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

Mr. Jenner. Then you state in your memorandum on page 2 that you immediately called your wife Vada.

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. And you went directly to the phone and called her?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. What did you say to her?

Mr. Oswald. I asked her first had she been listening to the television or the radio set, and was she aware that Lee had been arrested. She stated she had not heard this, even though she had been listening to television. In her statement to me, to the best of my recollection at that time, was that they had not, over the television set, referred to Lee by name.

Mr. Jenner. And, as I recall in your memorandum, you immediately told her you were going to come right home.

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. And you did depart for home?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. On page 3 of your memorandum, you make a reference to your brother's arrest.

Would you find that place on page 3? The report to you of his arrest.

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

Mr. Jenner. And as I recall, that was a report to you that he had been arrested?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. By whom, and by what means?

Mr. Oswald. Over the telephone, by Mr. Dubose, the credit manager in our Fort Worth general office. And, "Bob, brace yourself, your brother has been arrested."

Mr. Jenner. What did you say?

Mr. Oswald. "Yes; I know. I just heard."

Mr. Jenner. Did Mr. Dubose elaborate? Did he say only your brother has been arrested?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. To the best of my recollection that was his exact words.

Mr. Jenner. Did he add, if I may refresh your recollection, assuming it is so, that he had been arrested in connection with the assassination of President Kennedy, and the murder of Officer Tippit?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I believe I did not give him an opportunity, if he wanted to state that, to complete his statement.

Mr. Jenner. You have now given us the whole of that particular conversation?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

If I might add—other than that as noted on page 3, that he did advise me that my mother was trying to reach me, and gave me a number to call.

Mr. Jenner. I wish to go to that next. You did call her?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. And where was she? To where was your call directed?

Mr. Oswald. To Fort Worth, Tex., to which address I am not acquainted, but the telephone number is her residence in Fort Worth, Tex. I believe that to be 1220 Thomas Place.

Mr. Jenner. And when you called that number, your mother was home?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

What did you say to her?

Mr. Oswald. My comment to her that this was Robert, and she immediately started advising me of what she had heard, and that she had been in contact with a Star Telegram reporter.

Mr. Jenner. That is the Star Telegram reporter for the Dallas Star Telegram?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir, for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Thank you.

Mr. Oswald. And that she was going to go to Dallas in the presence of this Fort Worth Star Telegram, and she asked me did I have enough money to fly down immediately.

I advised her I was 35 or 30 miles away from Dallas, Tex., that I was not in Arkansas, and that it was my intention to go to Dallas just as fast as possible. And she stated that she believed she would stay at the Baker Hotel, and asked me to meet her there.

I agreed to this. However, this meeting never did take place at the Baker Hotel.

Mr. Jenner. A meeting did take place at the Adolphus?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir. As prior testimony—at the Dallas police station, on the night of November 22, 1963.

Mr. Jenner. You referred to, on page 3—to a Fort Worth general office, and a gentleman by the name of Reger.

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. And that is the Fort Worth general office of the Acme Brick Co.?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. You mentioned another gentleman there. I don't know if I read your writing correctly. Bill——

Mr. Oswald. Darwin.

Mr. Jenner. Did you speak with him on that occasion that you related in your notes?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. And what was the purpose of your talking with those gentlemen?

Mr. Oswald. The purpose of talking to Mr. Darwin was to advise him that I needed to go to Dallas, and his immediate reply was yes, he had just heard—I believe he did say—about Lee, or about my brother, and that I was to do just anything that I deemed necessary and not worry about the office.

And he did inform me at the latter part of this conversation that the FBI had called the Fort Worth general office in an attempt to talk to me or to locate me.

Mr. Jenner. Was any suggestion made by him at that time that you get in touch with the Fort Worth Office of the FBI?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I advised him that I would contact the FBI upon completion of our conversation.

Mr. Jenner. And you did so?

Mr. Oswald. I did so.

Mr. Jenner. And a reference to that——

Mr. Dulles. By telephone?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. A reference to that appears on page 4 of your memorandum.

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. I won't go into that interview. But on that occasion, and all other occasions when you had interviews with, or were interviewed either by the FBI or Secret Service, you related the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the best of your knowledge and information at the time you were being interviewed?

Mr. Oswald. That is right.

Mr. Jenner. At this moment, had you contacted anyone other than those you have now mentioned?

Up to this point of the sequence of events?

Mr. Oswald. May I qualify that question—outside of my office in Denton, Tex., sir.

Mr. Jenner. The office in Denton, Tex., the call to your mother, the call to Mrs. Oswald, your wife Vada, the call to the FBI office.

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

Mr. Jenner. Are all of the contacts that you had and all of the occasions of interviews during the period November 22, 1963, through the following week, November 25, recorded in your memorandum?

Mr. Dulles. I wonder if to save time we could ask him to review that memorandum and to report if he finds that there are other calls that were made.

Mr. Jenner. Will that be acceptable to you, Mr. McKenzie?

Mr. McKenzie. Fine.

Mr Dulles, it is a quarter of one. Being as how it is a quarter of one, I know you have a luncheon meeting to go to. Our plane does not leave until 5 o'clock. We have to leave here no later than 3:30. We will be glad to have lunch and come back, if it would suit your convenience.

Mr. Jenner. There are a couple of things, in the interests really of Mr. Oswald, that have turned up, when I studied the memorandum last night, that I am sure Mr. McKenzie would like to have.

Mr. Dulles. Yes; I would like to give Mr. McKenzie plenty of time.

If the car is there, I can wait another 5 or 10 minutes. But I think that it would be better if I were to come back.

We will recess at this time until 2 p.m.

(Whereupon, at 12:45 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)

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The President's Commission reconvened at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. Dulles. The Commission will come to order.

Mr. Jenner. Returning to page 1 of your memorandum, as I recall your recording of the events of that day, November 22, 1963, you first learned of the assassination or attempted assassination as of that moment of President Kennedy while you were at lunch with some fellow workers.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.