Mr. Clark. He didn't indicate any trouble at all getting permission to marry her and then what she told my wife was that she was quite a flirt. In other words, she said that she made a practice of going late to the dance so she would be fresh and then all the boys would rush to her because she would have fresh make-up and the others would be hot and tired. So, she went late this night, later in the evening, and arrived very fresh and she met Oswald and she thought it was unusual to be dancing and having a boyfriend that was an American, so she started going with him; so my wife asked her, she said "What did your friends think about you going with an American and marrying an American and coming to the United States?" Marina says "Well, they told me it couldn't be any worse."
Mr. Liebeler. By that she meant the United States couldn't be any worse than the Soviet Union?
Mr. Clark. Couldn't be worse, so she gave the impression she was quite happy to get out of there.
Mr. Liebeler. Did your wife have the feeling that was one of the reasons why she married Oswald?
Mr. Clark. My wife had the impression she thought it was something new and strange and it was something to look forward to so she was—seemed to be as much interested in leaving Russia as staying there.
Mr. Liebeler. Now, did Oswald tell you what prompted him to leave the Soviet Union and return to the United States?
Mr. Clark. Yes; he told me that he had finally made up his mind that he would never get any place in the Soviet Union and that he was disappointed because it was not like Karl Marx or was not true Communism, in his words, and that he thought it was just as bad as a democracy and he said he wanted to leave there because he just felt there was no hope for him there and he would never be able to get ahead or make his mark so he decided the best bet for both he and Marina was to leave so he made application to leave.
Mr. Liebeler. Do you remember him specifically using the words "make his mark" or is that just an expression of yours?
Mr. Clark. That is my expression but my general impression was he wanted to become famous or infamous; that seemed to be his whole life ambition was to become somebody and he just seemed to have the idea that he was made for something else than what he was doing or what particular circumstances he was in.
Mr. Liebeler. You mentioned previously that he did not try to hide the fact that he was a defector and had gone to Russia and you gave the impression to me in your testimony that he called attention to this fact and you said, if I recall it, he would say "Well, you know who I am" when you met him. Would you think this would be an example of what you just spoke of?