Jenner. You had been away at school pretty much?
Mr. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. Jenner. But you had been home for three months in the summertime?
Mr. Oswald. That is correct. But still, searching my own mind, I certainly felt this way at that time. And John and I were not accustomed to her. Certainly I cannot speak for John. But for myself, on that point, I would say we were not accustomed to her. We had become—there again I say we—John and I—I feel like I certainly had become more disciplined and used to being disciplined by men, and not used to having a woman around the house. I believe this was perhaps my feeling at that time.
Mr. Jenner. All right. Now, if we can return to the events of April 1959, did your mother appear to you to have been injured?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; she did.
Mr. Jenner. What evidence was there of her injury?
Mr. Oswald. There appeared to be a little swelling in the upper part of the nose.
Mr. Jenner. Any scratch or other skin break?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; none that I recall.
Mr. Jenner. Did you form an opinion at that time as to whether her injury was major or minor?
Mr. Oswald. I asked her about it, or she volunteered the information of how the accident occurred, and that she had been seeing doctors, and so forth. And I did recall her stating to me that she had been to either two or three doctors, and none of them had said anything was wrong with her, and then she was insisting that there was definitely something wrong, and she was continuing to see other doctors.
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.
