Mr. Jenner.

Did he have any visitors?

Mr. Thornley.

Not that I recall.

Mr. Jenner.

Was there any discussion at anytime about the possibility of his going to Russia?

Mr. Thornley.

No.

Mr. Jenner.

This was a complete surprise to you when you saw it in Stars and Stripes?

Mr. Thornley.

Somebody would say to him, "Why don't you go and live in Russia," in the middle of an argument.

Mr. Jenner.

I didn't mean that in that sense but did he volunteer a statement on his part about his going to Russia?

Mr. Thornley.

Never anything; no.

Mr. Jenner.

I take it it was your opinion he was not a Communist at the time he was assigned to El Toro?

Mr. Thornley.

That was my opinion.

Mr. Jenner.

I take it you have never seen or talked with Oswald subsequent to the time he left or you left for Japan, from El Toro?

Mr. Thornley.

No.

Mr. Jenner.

That is, my statement is correct.

Mr. Thornley.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner.

It follows, I take it, that you were never aware that he was in New Orleans when you were there?

Mr. Thornley.

No; I wasn't.

Mr. Jenner.

You were not aware of his comings and goings other than the newspaper report that your folks sent you?

Mr. Thornley.

I was aware that he had come back from the Soviet Union and gone to Dallas, and I know I at that time did think about going to see him in Dallas for the book, to find out just why he did go to Russia, to check it with my own theory.

Mr. Jenner.

I am going to get to that in due course.

Mr. Thornley.

But aside from knowing that he came back and went to live in Dallas with a Russian wife and a child I had no idea of his comings or goings.

Mr. Jenner.

At the time you had some notion of going to Dallas to see him or Fort Worth, as the case might be, it was with respect to the book you have talked about you were then in the process of writing or fulminating about?

Mr. Thornley.

Yes; it was practically--well, it was finished by that time but I was thinking about, I was definitely planning to rewrite it. I didn't know how soon, and I thought before I did rewrite it I would go talk to him and see what he could tell me about. There were a lot of gaps in the book, and in the book I was not able to explain how he got from the United States to Russia and things like that. A lot of things I wanted to check out and I thought if I could get him to cooperate with me, perhaps not even in telling him I was writing the book, I could get the information I wanted.

Mr. Jenner.

And this was the state of mind you had after you had heard that he returned to the United States?

Mr. Thornley.

Right.

Mr. Jenner.

Which was June of 1962, when he returned?

Mr. Thornley.

Right, and I had finished the book in February.

Mr. Jenner.

Of 1963?

Mr. Thornley.

1962.

Mr. Jenner.

1962. You were in Mexico and Mexico City in 1963?

Mr. Thornley.

Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

Cover that for us. What was the motivation, the length of the trip?

Mr. Thornley.

I will have to begin at the beginning on that. On April 17, my parents sent me a gift of $100 on the condition that I spend it for a bus ticket to visit them that summer. Which I did, and I left around- well, I arrived in California on May 5. I remember going along the border and seeing fireworks on the other side of the border.

Mr. Jenner.

What border?

Mr. Thornley.

From Yuma to San Diego.