Post by Rob Caprio on Sept 8, 2019 20:04:38 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2024
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The Warren Commission (WC) claimed Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) shot and killed President John F. Kennedy (JFK) all by himself on November 22, 1963. They then claimed he used PUBLIC transportation to leave the scene of the crime to reach his boarding house in the Oak Cliff area. What assassin uses public transportation to flee a scene of a crime? Well, if he can’t drive he does NOT have a choice. The WC claimed that a man who could not drive an automobile had killed JFK and then tried to flee using public transportation.
This post will look at this aspect more closely.
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Probably one of the most logical questions asked during District Attorney (DA) Henry Wade’s Friday night press conference was about this issue.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/pages/WH_Vol24_0430b.gif
Q: Mr. Wade, is this the first time the Dallas Transit Company has ever been used for a getaway car? (CE 2170, p. 2)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0430b.htm
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This was such a logical question that the transcript ends with it! There is NO answer from Wade to it. Why? Who would plan on making an escape using public transportation after having just shot and killed the President of the United States (POTUS)?
It seems LHO took the time to fill out an application for a Texas Driver’s License, but we do not know the exact date he did this due to no date appearing on the form. This form was designated Commission Exhibit (CE) 112 and this is what Marina Oswald said about why LHO may have filled this out.
CE 112: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0254a.jpg
Mr. THORNE. May I clarify the exhibit? It is an application for a Texas driver's license. Standard form application.
Mr. RANKIN. We offer in evidence Exhibit 112.
Mrs. OSWALD. It is quite possible that Lee prepared that, because Ruth Paine insisted on Lee's obtaining a license.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you hear her insist?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. She said it would be good to have.
Mr. RANKIN. And when was that?
Mrs. OSWALD. October or November.
Mr. RANKIN. 1962?
Mrs. OSWALD. '63.
The form and her comments show us some things. First of all, like the alleged FM-8 card LHO allegedly applied for and the fingerprint card that was completed after he was dead we see the occupation for LHO listed as a “photographer” on this application. Again, I ask, when was LHO employed as a photographer? Why do we constantly see this listed as LHO’s occupation when he was NOT employed as a photographer? Is it possible this was LHO’s cover for what he was really doing? Ruth Paine claimed it was simply what “he wanted to do” in her testimony.
Representative FORD - I was just noticing in the upper right-hand corner on the one side he lists his occupation as photographer.
Mrs. PAINE - This is what he wanted to do, not what he was doing.
This is not realistic though as we are suppose to list what we ARE doing for the occupation, NOT what we want to be doing. I’m sure many people are doing something they don’t really want to be doing, but if we followed this example there would be a lot of misleading information on documents like this if we could list what we WANT to be doing under “occupation”.
Secondly, based on Marina Oswald’s comments, IF LHO planned on killing JFK when he came to Dallas on November 22, 1963, why would he bother learning how to drive and securing a Texas driver’s license? True, learning to drive would assist him in getting away, but after you killed the POTUS would driving without a license be that big of a deal? Another point could be that it would have been more beneficial for him to get a driver's license in a his alleged alias' name than his own. We see this pattern through the evidence for the alleged rifle order, but here we are asked to believe he would use his real name? Why?
Marina Oswald said she thinks Ruth Paine encouraged him to do this in November 1963. We see evidence in Ruth Paine’s testimony to support this too.
Mrs. PAINE - There were two occasions when we practiced parking, one in the larger parking lot just backing into, pretending there were cars there to back between, as in parallel parking, and another occasion directly in front of my house. On this second occasion directly in front of my house he finally learned how to do it. He had had a bad time, getting his wheels too cramped and not getting in, and getting his wheels straightened out, a beginner's mistakes….And then he saw that it was when he then got into the parking place correctly, and quite soon got the feel of it but this was clearly his first experience doing it right, and then he practiced doing it right several times, and he learned quite well, I thought.
Representative FORD - On these subsequent occasions did he ask you to help him or did he take the keys and do it on his own initiative?
Mrs. PAINE - No, he never took the keys. I offered to give him--give Lee lessons on Sunday afternoons and we managed to do it a few Sunday afternoons, I think three altogether and there were a couple of weekends when we didn't get the lesson in, something intervened.
Representative FORD - This was in October of 1963?
Mrs. PAINE - October and November. I think the last lesson was November 10, being the last Sunday.
So this testimony shows the timeframe Marina Oswald mentioned and would explain why LHO would apply for a driver’s license in November 1963. What it doesn’t explain is why he would bother when he supposedly knew he was going to shoot the POTUS in a few weeks and wound up in jail or dead. Or at least, why apply for one in his OWN name when he had shown an alleged penchant for using his "alias" in other situations according to the WC. Ruth Paine confirmed that LHO was going to apply for a Texas driver’s license as well in her testimony.
