H A R V E Y A N D L E E:
THE MAN WHO COULD--AND COULDN'T--DRIVE
by Jim Hargrove
Marina Oswald and Ruth and Michael Paine all told the Warren Commission in no
uncertain terms that Lee Harvey Oswald did not drive an automobile and did not
have a driver's license. But John Armstrong has found more than thirty
witnesses who said Oswald did drive, including a former employee of the Texas
Department of Public Safety License Records Department who issued a signed
statement to a Garrison investigator stating that she had processed Oswald's
returned driver's license after he was killed. This article explores these
seeming contradictions.
Marina Oswald repeatedly told the Warren Commission that her husband did not
drive. For example:
Mrs. OSWALD. Never. No; this is all not true. In the first place, my husband
couldn't drive, and I was never alone with him in a car. Anytime we went in a
car it was with Ruth Paine, and there was never--we never went to any gun store
and never had any telescopic lens mounted. Mr. RANKIN. Did the four of you, that
is, your husband, you, and your two children, ever go alone any place in Irving?
Mrs. OSWALD. In Irving the baby was only 1 month old. I never took her out any-
where. Representative FORD. Did you ever go anytime---- Mrs. OSWALD. Just to
doctor, you know. Representative FORD. Did you ever go anytime with your husband
in a car with the rifle? Mrs. OSWALD. I was never at anytime in a car with my
husband and with a rifle. Not only with the rifle, not even with a pistol.
Even without anything I was never with my husband in a car under circumstances
where he was driving a car. (WC V, 401)
Michael Paine also indicated several times that Lee Harvey Oswald did not drive.
For example:
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever see Oswald drive a car? Mr. PAINE. No; I did not. (WC
II, 413)
In her Warren Commission testimony, Ruth Paine stated that as late as the
weekend before the assassination of JFK, Oswald had failed to obtain a learner's
permit so that he could eventually acquire a valid Texas driver's license.
Mr. JENNER. You did talk with him on the telephone?
Mrs. PAINE. That is my
recollection. I am certain that I talked with him, that he was surprised that he
didn't need a car. I had to tell him that he didn't need a car to take with him
to take his test.
Mr. JENNER. Take his initial test?
Mrs. PAINE. Take his test,
and suggested that he go from Dallas himself to take this test. Then he called
us Saturday afternoon of the 16th to say he had been and tried to get his
driver's permit but that he had arrived before closing time but still to late to
get in because there was a long line ahead of him, the place having been closed
both the previous Saturday for election day and the following Monday, the 11th,
Veterans Day. There were a lot of people who wanted to get permits and he was
advised that it wouldn't pay him to wait in line. He didn't have time to be
tested.
Mr. JENNER. Could you help us fix, can you recall as closely as possible
the day of the week, this is the weekend of the assassination, was it not?
Mrs. PAINE. The weekend before.
Mr. JENNER. The weekend before, and this conversation
you are now relating that you had with him in which he said that he had gone to
the driver's license station, when did that conversation with you take place?
Mrs. PAINE. That conversation was with Marina, and she told me about it.
Mr. JENNER. When did she tell you about it? Mrs. PAINE. He called her, it
must have
been Saturday afternoon, soon after he had been, he went Saturday morning and
they closed at noon.
Mr. JENNER. I see. This was the weekend he did not come out
to Irving?
Mrs. PAINE. This was the weekend he did not come out. (WC II, 516)
Marina and the Paines clearly testified that Oswald did not drive and did not
have a driver's license. It is remarkable, then, that more than thirty people
told the Warren Commission, the FBI, and/or Garrison investigators that Oswald
did drive, some saying they had seen his Texas driver's license. Here is the
complete list of names assembled as of 1997 by John Armstrong:
Cliff Shasteen Joyce Bostic Leonard Hutchinson
Inez Laake Fred Moore Gayle Scott Malcolm Price
Peggy Smith Floyd Guy Davis Mrs. Ernie Isaacs Gertrude Hunter
Margaret Budreau Edith Whitworth
Clifford Wormser Red Pope FBI Agent Bob Barrett
Leo Sepulveda Captain Westbrook Sonny Stewart
Edward Brand Robert Janca Garland Slack
Robert Roy William J. Chesher Al Bogard
Howard Price W.M. Hannie Sterling Wood
Mrs. Lee Bozarth Dr. Homer Wood Aletha Frair
Randy Sundy
Let's look at the testimonies of a few of these people.
