr. Gregory, I won't say who I am, but you know my son and you know my daughter-in-law, and I am in trouble, sir. I am over here."
He said, "I am sorry, but I won't talk to anybody I don't know."
Mr. Rankin. What name did you give him?
Mrs. Oswald. I didn't give him any name.
He said, "I am sorry, but I won't talk to anyone I don't know."
And I said again, "Well, you know my son real well."
He said, "Oh, you are Mrs. Oswald."
I said, "Yes sir, this is Mrs. Oswald. We are at the Executive Inn in Dallas, stranded. And do you know of anyone who would give my daughter-in-law and I a home, and put us up for the time that this is going on, so we can be near Lee at the courthouse? I need help. Mr. Gregory."
He said, "Mrs. Oswald, what is your room number? I will help you. Hold still. Help will be coming."
And so that was the end of my conversation with Mr. Gregory.
At 11:30 Sunday, November 23d, my son Robert and Mr. Gregory came to the Executive Inn, all excited. We had diapers strung all over the place. My uniform was washed. I had no clothes with me.
I went with the uniform.
"Hurry up, we have got to get you out of here."
I am not one to be told what to do, and you gentlemen know that by this time. I said, "What's your hurry? We have the diapers and all. I want to tell you what happened."
"Mother, Mother stop talking. We have to get you out of here."
Mr. Gregory said, "Mrs. Oswald, will you listen and get things together. We have to get you out of here."
I said, "That is all we have been doing since yesterday, running from one place to the other. Give us just a minute. We are coming, but we have to pack things."
"Hurry up."
I said, "I want you to know how we got here. I was shown a picture of a man last night. And Mrs. Paine called and said that Lee called."
I told him exactly.
So Mr. Gregory and Robert knew about the things I told you. I told him that while I am gathering up the things.
"Mrs. Oswald, we will talk later. We have to get you out of here."
I have found out since that my son was shot. But they did not tell us.
Mr. Rankin. Did you have a television in this room?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Now, here is another Godsend. We watched the television, Marina and I. She watched more than I did. We were very busy, Mr. Rankin. The babies had diarrhea and everything. I was very busy with the babies and the Russian girl. And just like at the end of the Six Flags, we were just getting snatches of it. But Marina wanted to know, "Mama, I want see Lee." She was hoping Lee would come on the picture, like he did. So this morning, Sunday morning, I said, "Oh, honey, let's turn the television off. The same thing over and over."
And I turned the television off. So Marina and I did not see what happened to my son.
We had the television off.
So we did not know.
But frantically Robert and Mr. Gregory kept insisting that we pack and run.
So when we get downstairs, here was Secret Service men all over.
Mr. Rankin. Now, before you leave that, what did Robert say about the story about the picture, when you told him that? Did he say anything?
Mrs. Oswald. No. He and Mr. Gregory both didn't want to listen to me. I told them, but they didn't want to hear my story. They wanted to get us out of here.
Mr. Rankin. They didn't say anything about it?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir, not that I can recall. And I don't believe they did. They didn't want to hear what I had to say. They kept fussing at me and saying "Mother, stop talking. Hurry up, we have got to get you out of here."
I kept saying, "All we have been doing is run from one place to the other. The diapers are wet."
I was kind of having my way about this.
So when we get downstairs, there is Secret Service all around.
I am ahead of my story.
Robert went downstairs to pay the bill, and that is when I gave Robert the money, and it was a $50 bill that the Life representative had given to me. They gave me some money. I took it out——
Mr. Rankin. That is the first time you looked at it?
Mrs. Oswald. The first time I looked at it, sir. I charged the food, and I had no need for money. Wait a minute—I am wrong. Yes.
Representative Ford. Mrs. Oswald—didn't you say you had washed your uniform?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Representative Ford. When you washed your uniform, didn't you——
Mrs. Oswald. Just a minute, if you let me explain. I just said I was wrong. The first time—it was Puerto Rican that brought the dinner in. We needed baby lotion for the baby. And then I took the bill out and I saw it