Well, like I said, my son-in-law contacted her because we hadn't heard from her in a very long time, so he looked in the telephone book over there and found her number.

Mr. Jenner.

What is your son-in-law's name?

Mrs. Murret.

Emile O'Brien. He called her and he told us that she said that she had this accident, like I told you before, so I called her, I think, or her brother--I can't remember which. Anyway, we sent her a box of clothes at Christmas time, anything that we could think of, and then I sent her money at different times during the week, as much as I could afford and so forth, and she said she was trying to get this hardship discharge for Lee so he could leave the Marines and come home.
It was pretty near time for him to get out, but when he came in, he only stayed there for 2 days at her house, or 1 day, or whatever it was, and he said, "Well, this is it; this is not for me," and he left, and that's when she called me and she said she thought he was coming to New Orleans and that he would be coming by bus, she thought, and that maybe he would be coming to my house, but for me not to tell him that she had called me, but I never saw Lee or anything.

Mr. Jenner.

Did he contact you at all?

Mrs. Murret.

No; I never saw Lee or never heard any more from him until the next thing I knew was when she told me she received this letter, I think, from Russia.

Mr. Jenner.

She called you and told you about that?

Mrs. Murret.

Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

Now, during all this time that he was in the Marines, he didn't write you, did he?

Mrs. Murret.

I never heard from him; no, sir.

Mr. Jenner.

The only time he saw you was on that one Saturday?

Mrs. Murret.

Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

And when he was here on that Saturday, he told you he was going to be stationed at Keesler Field.

Mrs. Murret.

That's right.

Mr. Jenner.

Did he say anything about what his experiences had been in the Marines?

Mrs. Murret.

He didn't say anything. It was a rush affair. He came up and rang the bell, and he was in uniform, and he said, "What do you think, the people on the bus thought I was a cadet, and here I am a big Marine." We took him out to lunch, and we left him off at the Custom House, like I said, and that was the end of that. But, maybe you might like to know this: before Lee went into the Marines, while he was in New Orleans and they were going to live on Exchange Alley, I think he tried to join the service then, a branch of the service. I don't know which branch or anything, but anyway, he must have gone to the induction station and they told him that he could sign up if his mother would sign. Now, he met her in town, I think, and he was all excited and he wanted to join the Marines or whatever it was he was going to join. I can't remember if it was the Marines, and he said, "If you will sign for me, I can go." And she said, "No; I am not going to sign for you," so he was very indignant about the whole thing, and he told her that she was stopping him from going in, so then that went around for a while, and then he came back and told her that if she would sign an affidavit, go to the lawyer's office and sign an affidavit, that he would be able to get in, so she went around to the lawyer's office. with him, and I think it was in Mr. Sere's office--he has expired since then--and Mr. Sere told her, "Well, since you can't do anything with him, and if that's what he wants to do, well, go ahead and let him go." So the affidavit was signed for him to go in the service, so then the next step was that when he got over to the place--I don't know whether it was the auditorium or not that they sent him over with his suitcase but the person who was in charge there wouldn't let him sign up, wouldn't let him go, and that was that.

Mr. Jenner.

You mean they wouldn't take the affidavit? They wouldn't admit him on the affidavit?

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