So I started.
Then Robert had a phone call and he came out of the room, and he was crying bitterly. So I ended the tape—I would say I talked approximately 10 minutes. I ended the tape saying, "I'm sorry, but my thoughts have left me, because my son is crying."
I thought for a moment that Robert was crying because of what I was saying, and he was sorry that he had not listened to me before, because I tried to tell him about the defection and my trip to Washington. But Robert was crying because he received a telephone call that we could not get a minister at my son's grave.
They had three ministers that refused to come to the ceremony at my son's grave—for church. And that is why Robert was crying bitterly. So that ended the testimony. That little while I testified, that ended it.
Mr. Rankin. Now, that questioning was a question and answer. You were questioned by the FBI agent, Mr. Howard——
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir. I was just talking.
Mr. Rankin. The Secret Service man?
Mrs. Oswald. Mr. Mike Howard. I was talking on tape.
Mr. Rankin. Didn't he ask you questions?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't recall him asking any questions. It could be. But I frankly do not recall him asking any questions. But it was a very short session. And that is the way I ended the tape. I said, "My thoughts have left me because I see my son crying bitterly."
That is the way I ended the tape. And it was a very short tape. I do not remember him questioning me. I think I started to tell my story. And that is the only time.
It was from my persistence that I got on tape just that little while. They did not want to hear anything from me.
Mr. Rankin. You don't think, then, that at that time there were questions and answers for about 28 pages taken from you?
Mrs. Oswald. From me—no, sir. Definitely not. If they have that, what they have is my talking, like I said, when I saw on television. They said—they were showing Lee's gun. And I was not watching television—I am getting snatches of it, and I said, "Now, how can they say, even though it is Lee's gun, that Lee shot the President. Even being his gun doesn't mean that he shot the President. Someone could have framed him."
If they have 28 pages of that, they have me doing that kind of talking, and had the room bugged, or whatever you want to say. But no, sir, I did not sit and testify. I swear before God 10 times I never have. And that is the point that has bothered me.
Even before Lee's defection no one came along to the house. I called Mr. John Fain in the FBI myself to make friends with him. If they have 20 pages of testimony—that is when they got it, my talking. They got it with a tape recorder going. But I did not, no, sir.
Mr. Rankin. Well, then, what happened after that?
Mrs. Oswald. Now—we got off of that. About Robert crying?
Mr. Rankin. You said that that ended the interview with Mr. Howard.
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, that ended the interview with Mr. Howard, because Robert was crying. I was not consulted. I want you to know this, too. I was not consulted about the graveyard services or any part of my son's funeral.
What I know—when my son was going to be buried—it was approximately 1 hour before the time for my son to be buried. My son Robert knew.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether Marina was consulted?
Mrs. Oswald. I do not know. And I am assuming that she was. You see, Mr. Gregory taught Russian to Marina. And I believe Marina might have been consulted. But I do not know whether she was consulted or not. But I was not consulted. And since then—we will go on to the story. They have put a marker on the grave. I have not been consulted. I have found out my son is encased in cement, and I did not know anything about it until I investigated and asked the man at the cemetery.
They did not consult me about anything, never have. I want that made clear—because that is the part I cannot understand.
Mr. Rankin. You don't know whether the laws of Texas give the widow the right to say what shall be done?
Mrs. Oswald. Well, naturally, she is his wife, and I am just the mother. But from a moral standpoint, what are they doing to me? Law and right—but from a moral standpoint, I should go out to the graveyard and see a marker? I should find out from strangers that my son is now in a concrete vault?
Mr. Rankin. Well, then, did you go to the funeral?
Mrs. Oswald. Well, let me get—we will get to the story of the ministers.
Mr. Rankin. All right.
Mrs. Oswald. Now, I was not consulted. Had Robert asked me—they are Lutheran, we are raised Lutherans. I have no church affiliation. I have learned since my trouble that my heart is my church. I am not talking against the church. But I go to church all day long, I meditate. And my work requires that I don't go to church. I am working on Sunday most of the time, taking care of the sick, and the people that go to church, that I work for, the families, have never once said, "Well, I will stay home and take care of my mother and let you go to church, Mrs. Oswald, today."
You see, I am expected to work on Sunday.
So that is why—I have my own church. And sometimes I think it is better than a wooden structure. Because these same people that expect me to work on Sunday, while they go to church, and go to church on Wednesday night—I don't consider them as good a Christian as I am—I am sorry.
Well—I would not have let Robert be so upset trying to get a Lutheran minister. If he could not get a Lutheran minister, I would have called upon another minister, because there would have been many, many ministers of many denominations that would have been happy to come and help the sorrowing family.
Well, a Reverend French from Dallas came out to Six Flags and we sat on the sofa.
Reverend French was in the center, I and Robert on the side. And Robert was crying bitterly and talking to Reverend French and trying to get him to let Lee's body go to church. And he was quoting why he could not.
So then I intervened and said, "Well, if Lee is a lost sheep, and that is why you don't want him to go to church, he is the one that should go into church. The good people do not need to go to church. Let's say he is called a murderer. It is the murderers and all we should be concerned about".
And that agent—I am going ahead of my story a little bit—that man right here——
Mr. Rankin. You are pointing to——
Mrs. Oswald. This agent right here. You may pass the picture around.
Mr. Rankin. The figure on the left hand of the picture you have just produced?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir. I do not know his name. The man had the decency to stay at the far end of the room, near the entrance door, while the minister and myself and Robert were sitting on the sofa. And when I said to the minister about the lost sheep, this agent, who I will have a much longer story to talk about, left the group and came and sat on the other sofa—there were two sofas and a cocktail table—and he said, "Mrs. Oswald, be quiet. You are making matters worse."
Now, the nerve of him—to leave the group and to come there and scold me.
This Mr. French, Reverend French, agreed that we would have chapel services, that he could not take the body into the church. And we compromised for chapel services.
However, when we arrived at the graveyard, we went to the chapel. There is the body being brought into the chapel. There is another picture. Here is another picture of the chapel.
Mr. Rankin. Before we go on——
Mrs. Oswald. And the chapel was empty. My son's body had been brought into the chapel, but Reverend French did not show up. And because there was a time for the funeral,