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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. I - Page 226« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Mrs. Marguerite Oswald Resumed)

Mrs. Oswald.
Street, and went to New York City, not as a venture, but because my older son, John Edward Pic, lived in New York, and had lived in New York for years. He was in the Coast Guard, as a military man. He has now been in the service 14 years, and at that time it would have been approximately 8 or 9 years--I may be off because that is approximately. So he was stationed in New York. So I had no problem of selling my home and going there, thinking that John Edward would leave New York.
But the main thing was to be where I had family. And I moved to New York for that reason.
Mr. Rankin.
About what date was that?
Mrs. Oswald.
This was exactly August 1952, because I wanted to get there in time for Lee's schooling. And if I am not mistaken, Robert joined the Marines in July of 1952. And that was my reason for going.
I immediately enrolled Lee in a Lutheran school, because Lee was not confirmed--he was baptized in the Lutheran faith, but because of moving around--I had married Mr. Ekdahl in this period and so on, Lee was not confirmed.
I enrolled him in the Lutheran school which took him approximately an hour or longer by subway to get there. It was quite a distance. That is when we first arrived in New York.
I believe that Lee was in that school a very short time, 2 or 3 weeks, because at this time I was living in my daughter-in- law's home and son. And we were not welcome, sir. We were welcome for a few days. But then we were to get a place of our own--because her mother lived with her, and her mother had left to go visit a sister. So Lee and I could come to visit. But we were not going to live with John and his wife.
So we just stayed there a short time.
Mr. Rankin.
Was there any time that you recall that there was a threat of Lee Oswald against Mrs. Pic with a knife or anything like that?
Do you remember that?
Mrs. Oswald.
Yes, I do. I am glad you said that.
My daughter-in-law was very upset. The very first time we went there--I stated before, and I am glad I said that--that we were not welcome. And immediately it was asked what did we plan to do, as soon as we put our foot in the house.. And I had made it plain to John Edward that I was going to have a place of my own, that we were just coming there to get located.
My daughter-in-law resented the fact that her mother--this went on before I got there that her mother had to leave the house and go visit a sister so I could come, John Edward's mother. I had never met my daughter-in-law. She didn't like me, and she didn't like Lee.
So she what is the word to say--not picked on the child, but she showed her displeasure.
And she is a very--not, I would say so much an emotional person--but this girl is a-New Yorker who was brought up in this particular neighbor-hood, which I believe is a poor section of New York.
The mother had lived in this home all her life. And this girl cursed like a trooper. She is--you cannot express it, Mr. Rankin--but not of a character of a high caliber.
At this particular time she had never been out of this neighborhood, or out of New York. And Lee loved the little baby. And he played with the baby and wanted to hold the baby and everything, which she objected.
We were not wanted, sir, from the very beginning. So there was, I think now--it was not a kitchen knife it was a little pocket knife, a child's knife, that Lee had. So she hit Lee. So Lee had the knife-now, I remember this distinctly, because I remember how awful I thought Marjory was about this. Lee had the knife in his hand. He was whittling, because John Edward whittled ships and taught Lee to whittle ships. He puts them in the glass, you know. And he was whittling when this incident occurred. And that is what it occurred about, because there was scraps of the wood on the floor.
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