(Testimony of John E. Donovan)
Mr. Donovan.
this was quite boring. And this is when I had the most occasion to talk to him.
Mr. Ely.
It amazed me how much you remembered about Oswald in view of the fact that you were an officer and he was an enlisted man.
Do you think your memory of him is atypical, or would you remember all the enlisted men in that crew approximately the same?
Mr. Donovan.
I would remember, I believe, all of them equally well. Most of them I had served with in Japan.
Mr. Ely.
You had not known Oswald in Japan?
Mr. Donovan.
If I knew him in Japan, I don't remember. They played football on a team that I coached overseas, which to a degree gives you a common bond.
Number two, these are not typical marine enlisted. They have a much higher than average IQ. And they speak well on a given subject they are interested in--usually women and sports. But it was quite normal in working with them to talk with them about all subjects.
You were constantly in communication with the center concerning aircraft, if something was going on you talked to them on the intercommunication system. And it was quite ordinary to talk to them, standing at the back of the radar room in off hours.
I think I can remember all the men on that crew pretty well.
Mr. Ely.
All right. I derailed you there for a moment. You had mentioned what Lieutenant Trail had told you. And I don't think there is any point in going into that any further.
Well, let me chase down one thing you mentioned. You said that you thought the enlisted men on this crew were above average in terms of ability for Marine Corps enlisted men. Would you say that Oswald specifically was more intelligent than the average enlisted man, or would you just infer this from the fact that he was chosen for this job?
Mr. Donovan.
Both. I think he had a given IQ or GCT, General Classification Test score, that would place him in a position of being there. I also found him competent in any job I saw him try in the center. Sometimes he surveiled for unidentified aircraft. Sometimes he surveiled for aircraft in distress. Sometimes he made plots on the board. Sometimes he relayed information to other radar sites in the Air Force or Navy. And sometimes he swept the floor when we were cleaning up getting ready to go home. I found him competent in all functions.
Sometimes he was a little moody. But I never heard him wise off to a sergeant or any officer. And in working with most people, as long as they do their job, if they are moody, that is their business.
He was always neat. He was neat. Sometimes his lack of enthusiasm got people in dutch, which the other members of the crew did not always appreciate.
Mr. Ely.
When you say he was neat, was your only contact with him in regard to this crew? In other words, it was not your job to inspect his quarters or his rifle or his uniform?
Mr. Donovan.
His quarters were not exceptionally neat, and I did have occasion to inspect them.
But he always cleaned up sufficiently so that he passed inspection. I don't think he was that way by nature. But I think he had figured out that the Marine Corps demanded this of him. And he at least complied in that respect.
Mr. Ely.
Do you remember an occasion on which he was transferred out of a quonset hut because of a refusal to clean up?
Mr. Donovan.
I recall that there was some difficulty. Two or three inspections had gone badly. And that the other members of his quonset hut said he was at fault. It is difficult for a sergeant ever to say who is at fault. But after the complaints came in long enough, I believe he was transferred to another hut.
Mr. Ely.
But your general impression is that he was not especially----
Mr. Donovan.
Sloppy--no; he was not sloppy.
Mr. Ely.
I wonder, Mr. Donovan, if you could return to your description of the way Oswald performed his job, perhaps with particular reference to how he reacted to stress situations.
Mr. Donovan.
Yes. I have been on watch with him when an emergency
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