Representative FORD - Did he indicate to you when he might apply for a driver's license?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes. Oh, yes...
Mr. JENNER - Take his initial test?
Mrs. PAINE - Take his test, and suggested that he go from Dallas himself to take this test. Then he called us Saturday afternoon of the 16th to say he had been and tried to get his driver's permit but that he had arrived before closing time but still to late to get in because there was a long line ahead of him, the place having been closed both the previous Saturday for election day and the following Monday, the 11th, Veteran’s Day. There were a lot of people who wanted to get permits and he was advised that it wouldn't pay him to wait in line. He didn't have time to be tested.
Mr. JENNER - Could I review this with you a little bit? Did Lee Harvey Oswald on this occasion tell you in the course of what limited telephone conversation you had with him, that he had gone to the driver's license application bureau?
Mrs. PAINE - No; he told Marina.
Mr. JENNER - And did--he told Marina and then Marina in turn told you?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
This testimony shows as late as the weekend BEFORE the assassination LHO was going to try and obtain a driver’s permit. Why would he bother when he was planning to shoot JFK supposedly in less than a week? During Ruth Paine’s testimony we see this summation of what is written at the top of the Texas Driver’s License application and this is helpful since it is hard to read some of it.
Mr. JENNER - Perhaps we will have to have it interpreted by someone else. It looks like a "4" to me, but it may be a "1." This birthday, October 18, 1939. The age last birthday 24, and then under "occupation" appears the word I have already related. Sex, male; color of eyes, gray; weight, 146 pounds; race, the letter "C"; color of hair, brown; height, 5 foot 9 inches.
We see the color “grey” for his eyes on this form, but as we have seen before LHO’s eye color was listed as grey, blue, hazel, brown, and combination of some of these colors. The same with the height, here it is 5 foot 9 inches, but on other official documents it was listed as 5 foot 11 inches. Still further documents listed it as 5 foot 10 inches. Why all the discrepancies? Some WC defenders have said this was all due to “human error”, but of course offered no evidence to support this claim.
Ruth Paine would say on the morning of November 9, 1963, she would take LHO to the driver’s license application bureau.
Mr. JENNER - I would like to confirm with you, if I can, Mrs. Paine your recollection is that Lee Oswald had come home on the evening of November 8, and that it was the following day, the following morning, the 9th, that you took him, with Marina, to the driver's license application bureau.
Mrs. PAINE - That is right.
The office was closed this day for elections, and would be closed on the following Monday (November 11, 1963) for Veteran’s Day.
Mr. JENNER - Do you recall doing some shopping on the morning of the 9th after you had gone to the driver's license bureau and found it closed?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes, we shopped at a dime store immediately adjacent, or in the same shopping center as the driver's license bureau.
Again, I have to ask, why was LHO bothering with all of this when he planned to shoot JFK in two weeks time? Some may say that he was trying to get a license so he could flee after the assassination in a car, but what car would he have used? Or did he need a license in his own name to drive a car to flee in? Also, why did he go through with the alleged shooting when he knew he had not secured a driver’s permit? Or, why did he NOT start this process earlier? These are all questions that have never been answered. Keep in mind, one can learn to drive without getting a license. Especially someone who was allegedly planning to shoot the POTUS. I doubt they would worry about small things like that. Finally, why not get it in his alleged alias' name?
If we recall the Albert Bogard story, and accept it as being true (something that I don’t do), we have to ask why was LHO seeking a driver’s license when he seemed to know how to drive already! Even Ruth Paine did NOT believe this could have been LHO at the dealership since she said they had NOT stopped at one that day.
Mr. JENNER - Now, at any time during that morning drive did you by any chance stop by a car dealers?
Mrs. PAINE - No.
Mr. JENNER - Either going to or from the driver's license bureau?
Mrs. PAINE - No, we did not stop at a car dealers.
Mr. JENNER - What is your opinion as to whether Lee Oswald could have been at the Lincoln-Mercury dealership in downtown Dallas on that day?
Mrs. PAINE - I think he could not have been.
Mr. JENNER - Was he out of your sight other than the period of time it took you to go to the polls to vote that day?
Mrs. PAINE - It is entirely possible that I made a short trip to the grocery store in the afternoon. But I would say he was not out of my sight for any length of time.
We see it was NOT possible for LHO to be at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership test driving a car on November 9, 1963, UNLESS you believe Ruth Paine was not being honest here. Michael Paine, Ruth’s husband, would say she did mention going to the driver’s bureau on November 9, 1963.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you know what Oswald did on Saturday morning, November 9, 1963?
Mr. PAINE - No.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you know that he was taken by your wife to apply for a driver's license and take a driver's license test on that morning?
Mr. PAINE - She told me sometime subsequently that she had taken him for--wait. I remember the incident that he had arrived on a Saturday morning at the drivers' license bureau, stood in line for a long time but they cut off the line at 12 o'clock and he did not stay there long enough for him to get his driver's license student permit.
