Mr. Jenner. A what?
Mr. Thornley. An ace pilot in Korea, and made the comment, "There goes a mental midgit" which drew glee from Oswald, as I remember. But aside from that one particular incident—well, in any case, when he was dealing with military superiors he always felt superior to them. You got that impression. But dealing with the other marines who maybe did have an education or did not have an education, I didn't get any, ever get any impression one way or the other that he had a tendency to react to this.
Mr. Jenner. As between yourself and him, your association, what was your feeling? Did he regard himself as compatible with you and you with him?
Mr. Thornley. Yes; definitely. I didn't get any idea that he was—I thought his education was about the same as my own which certainly isn't spectacular by any means. I thought he might have had a year of college. I knew he had—I figured he had graduated from high school. It never occurred to me to think any more about it. I did, as I mentioned before, notice once in a while that he had gaps in his knowledge, but many people do, in fact all of us do, I am sure, in some fields.
But in Oswald's case they perhaps had an unusual pattern to them or something that made me notice them, perhaps. Perhaps he was better read, for example, on Marxist economics than any other school of economics, things like this. But that was the extent of it.
Mr. Jenner. Was there in your kicking around with him in your discussions—was there ever any discussion of your past, of his past, his life?
Mr. Thornley. None whatsoever. This I am almost certain of. I had no idea, for example, that he was from Texas or where he was from. At that time I don't recall him having a Texas accent, either. I had no idea that his father had died when he was young. I had no idea about his family, anything along this line and I don't think I ever discussed my past with him.
Mr. Jenner. Was any mention ever made of his attendance at or even the name of the Albert Schweitzer College?
Mr. Thornley. No.
Mr. Jenner. No discussions about any plans of his or possibility of his seeking further education of any kind or character when he was mustered out of the Marines?