Lee, at age 16, read Robert's Marine manual back and forth. He knew it by heart. Robert had just gotten out of the Marines, and his manual was home. And Lee started to read communistic material along with that.
Mr. Rankin. What communistic material did he read?
Mrs. Oswald. It was a small book that he had gotten out of the library. And I knew he was reading it, Mr. Rankin.
Mr. Rankin. Was it in Marxism, or what was it about?
Mrs. Oswald. No—if you are saying the title is Marxism—no, sir, the title was not.
Mr. Rankin. Was it about communism?
Mrs. Oswald. It was more about communism. I knew he was reading it. But if we have this material in the public libraries, then certainly it is all right for us to read. And I think we should know about these things, and all of our scholars and educators and high school boys read subversive material, which we call subversive material. So I, as a mother, would not take the book away from him. That is fine. Lee is a reader. I have said from early childhood he liked histories and maps.
So that is fine.
What I am saying now—we are getting to this agent part.
He is with this recruiting officer and he is studying the Marine manual—he knew it back and forth. In fact, he would take the book and have me question some of the things. And he was reading communism.