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[A13-276]
He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his 16th birthday.[A13-277] After his birthday, he tried to enlist in the Marines, using a false affidavit from his mother that he was 17.[A13-278] (Some years before, John Pic had joined the Marine Corps Reserve by means of his mother’s false affidavit that he was 17.)[A13-279] 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.”[A13-280] 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F. Tujague, Inc., a shipping company, where he earned $130 per month.[A13-281] His employer remembers him as a quiet, withdrawn person.[A13-282] In January he worked briefly as an office boy for J. R. Michels, Inc.[A13-283] For several months thereafter, he was a messenger for the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory.[A13-284] His military record subsequently described his prior civilian jobs as follows:
Performed various clerical duties such as distributing mail, delivering messages & answering telephone. Helped file records & operated ditto, letter opening & sealing machines.[A13-285]
Anticipating that Lee would join the Marines as soon as he was 17, Mrs. Oswald moved in July 1956 to Fort Worth,[A13-286] where she took an apartment at 4936 Collinswood for herself, Lee, and Robert.[A13-287] In September, Lee enrolled in the 10th grade at the Arlington Heights High School[A13-288] but attended classes for only a few weeks. He dropped out of school on September 28.[A13-289] A few days later, he wrote the following letter to the Socialist Party of America:
October 3, 1956
Dear Sirs;
I am sixteen years of age and would like more information about your youth League, I would like to know if there is a branch in my area, how to join, ect., I am a Marxist, and have been studying socialist principles for well over fifteen months I am very interested in your Y.P.S.L.
Sincerely
/s/ Lee Oswald[A13-290]
Accompanying the letter was an advertisement coupon, on which he had checked the box requesting information about the Socialist Party.[A13-291]
Lee became 17 on October 18. He enlisted in the Marines on October 24.[A13-292]
MARINES
On October 26, 1956, Lee Harvey Oswald reported for duty at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif., where he was assigned to the Second Recruit Training Battalion.[A13-293] He was 68 inches tall and weighed 135 pounds; he had no physical defects.[A13-294] On October 30, he took a series of aptitude tests, on which he scored significantly above the Marine Corps average in reading and vocabulary and significantly below the average in tests in arithmetic and pattern analysis. His composite general classification score was 105, 2 points below the Corps average. He scored near the bottom of the lowest group in a radio code test.[A13-295] His preference of duty was recorded as Aircraft Maintenance and Repair, the duty assignment for which he was recommended.[A13-296]
While he was at San Diego, Oswald was trained in the use of the M-1 rifle.[A13-297] His practice scores were not very good,[A13-298] but when his company fired for record on December 21, he scored 212, 2 points above the score necessary to qualify as a “sharpshooter” on a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale.[A13-299] He did not do nearly as well when he fired for record again shortly before he left the Marines.[A13-300] He practiced also with a riot gun and a .45-caliber pistol when he was in the Marines but no scores were recorded.[A13-301]