This pretty much eliminates LHO from the Albert Bogard sighting, so who was it that was impersonating him on November 9, 1963 at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership?
CE 113 was a Texas handbook that went over the rules of the road, and Marina Oswald said this about it in her testimony.
Mr. THORNE. Exhibit 113 is a driver's handbook published by the State of Texas.
Mrs. OSWALD. We had this book for quite some time. George Bouhe had given that to Lee if he at some time would try to learn how to drive.
CE 113: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0255a.jpg
But when we go to George Bouhe’s testimony he is NOT asked about this at all. Why NOT? IF Bouhe was not holding this for LHO where did he get it from then?
Another person who knew LHO somewhat was Wesley Frazier and he was asked if LHO had applied for a driver’s license or had one already during his WC testimony.
Mr. BALL - Did you ever ask him afterward if he had taken his driver's test?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; I never did. I assumed that he had taken it and passed it what part of the test he was taking. Most men do, I say, they usually work at it, study at it good enough so they don't flunk out.
Representative FORD - Did Lee ever ask you or did Lee ever tell you whether he had ever actually applied for a driver's license?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; he never had, except I told you that weekend that he said he was going down to take his driving test, and so I knew from being in the State of Texas that you have to know something; you have to have the manuals and so forth to study up on it. Or there isn't any use going down there if you don't know the rules because you are not wasting any time but your own.
We see Wes Frazier was not sure if LHO ever took the driver’s test, but he obviously knew LHO planned on doing so. He also mentions a need for the manual, and again, it seems LHO had one, but we don’t know where and how he got it since the claim by Marina Oswald was never checked out.
It seems Ruth Paine was not the only one encouraging LHO to get a driver’s license as Michael Paine told LHO he could benefit from having one.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you ever discuss with him driving an automobile or obtaining a driver's license?
Mr. PAINE - I probably said it would be well to get a driver's license. It would be well--I probably said, "You probably need a car to get around here." In other words, effectively; no.
If we look at the testimony of those close to LHO we again see an inconsistent message about LHO’s driving skills. Ruth Paine had said she had taught him to how to park, but by no means did she say he could drive from what I see in her testimony. In CE 424 we see a comment that LHO had been taught a little by his uncle in regards to how to drive.
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www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pages/WH_Vol17_0087b.jpg
Lee told me that he learned a little from his uncle how to drive a car. It would be very useful for him to know how to drive. (CE 424)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0087b.htm
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No one can disagree that it would be “useful” to know how to drive and have a car, but how could LHO afford a car on his salary and frequent periods of unemployment? Of course LHO’s uncle was never called to see if this was a true claim by Marina Oswald so we don’t know if it was or not. If we accept it then we see he got a little training from his uncle and from Ruth Paine, but this does NOT show that he could drive an automobile.
Members of his family were under the impression that he did NOT know how to drive an automobile. His brother, Robert Oswald, testified to this before the WC.
Mr. JENNER. Well, I have in mind his interest now. Was he a good driver?
Mr. OSWALD. To my knowledge, he did not drive.
Mr. JENNER. He did not drive at all?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he did not.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever see him drive an automobile?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not. On two or three occasions in later years, I offered to teach him to drive…. And I said, "Well, we can start right now"… Well, he didn't think that was the time to try to start. He did want to learn how to drive, though. And he did not take the wheel.
Mr. JENNER. He did not?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir. At no time was I present when he took the wheel of a car and drove it.
We see his brother offered to teach him and he said no as he was NOT interested in learning how to drive. LHO’s aunt, Lillian Murrett, would say pretty much the same thing as Robert Oswald.
Mr. JENNER - Did Lee know how to drive a car?
Mrs. MURRET - I don't think he did. I never saw him drive a car.
Mr. JENNER - You have never seen Lee behind the wheel of a car, operating an automobile?
Mrs. MURRET - Never.
Mr. JENNER - Did you ever hear that he did know how to drive an automobile, though?
Mrs. MURRET - No; I don't think he did, because when they went to New York, when he went with his mother, she drove. She always drove. I never knew him to drive.
Mr. JENNER - A what?
Mrs. MURRET - A photographer's job, or something like that, so he went down to a place in Metairie, but he had to drive a truck for that job, and he told me he couldn't take the job because he didn't know how to drive.
Mr. JENNER - He told you he couldn't drive then?
Mrs. MURRET - Yes; he said he couldn't take that job because he would have to drive a truck…. I don't think Lee ever did know how to drive a car. Maybe he did, but as far as I know, he didn't know how to drive.
Mr. JENNER - As far as you know, he couldn't drive?
Mrs. MURRET - No.
She too did NOT know of LHO being able to drive, and said he had to turn down a photographer’s job because it involved driving a truck. We know LHO had NO driver’s license because Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald said so, right?
