President's Commission on the Assassination of - The Warren Commission (Complete Edition)

Mr. Oswald. My mother told us that she was taking care of all the expenses at the Academy.

Mr. Jenner. She told you at this time?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. This is my recollection.

Mr. Jenner. And that was your understanding of both you and John at that particular time?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. That she was financing your attendance at the military academy?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. Was she working at that time, or during the period that she was married to Mr. Ekdahl was she a housewife?

Mr. Oswald. I believe after the marriage to Mr. Ekdahl, she was not working.

Mr. Jenner. Did you have a conversation with her, and did you then come to learn, or have you subsequently come to learn as to how she did finance your attendance at the military academy?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I do not. I assume at that particular time that—I did not know the quantity of life insurance that my father had when he passed away. I thought it was perhaps substantial. Perhaps to me at that time, a young age, $4,000 or $5,000 was a lot of money. From the insurance money, from my father's death, she was able to place us in this military school in Mississippi.

Mr. Jenner. Do I recall correctly that you also testified earlier that your mother sold—there was a home in New Orleans which was sold?

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

Mr. Jenner. And possibly some of the proceeds of the sale of that home were still intact?

Mr. Oswald. This would be my opinion, that it was. I do not know if the home was paid for or anything.

Mr. Jenner. This is all speculation?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Jenner, if I may interrupt.

Robert, don't speculate, and don't give any conjecture. Tell what you know, and give them the facts as fully as possible. But I am confident that the Commission is not interested in any speculation.

Mr. Jenner. And if you do speculate, tell us so.

Mr. McKenzie. Yes—indicate that you are speculating.

Mr. Dulles. Do we know the amount of insurance on Mr. Oswald's life?

Mr. Jenner. I cannot give you the figure, but it is small.

Mr. Dulles. It is known in the record?

Mr. Jenner. Yes, sir.

Representative Ford. May I ask a question?

Following your mother's marriage to Mr. Ekdahl, did he move in to the residence where you were living, or vice versa, or what were the circumstances?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir. He did move into the home on Victor Street, following the marriage.

Mr. Dulles. You were living, though, in the military academy. Was that a school where you lived?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. You lived there?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. Day and night?

Mr. Oswald. During the period that we went to the military school, we stayed there day and night, through the 9 months of the school year.

Mr. Jenner. What was the distance from Dallas—in general—to the military school?

Mr. McKenzie. It is approximately 600 or 700 miles.

Mr. Oswald. It was 30 miles south of Vicksburg, Miss.

Mr. Jenner. Quite a distance?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. So you could not go home weekends?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; we did not go home weekends.

Mr. Jenner. From the time of the marriage of your mother to Mr. Ekdahl, to the time you boys left for military school, you all lived in the home on Victor Street?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. He moved into the home immediately upon the marriage?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. Could I ask one question?

Was there a summer holiday, then, when you went home from the military academy?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. You were home for 3 months, roughly?

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

Mr. Dulles. That would be in the summer of '45?

Mr. Oswald. The summer of '46.

Mr. Jenner. It might help if you tell us how long you and John remained at the military school.

Mr. Oswald. Three school years.

Mr. Jenner. That would be in 1945, 1946, and 1947.

So that you left the military school approximately in June of 1947, is that correct?

Mr. Oswald. That would be correct.

Mr. Jenner. '48 or '47?

Mr. Oswald. Well, the school year would be 1945 through '46 would be 1 year, '46 through '47 would be 2 years, '47 through '48 would be the third year.

Mr. Jenner. All right. June of '48?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. And I might say there, when school—the last year that we were there, when school was completed, mother had indicated to us that she wanted us to go to summer school and stay up there that summer. And we did, John and I, stay there at the school after practically all the other ones had left, because I recall helping pack away some old Springfield rifles at that time in Cosmolene.

Mr. Jenner. The marriage of your mother and Mr. Ekdahl terminated in divorce, as I recall it.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Do you recall approximately when that was?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir. I believe that this would be some time in '47. I believe she had divorced Mr. Ekdahl before our final year at the academy.

Mr. Jenner. Mr. Liebeler will get the date. I don't recall it myself at the moment.

Did your mother and Mr. Ekdahl have occasion during this 3-year period, plus the summer school, to visit you and John in the military academy?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; they did. I recall Mr. Ekdahl coming there with mother and Lee in a 1939 Buick at that time, that I recall. I don't recall many occasions that Mr. Ekdahl was there. I might state that at Christmas time I believe on each year that we were up at the military school that we returned home. By home, I mean Fort Worth, or wherever they were living. One year I believe it was Benbrook, Tex., outside of Fort Worth.

Mr. Jenner. Now, would you be good enough, having mentioned that, to state for the record where your mother and Mr. Ekdahl resided during the period of time you were at the military school?

Mr. Oswald. I believe the first year——

Mr. Jenner. Chronologically.

Mr. Oswald. The first year that we attended there, Mr. Ekdahl was on the road quite a bit. And they had during the winter of 1945 gone to Boston, where they stayed, I would say, for approximately 6 months. I understand Mr. Ekdahl had been married and had a son by a prior marriage, and they had lived together, all of them—Lee, my mother, Mr. Ekdahl, and his son—in Boston. But that he was on the road quite a bit. And I recall a picture of mother and Lee in Arizona.

Mr. Jenner. Living in Arizona?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; not living. On one of the trips.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

Representative Ford. One of the trips with Mr. Ekdahl?

Mr. Oswald. Ekdahl, and mother and Lee had gone along with him. Whether this was a business trip or a vacation trip, I don't recall.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

Following their living for 6 months in Boston, where did they live thereafter, during that period of time, until the divorce?

Mr. Oswald. I believe after they left Massachusetts, they moved to Benbrook, Tex., and resided at Benbrook, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. And where is Benbrook with respect to Dallas?

Mr. Oswald. It is—well, with respect to Fort Worth, that to me would be easier to say, it is just a little ways northwest of Fort Worth, on the edge of the city limits of Fort Worth now. At this particular time it was just more or less a wide spot in the road. The house—I recall going there, perhaps this was during Christmas leave from the academy—the house was a good sized stone home that had some acreage with it. There was a creek that was perhaps 400 or 500 yards behind the house. I remember, I believe, right before we arrived on this first occasion, Lee had found a skunk out there. He didn't know what a skunk was, but he found out.