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

Did the newspapermen thereafter talk with your brother at your house or elsewhere?

Mr. Oswald. They attempted to, sir. I say "they." It was, more specifically, one newspaperman.

Mr. Jenner. But he did not succeed in getting an interview?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Reference is made in your brother's letter to you of November 17, 1962, which is Commission Exhibit 320, to Thanksgiving dinner. Would you obtain that exhibit, please?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I have it.

Mr. Dulles. What Thanksgiving, 1962?

Mr. Jenner. 1962, sir.

Was the Thanksgiving dinner held at your home on Thanksgiving Day, November 1962?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Would you tell us all of the circumstances preceding, leading up to and what occurred on that date and who attended the Thanksgiving dinner?

Mr. Oswald. Lee and Marina and their small child had moved to Dallas, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. Where in Dallas, Tex.? Do you recall?

Mr. Oswald. I did not have any address, sir. I had only a post office box, Box 2915, Dallas, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

Mr. Oswald. My older brother John had called me from San Antonio, Tex., prior to Thanksgiving 1962, indicating that he was going to be able to take a leave——

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me, Mr. Oswald.

Mr. Chairman, there is some confusion respecting this Thanksgiving dinner.

Mr. Oswald. Where John was stationed in the Air Force—he called me from San Antonio stating that he would be able to take a leave during the period of Thanksgiving of November 1962 and that they would travel from San Antonio, Tex., to my home in Fort Worth, Tex. I wrote Lee and asked him would it be possible for him to join us at that time with his family.

Mr. Jenner. Did you indicate in your letter that his brother John and wife were to join you on that occasion?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Did you indicate that anyone in addition, to wit, your mother, was also to join you on that occasion?

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

Mr. Jenner. All right.

Mr. Oswald. In reference to the letter dated November 17, 1962, from Lee Harvey Oswald——

Mr. Jenner. That is Commission Exhibit 320.

Mr. Oswald. It replied to my letter: "In answer to your kind invitation for Thanksgiving, we love to come and will be in Fort Worth Thanksgiving morning and we shall come by bus and give you a ring on the phone from the bus station (about 9:10). See you soon. Lee."

Mr. Jenner. Did he come to Fort Worth?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. For that particular occasion?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. When did he arrive?

Mr. Oswald. Approximately nine to ten o'clock in the morning.

Mr. Jenner. Of Thanksgiving Day?

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

Mr. Jenner. Was he accompanied by anyone?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; he was.

Mr. Jenner. Who?

Mr. Oswald. Marina N. Oswald and the baby June Lee Oswald.

Mr. Jenner. Did all of you have Thanksgiving dinner on that day?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; we did.

Mr. Jenner. Did both Lee and Marina attend that dinner?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; they did.

Mr. Jenner. And John Pic and his wife?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; they did.

Mr. Jenner. You and your wife?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Your children?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. The children of Lee and Marina?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. McKenzie. The child. There was only one at that time.

Mr. Jenner. That is right, the child June. Anyone else?

Mr. Oswald. The children of John and Marge Pic.

Mr. Jenner. But your mother did not attend the dinner?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Had you invited her?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I had not.

Mr. Jenner. As far as you know, she was unaware of it?

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

Mr. Jenner. Was any comment made that she was not present, about the fact that she was not present at the dinner?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; there was not.

Mr. Jenner. Was anything said about what your brother Lee was doing by way of employment in Dallas?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; there was.

Mr. Jenner. What was said, and by whom?

Mr. Oswald. I feel like I had asked Lee what he was doing at that particular time, and his reply to me was that he was working for a traffic outfit in Dallas, the name of which I do not recall. However, he did state the name of the firm. I do not recall the name of the firm. And that it was to him very interesting work. He thought that he could perhaps learn this type of work and progress in it quite ably.

Mr. Dulles. How did he appear to you mentally and physically on this occasion of the Thanksgiving dinner?

Mr. Oswald. Very fit physically and very alert mentally.

Mr. Jenner. Discussion on that day occurred between you and your half-brother, John Pic, did it not, respecting your brother Lee's un-American beliefs?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it did.

Mr. Jenner. Would you relate that discussion between yourself—was it confined to a discussion between yourself and John Pic?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it was.

Mr. Jenner. Did you raise the subject?

Mr. Oswald. I believe I did, sir.

Mr. Jenner. You were concerned about his un-American beliefs, were you not?

Mr. Oswald. I was not concerned about them. I wanted to state to John, since he had not been in contact with Lee when Lee was in Russia, or when he was at my home in Fort Worth, that this conversation took place.

Mr. Jenner. You state it.

Mr. Dulles. Was John present?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Dulles. He was present.

Mr. McKenzie. It was to John.

Mr. Dulles. Was he present?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; he was not. I was about to say that this conversation took place on our way from my house to the bus station to pick up Lee, Marina and June the morning of Thanksgiving 1962. I do not recall the circumstances preceding this particular point of why I brought it up other than I do recall mentioning that the FBI had talked to Lee and apparently that everything was all right because they were not proceeding to discuss with him at any length and they were not holding him for any reason, so I assumed that everything was all right in that respect.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

Have you exhausted your present recollection of that conversation?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I have.

Mr. Dulles. How did you know that the FBI had talked with Lee?

Mr. Oswald. Lee had told me and I was aware that they had called my house and requested Lee to come down to their office in Fort Worth and talk with them.

Mr. Dulles. Did he report to you on that conversation at all? The details of it?

Mr. Oswald. A very small detail of it, sir.

Mr. Jenner. What details?

Mr. Oswald. I asked him when I returned home from work that afternoon how did it go. He said, "Just fine." He said they asked him at the last whether or not he was an agent for the United States Government. His reply was "Don't you know?"

Mr. Jenner. You recited that yesterday.

Mr. McKenzie. This was testified to yesterday. It is repetition.

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you at that time say to John that the FBI had—excuse me—had assured you that Lee was all right and not dangerous to our country?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I had not.

Mr. Jenner. Did you say to John on that occasion or any other occasion that he need not worry about Lee in connection with possible danger to our country?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. When was that?

Mr. Oswald. This was on the same occasion on the trip to the bus station as I have so indicated, that I had assumed, since they were not holding Lee or questioning him to any frequency, because at that time they had only questioned him to my knowledge one time, that everything as far as un-American views that he expressed when he went to Russia, everything was cleared and they had no reason to hold him or suspect him of anything.