Mr. JENNER - And in any event were you aware he had no driver's license?
Mrs. PAINE - I certainly was.
Mr. JENNER - Especially that week?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
And:
Mr. RANKIN. Did he have a driver's license that you know of?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Then how do we explain this that we saw in a post earlier in this series?
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harveyandlee.net/Driving/Frair%202.jpg
I saw with my own eyes the pink Texas driver's license (about 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches). The license had the name 'Lee Harvey Oswald' printed on the card as the licensee. The license was stained with some sort of brownish discoloration.
s/ Aletha Frair (John Armstrong, Harvey & Lee, p. 799)
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The discoloration would show the license had to be in a wallet for some time, but how could this be if LHO had NOT even sent his application in yet (CE 112 was found in his rooming house room)? Furthermore, how did he hide this from his wife and Ruth Paine?
Another family member, half-brother John Pic, told a different story about LHO’s driving skills.
Mr. JENNER - Here, again, you mean to the best of your recollection?
Mr. PIC - Yes, sir; to the best of my knowledge, that he made the statement he wasn't driving because of this dishonorable discharge he received. He was unable to obtain a driver's license. Then he told me he was attempting to get this changed, and he had written several letters to the Secretary of the Navy about getting it changed.
This adds even more confusion to the mix as he said LHO told him he could NOT obtain a driver’s license because of his “dishonorable discharge”, and thus, that is why he was NOT driving. I can’t attest to knowing what a dishonorable discharge can do to you, but I would think it wouldn’t bar someone from being approved for a driver’s license. If anyone knows otherwise let me know. Was LHO just telling Pic a story, or was he unable to obtain a driver’s license? If so, how do we explain the driver’s license seen by Aletha Friar in LHO’s name? We do know LHO had written the Secretary of the Navy, but was this the real reason why?
It would have behooved the WC if LHO could have driven as it would have saved them from the whole bus and cab routine they had to invent. We even see one of their favorite witnesses say LHO could drive.
Mr. RANKIN. Was your husband able to drive a car?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I think that he knew how. Ruth taught him how.
Ruth Paine said she simply had given him three lessons on how to park a car. As I asked before, what car would have LHO used if he could have driven? Well Ruth Paine’s of course as the WC went fishing here to try and show LHO could have taken the car without her knowledge or permission.
Mr. JENNER - October 13, when she sought to instruct Lee Harvey Oswald on the local parking lot--was it by a shopping center?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
Mr. JENNER - That he had gotten into the car, in the driveway, with the key and had turned on the motor of the car, had backed it up into the street.
Mrs. PAINE - And then proceeded to drive to the shopping center.
Mr. JENNER - Did you leave the key in the car?
Mrs. PAINE - I never leave the key in the car; I always lock it.
Mr. JENNER - That was your habit with respect to the ignition key?
Mrs. PAINE - I always lock the car and leave the ignition key in my purse.
Mr. JENNER - You never leave the ignition key around your home?
Mrs. PAINE - Well, my purse was in the home.
Mr. JENNER - So it was not in the open?
Mrs. PAINE - He had to go in the purse, never. Just how he got the car started, I recall my shock that he had. But I must have laid out the key or something because I did not intend for him to start it.
Mr. JENNER - You didn't give him the key on that occasion to go out and start the motor?
Mrs. PAINE - Absolutely not.
Mr. JENNER - But when you came out of the house he had already started the motor and backed the car into the street?
Mrs. PAINE - No, no; I let him back it out.
This showed that LHO had somehow started her car without her giving him a key to the automobile. IF it could have been shown that LHO could drive an automobile this would have been their way of showing how he could have taken Ruth Paine’s station wagon. Of course Dallas Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig had seen LHO enter a station wagon shortly after the assassination. Much more evidence shows LHO could NOT drive an automobile however, so we are left with wondering about the driver’s license seen at the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) in Austin by Aletha Friar that bore the name Lee Harvey Oswald on it.
I will end this post with the question that started it all—
Q: Mr. Wade, is this the first time the Dallas Transit Company has ever been used for a getaway car? (CE 2170, p. 2)
I sure wish we had gotten an answer to this question as it seems highly unlikely that someone would plan on escaping from where they just shot the POTUS from by public transportation. We are also left with the thought of LHO spending so much time on learning how to drive (somewhat) and applying for a driver’s license when we are lead to believe he was simultaneously planning on killing JFK. Why bother then? Also, why bother to apply for it using your real name when you were allegedly using an alias on other things?
