Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. JENNER. Let's see. He was in the Marines at that time?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. I take it you also were?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. How long had you been in the Marines?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time I had been in the Marines over half a year.
I had been in the Reserve for many years. I had been on active duty for
over half a year.
Mr. JENNER. You were then 21 years of age?
Mr. THORNLEY. About; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Tell me about what your occupation and activity had been up
to the time you enlisted in the Marines.
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, the year before I was a student at the University
of Southern California, and before that I was a student at California
High School in Whittier, Calif.
Mr. JENNER. I take it then that you are a native Californian?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you receive your degree?
Mr. THORNLEY. No. I was--I completed my freshman year and then I went
on active duty to serve my 2-year obligation in the Marine Reserve.
Mr. JENNER. You did not return to college after you were mustered out
of the Marines?
Mr. THORNLEY. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Was your discharge honorable?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Where were you based when you first met Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. THORNLEY. At a subsidiary of El Toro Marine Base, referred to as
LTA, Santa Ana, Calif., or just outside of Santa Ana.
Mr. JENNER. What was your rank at that time?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time I was acting corporal.
Mr. JENNER. What was your assignment then?
Mr. THORNLEY. I was an aviation electronics operator. I was working in
an aircraft control center reading radarscopes and keeping track of
ingoing and outgoing flights.
Mr. JENNER. What was Lee Harvey Oswald's assignment and activity
service-wise at that period?
Mr. THORNLEY. At that time his assignments and activities were primary
janitorial. He was--he had lost his clearance previously, and if I
remember, he was assigned to make the coffee, mow the lawn, swab down
decks, and things of this nature.
Mr. JENNER. What were the circumstances as you learned of them, or knew
of them at the time, as to how or why he lost his clearance as you put
it.
Mr. THORNLEY. Well, I asked somebody, and I was told, and I don't
remember who told me, it was a general rumor, general scuttlebutt
at the time, that he had poured beer over a staff NCO's head in an
enlisted club in Japan, and had been put in the brig for that, and
having been put in the brig would automatically lose his clearance to
work in the electronics control center.
Mr. JENNER. I was going to ask you what losing clearance meant. You
have indicated that--or would you state it more specifically.
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