To whom it may concern,
Becaus we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you.
Sincirely
Mrs. M. Oswald 276

He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his 16th birthday.277 After his birthday, he tried to enlist in the Marines, using a false affidavit from his mother that he was 17.278 (Some years before, John Pic had joined the Marine Corps Reserve by means of his mother's false affidavit that he was 17.) 279 The attempt failed, and, according to his mother's testimony, Lee spent the next year reading and memorizing the "Marine Manual," which he had obtained from Robert and "living to when he is age 17 to join the Marines."

He worked for the rest of the school year. Between November 10 and January 14, he was a messenger boy for Gerald F. Tujague, Inc., a shipping company, where he earned $130 per month.281 His employer remembers him as a quiet, withdrawn person.282 In January he worked briefly as an office boy for J. R. Michels, Inc.283 For several months thereafter, he was a messenger for the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory.284 His military record subsequently described his prior civilian jobs as follows: