Warren Commission (08 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (08 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. VINSON. I know who he is. I remember that he was in my room that
year. We moved from that area uptown, and I only went to that school
1 year, and I remember his name, and I remember who he was, and I had
occasion to see him several other times in Fort Worth.
He went to TCU over there, and I think he was a cheerleader or
something, and I saw him at the TCU football games, and I just had run
across him several times, but recently not to speak to him. I just saw
him and remembered that he was in my room at grade school.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you discussed with him his recollection of Oswald?
Mr. VINSON. No; I didn't. I couldn't get hold of him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you try?
Mr. VINSON. Yes; I think I didn't try hard enough. I think I just
didn't get an answer at the house or something.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Mrs. Murphy tell you what conversation she had with
Barnes about Oswald?
Mr. VINSON. Let me back up a minute. I believe she told me that she
talked to Barnes' mother rather than Barnes himself, and Barnes' mother
repeated something that Barnes had told her about remembering Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, for whatever it is worth, what did Mrs. Murphy tell
you that Mrs. Barnes had told her, that Bill Barnes had told his mother
about Oswald?
Mr. VINSON. Well, this really apparently has no bearing on the thing,
but it just goes along with the whole business. Barnes said that he
remembered Oswald, and he remembered that the boy used to always ask
him why he was so big and strong and he replied in the manner of
Popeye, "I eat me spinach".
That I do remember, although as far as Oswald speaking is concerned, I
recall that I thought his dialect was a little unusual, and he would
say things like "Give me dat," or "dis" for this, and I took somehow I
took, or associated this with New England or New York or Brooklyn or
something, and I think this sort of substantiated my opinion of him
as a tough guy, because at that time all the gangster movies, all the
gangsters were always from Brooklyn and talked with a Brooklyn or sort
of dialect, and somehow I thought this made him tough.
But I later found out, of course, that he had lived in New Orleans and
possibly this had something to do with it, or possibly there was a
speech impediment. I don't know, but I do remember that was what--was
one thing that I do recall about him was the way he spoke.
Mr. LIEBELER. Apparently from what you have told us, he didn't have any
particular difficulty getting along with the other boys?
Mr. VINSON. Not that I recall at all. Now, I don't know what he did
after--outside of school. Like I say, to my knowledge, I knew a good
many of the boys in the class, and to my knowledge, none of them ever
played with him or went to his house for anything after school. They
could have, but I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did that seem strange to you at all, in view of the fact
that Oswald was referred to as a leader on the school ground?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account