Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. He did not understand the words--he just used
them. So how can you take seriously a person like that? You just laugh
at him. But there was always an element of pity I had, and my wife had,
for him. We realized that he was sort of a forlorn individual, groping
for something.
Mr. JENNER. Did you form any impression in the area, let us say, of
reliability--that is, whether our Government would entrust him with
something that required a high degree of intelligence, a high degree of
imagination, a high degree of ability to retain his equilibrium under
pressure, a management of a situation, to be flexible enough?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I never would believe that any government would
be stupid enough to trust Lee with anything important.
Mr. JENNER. Give me the basis of your opinion.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, again, as I said, an unstable individual,
mixed-up individual, uneducated individual, without background. What
government would give him any confidential work? No government would.
Even the government of Ghana would not give him any job of any type.
Mr. JENNER. You used the expression "unstable." Would you elaborate on
that?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, unstability--his life is an example of
his instability. He switched allegiance from one country to another,
and then back again, disappointed in this, disappointed in that,
tried various jobs. But he did it, you see, without the enjoyment of
adventure--like some other people would do in the United States, a new
job is a new adventure, new opportunities. For him it was a gruesome
deal. He hated his jobs. He switched all the time.
Mr. JENNER. Now, let's assume he switched jobs because he was
discharged from those jobs. Does that affect your opinion? That is,
assume now for the purpose of discussion that he lost every one of his
jobs.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, frankly, if I--you always base your opinion
on your own experience. If I had my own country since my childbirth,
and my government, I would remain faithful to it for the rest of my
life. He had a chance to be a marine. Here was a perfect life for
him--this was my point of view. He was a man without education, in the
Marines--why didn't he stay in the Marines all his life? You don't need
a high degree of intelligence to be a marine corporal or a soldier.
Mr. JENNER. That is, it was your thought----
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That was my idea.
Mr. JENNER. That if he had an objective that he could have had, it
would be to stay in the Marines and become a marine officer, and have a
career in the Marines.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right. Well, instead of that he disliked
it and switched to something else. I do not know the details of all his
jobs, you see, but I certainly can evaluate people just by looking at
them--because I have met so many people in my profession--you have to
evaluate them by just looking at them and saying a few words.
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