Thursday, February 20, 1964 TESTIMONY OF ROBERT EDWARD LEE OSWALD (continued 2)

Mr. McKenzie. I would not be offended in any way.

Mr. Dulles. Do you, Mr. McKenzie, swear that what you have stated, is the full truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. McKenzie. I do, Mr. Dulles.

Mr. Jenner. Mr. Chairman, I offer in evidence as Commission Exhibits 276 through 280, inclusive, the documents that have been so identified.

Mr. Dulles. They may be accepted.

(The documents referred to were marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 276 through 280, inclusive, for identification, and received in evidence.)

Mr. Dulles. I wish to state, in accepting these documents, the Commission does not want to pass on or assume any responsibility with respect to the financial or other arrangements described in these documents.

Mr. Jenner. I sought to identify them, Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen, and to tender them in evidence because of events of the past few days, and to confirm Mr. McKenzie's authority to speak on behalf of Mr. Oswald.

Mr. Dulles. Very well.

Mr. Jenner. At the recess, Mr. Oswald, we were dealing with—excuse me.

We were dealing with the period of time that you and your mother and your two brothers lived in Benbrook, Tex. This brought us through the summer of 1948, I believe.

Am I correct?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Mr. Liebeler has determined that the divorce of Mr. Ekdahl and your mother took place in 1948. We cannot give you the month and the day in 1948, but it was during the year 1948.

We had reached the point in which you related to us that, I believe, following the divorce of Mr. Ekdahl and your mother, she purchased a small home.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And refresh my recollection, please—was that in Benbrook, Tex.?

Mr. Oswald. That was in Benbrook, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. Have we reached a point now at which your brother, Lee, had entered elementary school?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; we have.

Mr. Jenner. And you boys have now terminated your attendance at the military academy?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And would you please relate what elementary school you and your brother, John, attended, and Lee, if he attended the same school?

Mr. Oswald. Prior to the school year of 1948–49, we moved to Ewing Street, 7408 Ewing Street, within the limits of the city of Fort Worth.

Mr. Jenner. Was the home that had been purchased in Benbrook, Tex., sold?

Mr. Oswald. I would say yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Well, you state that you would say. Is that your best information?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

I am not aware of any transactions in regards to the selling of that home or anything. Since we did move, and she did purchase this home on 7408 Ewing Street, in Fort Worth, I would assume that she did sell the house at Benbrook, because she didn't rent it, and we no longer went out there. I feel sure she did sell it.

Mr. Jenner. Did I understand you to say that your mother purchased a home at 7408 Ewing?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Would you, in very short compass, tell us the physical characteristics of that home?

Mr. Oswald. It was a two bedroom, asbestos siding, with an attached garage, red roof, small porch on the front, and an average sized lot.

Mr. Jenner. These homes you have been describing all have, as I recall it—have either attached garage or separate garages.

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir—with the exception of the home there in Benbrook that my mother purchased after the divorce from Mr. Ekdahl—it did not have a garage, and I did not recall a garage at the native stone house in Benbrook.

Mr. Jenner. The purpose of my inquiry was, did the family have an automobile?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Was that true when you lived in Louisiana?

Mr. Oswald. To my best recollection on that—my father did have, at the time of his death, either a 1937 or 1938 Chevrolet. I believe my mother sold it after his death. I believe she did not own an automobile in New Orleans, when we were at the Bethlehem Orphan Home.

Mr. Jenner. Were you boys interested in automobiles, as most young teenagers are?

Mr. Oswald. I think so, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Tinker around with them, drive them?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Both you and your brother John?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Later on, in later years, did your brother Lee—was he likewise interested in automobiles, did he tinker with them?

Mr. Oswald. Not to my knowledge, sir, did he tinker with them. Even though I can recall a couple of occasions with automobiles that I owned that he would assist me in any repairs I might be making on the automobile at that time.

Mr. Jenner. Well, I have in mind his interest now. Was he a good driver?

Mr. Oswald. To my knowledge, he did not drive.

Mr. Jenner. He did not drive at all?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; he did not.

Mr. Jenner. Did you ever see him drive an automobile?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not. On two or three occasions in later years, I offered to teach him to drive.

Mr. Jenner. You recall this specifically now, do you? Would you relate to the Commission this course of events in his life—a young man who never did learn, at least to your knowledge, to drive an automobile?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

The first occasion that I recall that I offered to Lee to teach him how to drive—at that time, I owned a '56 Chevrolet. I had married, and I was residing at 7313 Davenport, Fort Worth, Tex., a home which I had purchased. And Lee was home on leave.

Mr. Jenner. Give us the time, please, as closely as you can.

Mr. Oswald. This would be some time in 1958.