Once again, we see unanswered questions that make us wonder about the final conclusion of the WC, and we see evidence in the twenty-six volumes of Hearings & Exhibits that make us doubt what we have been told, thus, the WC is again sunk.
neitshade5.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/lee-harvey-oswald.jpg
harveyandlee.net/Driving/Frair%201.jpg
The Warren Commission (WC) claimed Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) shot and killed President John F. Kennedy (JFK) all by himself on November 22, 1963. They then claimed he used PUBLIC transportation to leave the scene of the crime to reach his boarding house in the Oak Cliff area. What assassin uses public transportation to flee a scene of a crime? Well, if he can’t drive he does NOT have a choice. The WC claimed that a man who could not drive an automobile had killed JFK and then tried to flee using public transportation.
This post will look at this aspect more closely.
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Probably one of the most logical questions asked during District Attorney (DA) Henry Wade’s Friday night press conference was about this issue.
Quote on
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/pages/WH_Vol24_0430b.gif
Q: Mr. Wade, is this the first time the Dallas Transit Company has ever been used for a getaway car? (CE 2170, p. 2)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0430b.htm
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This was such a logical question that the transcript ends with it! There is NO answer from Wade to it. Why? Who would plan on making an escape using public transportation after having just shot and killed the President of the United States (POTUS)?
It seems LHO took the time to fill out an application for a Texas Driver’s License, but we do not know the exact date he did this due to no date appearing on the form. This form was designated Commission Exhibit (CE) 112 and this is what Marina Oswald said about why LHO may have filled this out.
CE 112: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0254a.jpg
Mr. THORNE. May I clarify the exhibit? It is an application for a Texas driver's license. Standard form application.
Mr. RANKIN. We offer in evidence Exhibit 112.
Mrs. OSWALD. It is quite possible that Lee prepared that, because Ruth Paine insisted on Lee's obtaining a license.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you hear her insist?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. She said it would be good to have.
Mr. RANKIN. And when was that?
Mrs. OSWALD. October or November.
Mr. RANKIN. 1962?
Mrs. OSWALD. '63.
The form and her comments show us some things. First of all, like the alleged FM-8 card LHO allegedly applied for and the fingerprint card that was completed after he was dead we see the occupation for LHO listed as a “photographer” on this application. Again, I ask, when was LHO employed as a photographer? Why do we constantly see this listed as LHO’s occupation when he was NOT employed as a photographer? Is it possible this was LHO’s cover for what he was really doing? Ruth Paine claimed it was simply what “he wanted to do” in her testimony.
Representative FORD - I was just noticing in the upper right-hand corner on the one side he lists his occupation as photographer.
Mrs. PAINE - This is what he wanted to do, not what he was doing.
This is not realistic though as we are suppose to list what we ARE doing for the occupation, NOT what we want to be doing. I’m sure many people are doing something they don’t really want to be doing, but if we followed this example there would be a lot of misleading information on documents like this if we could list what we WANT to be doing under “occupation”.
Secondly, based on Marina Oswald’s comments, IF LHO planned on killing JFK when he came to Dallas on November 22, 1963, why would he bother learning how to drive and securing a Texas driver’s license? True, learning to drive would assist him in getting away, but after you killed the POTUS would driving without a license be that big of a deal? Another point could be that it would have been more beneficial for him to get a driver's license in a his alleged alias' name than his own. We see this pattern through the evidence for the alleged rifle order, but here we are asked to believe he would use his real name? Why?
Marina Oswald said she thinks Ruth Paine encouraged him to do this in November 1963. We see evidence in Ruth Paine’s testimony to support this too.
Mrs. PAINE - There were two occasions when we practiced parking, one in the larger parking lot just backing into, pretending there were cars there to back between, as in parallel parking, and another occasion directly in front of my house. On this second occasion directly in front of my house he finally learned how to do it. He had had a bad time, getting his wheels too cramped and not getting in, and getting his wheels straightened out, a beginner's mistakes….And then he saw that it was when he then got into the parking place correctly, and quite soon got the feel of it but this was clearly his first experience doing it right, and then he practiced doing it right several times, and he learned quite well, I thought.
Representative FORD - On these subsequent occasions did he ask you to help him or did he take the keys and do it on his own initiative?
Mrs. PAINE - No, he never took the keys. I offered to give him--give Lee lessons on Sunday afternoons and we managed to do it a few Sunday afternoons, I think three altogether and there were a couple of weekends when we didn't get the lesson in, something intervened.
Representative FORD - This was in October of 1963?
Mrs. PAINE - October and November. I think the last lesson was November 10, being the last Sunday.
So this testimony shows the timeframe Marina Oswald mentioned and would explain why LHO would apply for a driver’s license in November 1963. What it doesn’t explain is why he would bother when he supposedly knew he was going to shoot the POTUS in a few weeks and wound up in jail or dead. Or at least, why apply for one in his OWN name when he had shown an alleged penchant for using his "alias" in other situations according to the WC. Ruth Paine confirmed that LHO was going to apply for a Texas driver’s license as well in her testimony.
Representative FORD - Did he indicate to you when he might apply for a driver's license?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes. Oh, yes...
