Mrs. Evans.

Well, I mean, she couldn't put him in a home.

Mr. Jenner.

Because he was too young?

Mrs. Evans.

Because he was too young, that's right. The older boys could be put in a home in fact, of course, they were, but Lee was not yet 3 years old, and they have to be 3 before a home will take them.
She didn't want to go to the welfare, because once the welfare goes into a case and gets hold of a child, you have nothing but red tape and everything, and sometimes you have a hard job getting your child back, so she didn't want to fool with them, and yet she couldn't put him in the home, so she said there was nothing else for her to do but to try to get somebody to take care of him, which she did, and she was sorry she ever did that.

Mr. Jenner.

You say Lee denied to you during your discussion with him that he had ever tried to give up his American citizenship?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes; he said that he never intended to do that, but he just wanted to see the country, over in Russia, and see how they live and how the country looks, and so he went into Russia and got a job there and was working, and then he met this girl, and they got married, and he told me he would have been back sooner if he had figured out some way to get her out of the country. Actually he didn't seem to want to talk too much about it, and I didn't try to pump him too much, but I was just curious to see if he had had any change of mind, and what had really happened. I do feel that he was sympathetic with the Communist system of government, I mean, of the Russian system, but now I was only with him a few hours, and we just generally talked about his mother and his brothers, and his job, and looking for an apartment, and he didn't even tell me at the time that his wife was expecting another baby, and I was surprised when I heard that.

Mr. Jenner.

What did he say about his brothers and his mother?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, he said the boys where in Texas, and that his mother was fine, and that she was in Texas, and I think Robert, or one of them, had a couple of children. I think that was Robert that had a couple of children, and we just talked generally about things like that, you know.

Mr. Jenner.

Did you get the impression that he was patriotic toward the United States, or what kind of an impression did you get in talking to Lee?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, like I said, he seemed to be sympathetic toward Russia, but he told me that he was glad to be back in the United States, and that the only reason he was in Russia working at all was because he had married this Russian girl and wanted to get her out of the country, or he would have been back sooner.

Mr. Jenner.

Did he say anything about his having served in the Marines, anything about how he felt about that service, or did you know he was in the Marines?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, I sort of half way knew about it, maybe from his aunt; I don't know, but I don't even remember if Lee mentioned that fact in our discussion that day. I don't really remember that. I do know that he always wanted to go in the Marines.

Mr. Jenner.

He always wanted to go into the Marines?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes; he did.

Mr. Jenner.

Tell me about that. How do you know that?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, because when he was going to Beauregard, he wanted to be a marine.

Mr. Jenner.

He expressed that to you?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes; he always wanted to be a marine. He often said that.

Mr. Jenner.

Do you recall a period of time when he wasn't in high school, but he still lived there?

Mrs. Evans.

You mean in my apartment?

Mr. Jenner.

Yes.

Mrs. Evans.

No; because they moved from my house, and I lost contact with them.

Mr. Jenner.

But while they were living in your apartment, did he actually express a desire to go into the Marines?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes; he was always ambitious to be a marine, as far as I know.