Mr. Jenner. He was then in the Marine Corps?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And he was home on leave?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. State the circumstances, will you please?

Mr. Oswald. With relation to my offer to teach him how to drive?

Mr. Jenner. Yes. How did that come about?

Mr. Oswald. Well, he was spending a day, or part of a day over at our house. We were going to the grocery store or something—Lee and I. As I backed out of the driveway, I recall saying something to him, or he brought it up, or something—about wanting to learn how to drive.

And I said, "Well, we can start right now."

It was an automatic transmission.

"It is the easiest thing in the world to do. There is nothing to worry about. And I would be right here with you."

Well, he didn't think that was the time to try to start. He did want to learn how to drive, though. And he did not take the wheel.

Mr. Jenner. He did not?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir.

At no time was I present when he took the wheel of a car and drove it.

Mr. Jenner. And on any occasion in your lifetime, did you ever see him, whether you were in the vehicle—whether or not you were in the vehicle—behind the wheel and actually operating in motion an automobile?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I have never known him to operate an automobile, to drive it.

Mr. Jenner. What about Mrs. Marina Oswald in that respect?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; to my knowledge she does not drive and she does not know how to drive, and I have never seen her operate an automobile.

Mr. Jenner. I notice when you are smoking that you hold the cigarette in your left hand. Are you left handed?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. I am left handed when I write and eat.

Mr. Jenner. And you are right handed otherwise?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Throwing a baseball?

Mr. Oswald. Throwing a baseball.

At one time I could handle it with both hands—especially a football better than a baseball. But I have returned to my right hand on that. I was more accurate with my right hand than with my left hand, in throwing things. I kick footballs right footed and so forth.

Mr. Jenner. What about your father? Was he right handed or left handed?

Mr. Oswald. This I do not know, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Your mother?

Mr. Oswald. My mother is left handed.

Mr. Jenner. And your brother Lee?

Mr. Oswald. He was right handed.

Representative Ford. Was there ever a time that he appeared to be left handed, as far as you recollect?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir. I have never known him to handle anything—throw a baseball, football, et cetera, fire a rifle, or do anything, left handed.

Mr. Jenner. In order to be certain of the details in this respect, when he wrote, did be write with his right or his left hand?

Mr. Oswald. Right handed.

Mr. Jenner. Right handed?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And you in fact have seen him write with his right hand?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, I have.

Mr. Jenner. During your youth?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you ever—was there ever an occasion when you saw him write or attempt to write with his left hand?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir, I have never seen him at any time, on any occasion, ever attempt to write or do anything left handed.

Mr. Jenner. You really covered my next question, but I would like to ask it anyhow.

There are men in athletics who are either right handed or left handed, but who throw or bat or do something from the other side.

Did he ever throw left handed or in any athletic endeavor employ his left hand predominantly as against his right hand?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; not to my knowledge, he never did.

Mr. Jenner. From your many years of experience with him, being associated with him, as his brother, was he a predominantly right-handed person?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; he most certainly was.

Representative Ford. And you personally saw him throw, kick, or do anything athletic over the years, and saw him use his right hand exclusively?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. I would say without qualification—I might be repeating myself here—at no time did I ever know him to do anything left handed, to the extent that it would be predominant. Of course his hands worked together, and so forth. But I have never known him to do anything left handed.

Mr. Jenner. From your long acquaintance with him, and your intimate knowledge of his physical characteristics in that respect, do you have an opinion as to whether he was instinctively right-handed or instinctively a left-handed person?

Mr. Oswald. I would say he was instinctively a right-handed person.

Mr. Jenner. In all the years you were with him, you had opportunity to see him react instantaneously without having time to think about using his right hand or left hand?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you observe him on many occasions?

Mr. Oswald. Yes. I have never known him to use his left hand in any manner when an occasion would require that he use either hand—instinctively went to his right hand.

Mr. Jenner. Was he a coordinated person in the use of his right hand? Some are not coordinated athletically.

Mr. Oswald. My opinion of this, sir, would be that he was coordinated to the extent that looking at myself and many, I would compare us as two peas in a pod. Quite fast, well coordinated.

Mr. Jenner. He was dextrous?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And well coordinated?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And you had an opportunity over the years to see him engage in athletics, did you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. During your youth, as a young man, in any event, did you and your brother John and Lee have an interest in guns, rifles, pistols, cap guns, firearms generally?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; we certainly did. I would say this.

Mr. Jenner. Now, this includes all three of you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I understand that.

Of course John and I, when we attended military school, we had more of an opportunity to become acquainted with firearms. We certainly played with cap pistols, rubber guns, et cetera, when we were young. Lee did the same thing.

However, I would say this. Mother did not like firearms.

Mr. Dulles. We will recess now until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

(Whereupon, at 12:30 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)