Mr. JENNER - Take his initial test?
Mrs. PAINE - Take his test, and suggested that he go from Dallas himself to take this test. Then he called us Saturday afternoon of the 16th to say he had been and tried to get his driver's permit but that he had arrived before closing time but still to late to get in because there was a long line ahead of him, the place having been closed both the previous Saturday for election day and the following Monday, the 11th, Veteran’s Day. There were a lot of people who wanted to get permits and he was advised that it wouldn't pay him to wait in line. He didn't have time to be tested.
Mr. JENNER - Could I review this with you a little bit? Did Lee Harvey Oswald on this occasion tell you in the course of what limited telephone conversation you had with him, that he had gone to the driver's license application bureau?
Mrs. PAINE - No; he told Marina.
Mr. JENNER - And did--he told Marina and then Marina in turn told you?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
This testimony shows as late as the weekend BEFORE the assassination LHO was going to try and obtain a driver’s permit. Why would he bother when he was planning to shoot JFK supposedly in less than a week? During Ruth Paine’s testimony we see this summation of what is written at the top of the Texas Driver’s License application and this is helpful since it is hard to read some of it.
Mr. JENNER - Perhaps we will have to have it interpreted by someone else. It looks like a "4" to me, but it may be a "1." This birthday, October 18, 1939. The age last birthday 24, and then under "occupation" appears the word I have already related. Sex, male; color of eyes, gray; weight, 146 pounds; race, the letter "C"; color of hair, brown; height, 5 foot 9 inches.
We see the color “grey” for his eyes on this form, but as we have seen before LHO’s eye color was listed as grey, blue, hazel, brown, and combination of some of these colors. The same with the height, here it is 5 foot 9 inches, but on other official documents it was listed as 5 foot 11 inches. Still further documents listed it as 5 foot 10 inches. Why all the discrepancies? Some WC defenders have said this was all due to “human error”, but of course offered no evidence to support this claim.
Ruth Paine would say on the morning of November 9, 1963, she would take LHO to the driver’s license application bureau.
Mr. JENNER - I would like to confirm with you, if I can, Mrs. Paine your recollection is that Lee Oswald had come home on the evening of November 8, and that it was the following day, the following morning, the 9th, that you took him, with Marina, to the driver's license application bureau.
Mrs. PAINE - That is right.
The office was closed this day for elections, and would be closed on the following Monday (November 11, 1963) for Veteran’s Day.
Mr. JENNER - Do you recall doing some shopping on the morning of the 9th after you had gone to the driver's license bureau and found it closed?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes, we shopped at a dime store immediately adjacent, or in the same shopping center as the driver's license bureau.
Again, I have to ask, why was LHO bothering with all of this when he planned to shoot JFK in two weeks time? Some may say that he was trying to get a license so he could flee after the assassination in a car, but what car would he have used? Or did he need a license in his own name to drive a car to flee in? Also, why did he go through with the alleged shooting when he knew he had not secured a driver’s permit? Or, why did he NOT start this process earlier? These are all questions that have never been answered. Keep in mind, one can learn to drive without getting a license. Especially someone who was allegedly planning to shoot the POTUS. I doubt they would worry about small things like that. Finally, why not get it in his alleged alias' name?
If we recall the Albert Bogard story, and accept it as being true (something that I don’t do), we have to ask why was LHO seeking a driver’s license when he seemed to know how to drive already! Even Ruth Paine did NOT believe this could have been LHO at the dealership since she said they had NOT stopped at one that day.
Mr. JENNER - Now, at any time during that morning drive did you by any chance stop by a car dealers?
Mrs. PAINE - No.
Mr. JENNER - Either going to or from the driver's license bureau?
Mrs. PAINE - No, we did not stop at a car dealers.
Mr. JENNER - What is your opinion as to whether Lee Oswald could have been at the Lincoln-Mercury dealership in downtown Dallas on that day?
Mrs. PAINE - I think he could not have been.
Mr. JENNER - Was he out of your sight other than the period of time it took you to go to the polls to vote that day?
Mrs. PAINE - It is entirely possible that I made a short trip to the grocery store in the afternoon. But I would say he was not out of my sight for any length of time.
We see it was NOT possible for LHO to be at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership test driving a car on November 9, 1963, UNLESS you believe Ruth Paine was not being honest here. Michael Paine, Ruth’s husband, would say she did mention going to the driver’s bureau on November 9, 1963.
Mr. LIEBELER - Do you know what Oswald did on Saturday morning, November 9, 1963?
Mr. PAINE - No.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you know that he was taken by your wife to apply for a driver's license and take a driver's license test on that morning?
Mr. PAINE - She told me sometime subsequently that she had taken him for--wait. I remember the incident that he had arrived on a Saturday morning at the drivers' license bureau, stood in line for a long time but they cut off the line at 12 o'clock and he did not stay there long enough for him to get his driver's license student permit.
