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. It wouldn't have greatly surprised me if he was and it
wouldn't have greatly surprised me if he wasn't. This is something very
difficult: to look at a man and tell, at least it is very difficult for
me. I have seen some drill instructors who could do it. But to tell
whether he is going to be an expert or a sharpshooter, marksman, I am
not qualified.
Mr. JENNER. While you were stationed with him at El Toro, did you ever
go off base with him?
Mr. THORNLEY. No.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever have any discussion of dates?
Mr. THORNLEY. No.
Mr. JENNER. His attitude toward women?
Mr. THORNLEY. No.
Mr. JENNER. Sex?
Mr. THORNLEY. None whatsoever.
Mr. JENNER. Was there any scuttlebutt around the camp in that regard
with respect to him?
Mr. THORNLEY. Not to the best of my knowledge.
Mr. JENNER. Sex habits, propensities?
Mr. THORNLEY. No; you stand a risk in the Marine Corps, if you are
at all quiet and tend to be introverted, of being suspected of being
homosexual, but to the best of my knowledge there were never any
comments made of this nature.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall some other readings of his in addition to
"1984"?
Mr. THORNLEY. I do recall having mentioned Dostoievsky to him and I
know he had read something and I think it was "Crime and Punishment"
but I am not sure. It was something I had not read by Dostoievsky when
I had read about, I guess at that time, about three or four books.
Mr. JENNER. It is a great book.
Mr. THORNLEY. Someday I am going to get around to it.
Mr. JENNER. Have you not read it yet? It is a really great book.
Mr. THORNLEY. No; and I don't recall him mentioning any other books
offhand. I don't--I can't think of a thing besides "1984" and some book
by Dostoievsky.
Mr. JENNER. While you were based at El Toro did he engage, did you
notice, in any officer baiting on his part with respect, in particular,
to such matters as foreign affairs?
Mr. THORNLEY. Yes; not on foreign affairs, no, but the same officer,
Lieutenant Donovan, spoke of in a foreign affairs lecture in the
newspapers, I do remember him baiting him on a couple of occasions.
Mr. JENNER. Oswald attempting to bait Lieutenant Donovan?
Mr. THORNLEY. I don't remember what it was. I know, I believe
Lieutenant Donovan was also a lieutenant which I had had a couple of
run-ins with if I remember correctly.
If not, it was Lieutenant Delprado. It was one of the two of them. Mine
were completely accidental and I went to great length to keep away from
one of them because it seemed like any time I was around him I happened
to do something to irritate him. But Oswald, I don't recall exactly
what he said, but he a couple or three times went out of his way to
say something to one of these lieutenants that would cause them to be
irritated and in this you can't really say that he was exceptional. It
happened many times. In Oswald's case though, it was exceptionally----
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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