Mr. Jenner. In his reading?
Mr. Thornley. Yes; I would say particularly in politics and philosophy.
Mr. Jenner. Was it those mutual interests that brought about your acquaintance with him or some other fashion?
Mr. Thornley. Yes, sir; it was those interests. My first memory of him is that one afternoon he was sitting on a bucket out in front of a hut, an inverted bucket, with some other Marines. They were discussing religion. I entered the discussion. It was known already in the outfit that I was an atheist. Immediately somebody pointed out to me that Oswald was also an atheist.
Mr. Jenner. Did they point that out to you in his presence?
Mr. Thornley. Yes.
Mr. Jenner. What reaction did he have to that?
Mr. Thornley. He said, "What do you think of communism?" and I said——
Mr. Jenner. He didn't say anything about having been pointed out as being an atheist?
Mr. Thornley. No; he wasn't offended at this at all. He was—it was done in a friendly manner, anyway, and he just said to me—the first thing he said to me was with his little grin; he looked at me and he said, "What do you think of communism?" And I replied I didn't think too much of communism, in a favorable sense, and he said, "Well, I think the best religion is communism." And I got the impression at the time that he said this in order to shock. He was playing to the galleries, I felt.