This pretty much eliminates LHO from the Albert Bogard sighting, so who was it that was impersonating him on November 9, 1963 at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership?
CE 113 was a Texas handbook that went over the rules of the road, and Marina Oswald said this about it in her testimony.
Mr. THORNE. Exhibit 113 is a driver's handbook published by the State of Texas.
Mrs. OSWALD. We had this book for quite some time. George Bouhe had given that to Lee if he at some time would try to learn how to drive.
CE 113: www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pages/WH_Vol16_0255a.jpg
But when we go to George Bouhe’s testimony he is NOT asked about this at all. Why NOT? IF Bouhe was not holding this for LHO where did he get it from then?
Another person who knew LHO somewhat was Wesley Frazier and he was asked if LHO had applied for a driver’s license or had one already during his WC testimony.
Mr. BALL - Did you ever ask him afterward if he had taken his driver's test?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; I never did. I assumed that he had taken it and passed it what part of the test he was taking. Most men do, I say, they usually work at it, study at it good enough so they don't flunk out.
Representative FORD - Did Lee ever ask you or did Lee ever tell you whether he had ever actually applied for a driver's license?
Mr. FRAZIER - No, sir; he never had, except I told you that weekend that he said he was going down to take his driving test, and so I knew from being in the State of Texas that you have to know something; you have to have the manuals and so forth to study up on it. Or there isn't any use going down there if you don't know the rules because you are not wasting any time but your own.
We see Wes Frazier was not sure if LHO ever took the driver’s test, but he obviously knew LHO planned on doing so. He also mentions a need for the manual, and again, it seems LHO had one, but we don’t know where and how he got it since the claim by Marina Oswald was never checked out.
It seems Ruth Paine was not the only one encouraging LHO to get a driver’s license as Michael Paine told LHO he could benefit from having one.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you ever discuss with him driving an automobile or obtaining a driver's license?
Mr. PAINE - I probably said it would be well to get a driver's license. It would be well--I probably said, "You probably need a car to get around here." In other words, effectively; no.
If we look at the testimony of those close to LHO we again see an inconsistent message about LHO’s driving skills. Ruth Paine had said she had taught him to how to park, but by no means did she say he could drive from what I see in her testimony. In CE 424 we see a comment that LHO had been taught a little by his uncle in regards to how to drive.
Quote on
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/pages/WH_Vol17_0087b.jpg
Lee told me that he learned a little from his uncle how to drive a car. It would be very useful for him to know how to drive. (CE 424)
www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0087b.htm
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No one can disagree that it would be “useful” to know how to drive and have a car, but how could LHO afford a car on his salary and frequent periods of unemployment? Of course LHO’s uncle was never called to see if this was a true claim by Marina Oswald so we don’t know if it was or not. If we accept it then we see he got a little training from his uncle and from Ruth Paine, but this does NOT show that he could drive an automobile.
Members of his family were under the impression that he did NOT know how to drive an automobile. His brother, Robert Oswald, testified to this before the WC.
Mr. JENNER. Well, I have in mind his interest now. Was he a good driver?
Mr. OSWALD. To my knowledge, he did not drive.
Mr. JENNER. He did not drive at all?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he did not.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever see him drive an automobile?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; I did not. On two or three occasions in later years, I offered to teach him to drive…. And I said, "Well, we can start right now"… Well, he didn't think that was the time to try to start. He did want to learn how to drive, though. And he did not take the wheel.
Mr. JENNER. He did not?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir. At no time was I present when he took the wheel of a car and drove it.
We see his brother offered to teach him and he said no as he was NOT interested in learning how to drive. LHO’s aunt, Lillian Murrett, would say pretty much the same thing as Robert Oswald.
Mr. JENNER - Did Lee know how to drive a car?
Mrs. MURRET - I don't think he did. I never saw him drive a car.
Mr. JENNER - You have never seen Lee behind the wheel of a car, operating an automobile?
Mrs. MURRET - Never.
Mr. JENNER - Did you ever hear that he did know how to drive an automobile, though?
Mrs. MURRET - No; I don't think he did, because when they went to New York, when he went with his mother, she drove. She always drove. I never knew him to drive.
Mr. JENNER - A what?
Mrs. MURRET - A photographer's job, or something like that, so he went down to a place in Metairie, but he had to drive a truck for that job, and he told me he couldn't take the job because he didn't know how to drive.
Mr. JENNER - He told you he couldn't drive then?
Mrs. MURRET - Yes; he said he couldn't take that job because he would have to drive a truck…. I don't think Lee ever did know how to drive a car. Maybe he did, but as far as I know, he didn't know how to drive.
Mr. JENNER - As far as you know, he couldn't drive?
Mrs. MURRET - No.
