Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Return to New Orleans and Adolescent Social Experiences

After returning to New Orleans, Oswald was teased at school for his northern accent, and he concluded school had nothing to offer him. His mother exercised little control and let him decide for himself whether to continue his education. Neighbors recalled an introverted boy who read extensively, took walks, visited museums, and rode a rented bicycle in the park on Saturdays. Mrs. Murret believed he talked at length with a girl on the telephone, but he had no known dates, and a friend testified he was more bashful about girls than anything else. Witnesses described Oswald as non-aggressive overall, though he was involved in some fights: he was beaten by white boys for sitting in the Negro section of a bus out of ignorance, and he fought two brothers who claimed he had picked on the younger one. A large high school student later punched him in the mouth on his way home from school, loosening a tooth. From this incident stemmed a “mild friendship” with Edward Voebel. Voebel recalled Oswald once proposed breaking into a store on Rampart Street to steal a pistol, though they never carried out the plan. Voebel characterized Oswald as someone who would not start fights but would ensure they ended on his terms if provoked. On his ninth grade personal history record, Oswald wrote the names Edward Vogel and Arthor Abear, then erased them and indicated he had no close friends. The phonetic misspellings suggest a reading-spelling disability that appears throughout his writings.

Exposure to Communist Literature and Radical Statements

During this period, Oswald began reading Communist literature obtained from the public library. Fellow employee Palmer McBride stated that Oswald said he would like to kill President Eisenhower for exploiting the working class. Oswald praised Khrushchev and suggested he and McBride join the Communist Party to take advantage of their social functions. Oswald also joined the New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association, where, according to the association’s then-president William E. Wulf, he loudly expounded Communist doctrine, praised communism as the only way of life for the worker, and expressed dismay at being unable to find a Communist cell to join or anyone showing interest in him as a Communist. After an argument with Wulf’s father about communism, Oswald was asked to leave the house.

Motivations for and Enlistment in the Marine Corps

Despite his apparent interest in communism, Oswald tried to join the Marines at age 16, a year before his actual enlistment and approximately two and a half years after leaving New York. He wrote a note in his mother’s name to school authorities saying he was leaving because they were moving to San Diego, but in reality he had quit school to obtain his mother’s assistance in enlisting. Although she apparently made a false statement about his age, he could not convince the authorities he was really 17. Evidence indicates he was greatly influenced by his brother Robert’s enlistment three years earlier; he studied Robert’s Marine Corps manual until he knew it by heart. Marguerite Oswald said Lee lived for the day he could turn 17 and join the Marines. John Pic believed Oswald was motivated in large part by a desire to escape the “yoke of oppression” from his mother. Oswald’s ongoing difficulty forming meaningful relationships and dissatisfaction with his environment probably contributed to his intense desire to join the Marines and escape his surroundings. His study of Communist literature, though seemingly inconsistent with military service, may have been another manifestation of his rejection of his environment.

Marine Corps Service: Personality Traits and Authority Conflicts

Oswald’s difficulty relating to others and general dissatisfaction continued during his Marine Corps service. Kerry Thornley testified that the Marine Corps was not what Oswald had expected, and that Oswald seemed to guard against developing close friendships. Daniel Powers testified that Oswald seemed always striving for a relationship but that his general personality alienated groups against him. Other marines confirmed Oswald had few friends and kept to himself. Although his military records showed no psychological unfitness, he did not adjust well to the service and never rose above private first class despite passing the qualifying examination for corporal. His attitude that he was a man of great ability and intelligence and that many superiors were incompetent hindered his career. While he did not object to authority in the abstract, he believed he should be the one to exercise it. Former officer John E. Donovan testified that Oswald believed the Marine Corps should recognize talent like his without requiring a college degree. Oswald baited officers into discussions of foreign affairs where his knowledge exceeded theirs, then regarded them as unfit to command him. Nelson Delgado testified Oswald tried to “cut up” higher-ranking marines in such arguments and make himself come out on top. Thornley described Oswald’s extreme personal sloppiness as fitting a general pattern of doing whatever was not wanted of him, a recalcitrant trend. Thornley characterized Oswald as someone who would go out of his way to get into trouble, then used the resulting “special treatment” as evidence of being picked on and as a means of gaining sympathy. Thornley believed Oswald labored under a persecution complex, tending toward but not reaching paranoia. Powers considered Oswald meek, easily led, and capable of being brainwashed, but firm in his beliefs once formed. Powers described him as reserved, like a “frail, little puppy in the litter,” and he had the nickname “Ozzie Rabbit.” Oswald read serious literature such as Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” rather than westerns, and told Powers that the Marines only taught you to kill and that afterward you might be good gangsters. Powers believed that acquiring a girlfriend in Japan gave Oswald a sense of male status, making him more self-confident, aggressive, and pugnacious, transforming him from “Oswald the rabbit” to “Oswald the man.” Oswald told Powers he did not care if he returned to the United States.