Barber shop owner Cliff Shasteen recalled for the Warren Commission how Oswald
drove up to his establishment for a haircut on perhaps a half-dozen occasions in
a two-toned "blue and white or green and white" station wagon:
Mr. JENNER. You have a distinct recollection that on occasions when this man
came into your shop for a haircut, he drove an automobile up to your shop?
Mr. SHASTEEN. He drove that there 1955, I think it's a 1955, I'm sure
it's a 1955
Chevrolet station wagon. It's either blue and white or green and white it's
two-toned--I know that. Now, why I say--why I take it for granted that Mrs.
Paine was with him when he come to the grocery store--I do remember he wasn't
driving when they would come to the grocery store, there would be a lady driving
and I'm assuming that that was Mrs. Paine, because like I say, I have been--I
have never been close enough to her and knew it, to speak to her, but she trades
at the service station where I do and I saw her in there and I never did pay any
attention to her and I saw her passing, met her in the road in the car and those
things. (WC X, 317)
Edith Whitworth operated a used furniture store at 149 East Irving Boulevard and
recalled how Oswald drove to her store in a "two-toned blue and white"
automobile:
Mr. LIEBELER. You saw him drive up in the car?
Mrs. WHITWORTH. Yes; because it
was all glass in front and I was sitting at the--well, it's the cash stand-- we
call it there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which direction was he driving the ear at that time?
Mrs. WHITWORTH driving west on a one-way street--that's a one way there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Running from east to west?
Mrs. WHITWORTH. East to west.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of a ear did he have, Mrs. Whitworth?
Mrs. WHITWORTH. Well,
as far as I can remember--I wouldn't be---I wouldn't say for sure. All I can say
is that I believe, you know, not paying a lot of attention to the ear and the
ear not meaning anything at that time, that it was a two-tone blue and white. It
was either a Ford or a Plymouth. Now, I wouldn't swear to that, but it was
either one the ear didn't mean anything to me at that time. Anyway, he came in
and he stood--. (WC XI, 264)
Gertrude Hunter was a friend of Furniture Mart owner Edith Whitworth. Gertrude
Hunter confirmed her friend's statement, indicating she too had seen Oswald
drive a "two-tone blue Ford."
Mr. LIEBELER. It appears from information that has been provided to us by the
FBI that you were in a store operated by Mrs. Whitworth sometime in 1963--that
was formerly operated by Mrs. Whitworth--at which time people who you now
believe to be Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife and-children came into the store,
is that correct?
Mrs. HUNTER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you tell us all the
circumstances surrounding that event as best you can remember them?
Mrs. HUNTER.
Well, it was after 2 o'clock and I had went down to talk to her--we were
planning on a football trip and we were just sitting there in the store talking,
discussing football games, and who was going with who and all, and this man
drove up out in front of the store and he got out and he come in and he asked
for a gunsmith.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the car drive up?
Mrs. HUNTER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see who was driving it?
Mrs. HUNTER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was this man driving it?
Mrs. HUNTER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How many people were in the car?
Mrs. HUNTER. Just him and a woman and two children.
Mr. LIEBELER.Nobody else?
Mrs. HUNTER. No one else.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are quite sure about that?
Mrs. HUNTER. I'm positive, because I was sitting right there I was sitting
this way and the door was right here [indicating], and he drove cater-cornered
up.
Mr. LIEBELER. And there are glass windows in the front of the store so that
you could see right out into the street?
Mrs. HUNTER. It is a solid glass there and the door was standing open there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know about what kind of car it was?
Mrs. HUNTER. Now, the reason I'm definite about the car--a friend
of .mine in Houston--I was looking for them up and they had a car just like this
and I had left a note on my mailbox that I would be at this place--- telling
them if anyone come I would be at this place and when they drove up I thought
that was them and it was a two-tone-blue Ford.
Mr. LIEBELER. What year?
Mrs. HUNTER. 1957 or 1958--I won't be positive about that, but I would
rather say it was about a 1957, I think.