She too did NOT know of LHO being able to drive, and said he had to turn down a photographer’s job because it involved driving a truck. We know LHO had NO driver’s license because Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald said so, right?
Mr. JENNER - And in any event were you aware he had no driver's license?
Mrs. PAINE - I certainly was.
Mr. JENNER - Especially that week?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
And:
Mr. RANKIN. Did he have a driver's license that you know of?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Then how do we explain this that we saw in a post earlier in this series?
Quote on
harveyandlee.net/Driving/Frair%202.jpg
I saw with my own eyes the pink Texas driver's license (about 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches). The license had the name 'Lee Harvey Oswald' printed on the card as the licensee. The license was stained with some sort of brownish discoloration.
s/ Aletha Frair (John Armstrong, Harvey & Lee, p. 799)
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The discoloration would show the license had to be in a wallet for some time, but how could this be if LHO had NOT even sent his application in yet (CE 112 was found in his rooming house room)? Furthermore, how did he hide this from his wife and Ruth Paine?
Another family member, half-brother John Pic, told a different story about LHO’s driving skills.
Mr. JENNER - Here, again, you mean to the best of your recollection?
Mr. PIC - Yes, sir; to the best of my knowledge, that he made the statement he wasn't driving because of this dishonorable discharge he received. He was unable to obtain a driver's license. Then he told me he was attempting to get this changed, and he had written several letters to the Secretary of the Navy about getting it changed.
This adds even more confusion to the mix as he said LHO told him he could NOT obtain a driver’s license because of his “dishonorable discharge”, and thus, that is why he was NOT driving. I can’t attest to knowing what a dishonorable discharge can do to you, but I would think it wouldn’t bar someone from being approved for a driver’s license. If anyone knows otherwise let me know. Was LHO just telling Pic a story, or was he unable to obtain a driver’s license? If so, how do we explain the driver’s license seen by Aletha Friar in LHO’s name? We do know LHO had written the Secretary of the Navy, but was this the real reason why?
It would have behooved the WC if LHO could have driven as it would have saved them from the whole bus and cab routine they had to invent. We even see one of their favorite witnesses say LHO could drive.
Mr. RANKIN. Was your husband able to drive a car?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I think that he knew how. Ruth taught him how.
Ruth Paine said she simply had given him three lessons on how to park a car. As I asked before, what car would have LHO used if he could have driven? Well Ruth Paine’s of course as the WC went fishing here to try and show LHO could have taken the car without her knowledge or permission.
Mr. JENNER - October 13, when she sought to instruct Lee Harvey Oswald on the local parking lot--was it by a shopping center?
Mrs. PAINE - Yes.
Mr. JENNER - That he had gotten into the car, in the driveway, with the key and had turned on the motor of the car, had backed it up into the street.
Mrs. PAINE - And then proceeded to drive to the shopping center.
Mr. JENNER - Did you leave the key in the car?
Mrs. PAINE - I never leave the key in the car; I always lock it.
Mr. JENNER - That was your habit with respect to the ignition key?
Mrs. PAINE - I always lock the car and leave the ignition key in my purse.
Mr. JENNER - You never leave the ignition key around your home?
Mrs. PAINE - Well, my purse was in the home.
Mr. JENNER - So it was not in the open?
Mrs. PAINE - He had to go in the purse, never. Just how he got the car started, I recall my shock that he had. But I must have laid out the key or something because I did not intend for him to start it.
Mr. JENNER - You didn't give him the key on that occasion to go out and start the motor?
Mrs. PAINE - Absolutely not.
Mr. JENNER - But when you came out of the house he had already started the motor and backed the car into the street?
Mrs. PAINE - No, no; I let him back it out.
This showed that LHO had somehow started her car without her giving him a key to the automobile. IF it could have been shown that LHO could drive an automobile this would have been their way of showing how he could have taken Ruth Paine’s station wagon. Of course Dallas Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig had seen LHO enter a station wagon shortly after the assassination. Much more evidence shows LHO could NOT drive an automobile however, so we are left with wondering about the driver’s license seen at the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) in Austin by Aletha Friar that bore the name Lee Harvey Oswald on it.
I will end this post with the question that started it all—
Q: Mr. Wade, is this the first time the Dallas Transit Company has ever been used for a getaway car? (CE 2170, p. 2)
I sure wish we had gotten an answer to this question as it seems highly unlikely that someone would plan on escaping from where they just shot the POTUS from by public transportation. We are also left with the thought of LHO spending so much time on learning how to drive (somewhat) and applying for a driver’s license when we are lead to believe he was simultaneously planning on killing JFK. Why bother then? Also, why bother to apply for it using your real name when you were allegedly using an alias on other things?
Once again, we see unanswered questions that make us wonder about the final conclusion of the WC, and we see evidence in the twenty-six volumes of Hearings & Exhibits that make us doubt what we have been told, thus, the WC is again sunk.