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. THORNLEY. No; but I do have reason to believe that it wasn't true
of him in civilian life because it fitted into a general personality
pattern of his: to do whatever was not wanted of him, a recalcitrant
trend in his personality.
Mr. JENNER. You think it was deliberate?
Mr. THORNLEY. I think it tended to be deliberate; yes. It was a gesture
of rebellion on his part.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever discuss that matter with him, as dress.
Mr. THORNLEY. No.
Mr. JENNER. The attitude of rebellion?
Mr. THORNLEY. No; because this attitude of rebellion was a fairly
common thing in the service.
Mr. JENNER. On the part of others as well as Oswald?
Mr. THORNLEY. As well as Oswald. Oswald did carry it to--was the most
extreme example I can think of stateside. However, overseas, in the
outfit he had been in before, as I discovered later, this was quite
common.
Mr. JENNER. How much later?
Mr. THORNLEY. Three months--well, immediately, as soon as I left, as
soon as I got overseas. I walked in to the barracks on the Fourth
of July over there and saw beer bottles spread all over, and some
character sitting in the back of the barracks with a broken beer bottle
cutting his arm, for what reason I don't remember. They found beer cans
in a trash can in MACS 9 and there was a drastic investigation; so
there is an indication of a difference between stateside and overseas.
Oswald was typical, very typical of the outfit he had just left
overseas.
Mr. JENNER. So that it is your impression, you would say. I gather,
that as of that particular time when you first knew him that he was
still carrying some of his experience personal attentionwise from what
he had experienced overseas?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And he was still following the habits he had acquired
overseas?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Did you think it went beyond that, this unkemptness or this
sloppiness?
Mr. THORNLEY. It did go beyond that, because he seemed to be a person
who would go out of his way to get into trouble, get some officer or
staff sergeant mad at him. He would make wise remarks. He had a general
bitter attitude toward the Corps. He used to pull his hat down over his
eyes so he wouldn't have to look at anything around him and go walking
around very Beetle Bailey style.
Mr. JENNER. What is Beetle Bailey?
Mr. THORNLEY. Beetle Bailey is a comic strip character who walks around
with his hat over his eyes very much as Oswald did.
Mr. JENNER. You want to keep in mind, Mr. Thornley, I am an old man and
there are things I don't pick up or get hep to.
Mr. THORNLEY. This is nothing recent. This is a comic strip that has
been around quite a few years now.
Mr. JENNER. You go on and tell us about his personality.
Mr. THORNLEY. All right.
Mr. JENNER. Including any physical characteristics or habits.
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