(WC XI, 254-255)
WC staffers may have been genuinely confused by the conflicting testimony, and
so they arranged to have Marina Oswald, Gertrude Hunter, and Edith Whitworth
appear together in an attempt to resolve the conflicts. Hunter and Whitworth
both identified Marina as the woman they had seen arriving at the Furniture Mart
in a car driven by Lee Harvey Oswald, but Marina denied everything. Here is one
example.
Mrs. OSWALD. I have never seen Lee drive the car in my lifetime. Lee never drove
a car with me or the children in it. The only time I saw him behind the wheel
was when Ruth Paine taught him to drive the car, he was practicing parking the
car when Ruth Paine was teaching him to drive.
Mr. LIEBELER. And that was all in
front of Mr. Paine's house; wasn't it?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. I'm sure this lady is
trying to tell the truth, but the only possible person who could have driven the
car when we were in that store could have been Mrs. Ruth Paine. She knows all
the stores where we went because we never went there without her.
(WC XI, 280)
There are dozens of other examples of people who knew Lee Harvey Oswald could
drive, but rather than quoting them as well, let's just cut to the chase.
On February 14, 1968, Aletha Frair made the following signed statement to
Garrison investigator Gary Sanders:
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
STATE OF LOUISIANA
PARISH OF ORLEANS
DATE: February 14, 1968
STATEMENT OF: ALETHA FRAIR
RESIDING AT: 8001 Benson New Orleans, LA Phone - 242-2126
S T A T E M E N T
My name is ALETHA FRAIR (MRS. JOHN FRAIR). I live at:
8001 Benson New Orleans, La. Phone - 242-2126
I worked for the Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas from the early
part of October 1963, through the early part of December 1963. While I was
employed at the Department of Public Safety I worked in the License Records
Department. This Dept. Was responsible for the IBM computer records of all
drivers licenses in the state of Texas.
My husband, JOHN, was working for the United Press International during November
of 1963 and on November 22, 1963 he was in Uvalde, Texas, covering the birthday
of ex-Vice President JOHN NANCE GARNER.
I did not go to work on the 22 of November, 1963, but the following event
occured (sic) the week after the assassination of President KENNEDY.
During the week following the murder of LEE HARVEY OSWALD, on either Wednesday
the 27th, or Tuesday the 28th of November, 1963 the Texas driver's license
issued to LEE HARVEY OSWALD came into my division.
The record (IBM card) on OSWALD was pulled from the files. Several other
employees (5 or 6) of the Department saw the driver's license which was dirty
and worn as though it had been carried in a billfold. The license was the talk
of the office that day since everyone knew who OSWALD was, and the reason his
driver's license records were being pulled from the active file was the fact
that he had been killed.
In October of 1966 my husband and I movedto New Orleans and in June of 1967 my
husband went to work for WWL-TV, Channel 4.
I, ALETHA FRAIR, hereby affirm that all of the above statement is true to the
best of my knowledge.
Signed February 14, 1968.
(Signature of Aletha Frair)
(Signature of witness Gary Sanders) (Signature of witness Jody Duek)
In a cover memo accompanying the typed statement, Garrison investigator Gary
Sanders gave the names of six women, several still employed at the Texas
Department of Public Safety, who would confirm Aletha Frair's statement.
People familiar with John Armstrong's research understand how to resolve these
seeming contradictions. "Harvey Oswald," the shorter Russian-speaking man, did
not have a driver's license and did not drive. "Lee Oswald," the taller
Southern-born American, had a valid Texas driver's license.
During his JFK Lancer "November in Dallas 97" presentation, John made the
following remarks: "Many people had knowledge of Lee Oswald's Texas driver's
license or driving ability. When Marina, Robert and the Paines refused to admit
Oswald could drive, they were referring to Harvey--they all knew Lee and knew he
could drive."
Mr. Armstrong continued: "Harvey lived at Oak Cliff, 13 miles from the Paine
house, worked at the Book Depository without missing a day, was not in Irving
during the week, did not have a driver's license, and could not drive. Lee
Oswald had a Texas driver's license, was seen driving several different cars,
and may have had an apartment in or near Irving as mentioned by James Hosty. As
Shasteen observed, Lee Oswald may have lived at the Paine's during the week."
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This post was based on the research of John Armstrong.
--Jim Hargrove