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. Well, one day he came by the office in Arlington and talked
to me for about an hour, and I told him what I have told you about what
I remembered about Oswald, and then I gave him the information that I
had gathered about some other people who possibly had pictures. And
this was something else I was getting around to. I did talk to some of
the people named in this story, in Fort Worth, in an attempt to get
some pictures, and he went to--went ahead and contacted them anyway
after I had already talked to them. He was a little more persistent
than I was, and it is his story and his job, and I was just doing it
in my spare time, but I didn't get too far in locating any pictures,
and he decided to go ahead and try a little harder with some of the
people that I had already talked to. One of whom was Nick Ruggieri, who
at that time, or at the time Oswald came to high school, was B-team
football coach at Arlington Heights High School, and Oswald had come
out for football. Now this is not what Ruggieri told me. This is what
Jackson told me and what I have read in the story.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you talk to Ruggieri?
Mr. VINSON. Yes; I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you discuss this with him?
Mr. VINSON. Yes. And he told me he barely remembered the kid, something
to that effect. He said he had come out for a few days and just didn't
show up after awhile. There is something in the story I think, that
gives that, and I think it quotes another coach who said he quoted
Oswald as saying it was a free country, or something, that he didn't
have to run sprints, if he didn't want to, or something to that effect.
Mr. LIEBELER. When you talked to Ruggieri, he didn't mention anything
about that, did he?
Mr. VINSON. No; he didn't. He just brushed it aside very hurriedly. He
didn't remember much about it except he had come out for the B-team and
he had disappeared after a few days.
Mr. LIEBELER. On page 72, of the article, Ruggieri is quoted as saying,
"I told the boy myself that if he wanted to play, he had to finish
practice with a sprint, just like the others.
"He gave me the same answer. I told him to hand in his cleats."
The answer refers to a statement that Oswald is reported to have made
to Ruggieri that he, Oswald, would not sprint with the other boys,
saying that this was a free country and he didn't have to run if he
didn't want to.
Did you ever discuss this subject with Ruggieri?
Mr. VINSON. No; I didn't. I don't know if he was just being evasive and
didn't want to answer me, or what. But like I say, I didn't press him
for any direct information about Oswald, but I just casually asked if
he knew him.
I believe I didn't even ask him anything specifically about Oswald.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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