The John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage

Navigation

  » Introduction
  » The Report
  » The Hearings

Volumes

  » Testimony Index
 
  » Volume I
  » Volume II
  » Volume III
  » Volume IV
  » Volume V
  » Volume VI
  » Volume VII
  » Volume VIII
  » Volume IX
  » Volume X
  » Volume XI
  » Volume XII
  » Volume XIII
  » Volume XIV
  » Volume XV
Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. X - Page 216« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dennis Hyman Ofstein)

Mr. Liebeler.
He wasn't greasing the machines?
Mr. LE BLANC. No. And you see, we have a greasing log that when you grease the machine you log it the day that you grease it, and actually a lot of times think he might have put stuff down in the log that he didn't even get to sometimes.
Mr. Liebeler.
Just so I can get an idea of what kind of work he was doing, how were the machines greased? Did he have a grease gun or cups and----
Mr. LE BLANC. Yes; well, we have an air grease gun and we also have these hand-type grease guns.
Mr. Liebeler.
And you used just regular Alemite fittings and grease guns?
Mr. LE BLANC. Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
So I would imagine from time to time he ended up with the grease on his hands and it was a greasy job? Mr. LE BLANC. Yes; it was a dirty job.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he ever complain about that?
Mr. LE BLANC. Well, he would complain now and then. I would tell him, well, that goes in with the job of oiling and greasing.
Mr. Liebeler.
Now. was he just basically an oiler and greaser, or was he classified as a maintenance man?
Mr. LE BLANC. No.
Mr. Liebeler.
That is a different thing?
Mr. LE BLANC. He was hired as an oiler and greaser and helper.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he seem to have any kind of mechanical proficiency at all? I mean, could you tell? Did he seem to know his way around machines?
Mr. LE BLANC. It didn't look like he had. I think--I mean I don't know--I think he had that in his application, that he was mechanically inclined, but it didn't show up that way.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you have any other conversations with Oswald that you can remember?
Mr. LE BLANC. No; I tell you, he was a boy of very few words. He would walk past you and wouldn't even ask how you are doing, or come and talk, like a lot of us, we would stop and maybe pass a few jokes or just talk a little with each other, ,but him--I think it was 3 months that he was with us---still, I think if he said 100 words to me, it was plenty, because even when I was breaking him in he wasn't the type boy that would ask you different things about the machines. I was doing all the talking and he was just looking.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did these absences of his occur pretty much all the time, or did it get worse as he stayed there?
Mr. LE BLANC. Well, toward the last it be n to get pretty regular, and that is when I think they decided to let him go. And another thing I recall: He had this habit, every time he would walk past you he would just [demonstrating] just like a-kid playing cowboys or something--you know, he used his finger like a gun. He would go, "Pow" and I used to look at him, and I said, "Boy, what a crackpot this guy is!"
Mr. Liebeler.
That is what you thought?
Mr. LE BLANC. Yes. Right off the bat I said, "This is a crackpot"; right off.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he seem to just use his fingers like that, as a gun, as a joke, you mean, or----
Mr. LE BLANC. Well, I didn't know what to think of it, you know, because he--on quite a number of times he would do that, you know. If you would walk past him, he would do that.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he smile or laugh, or what?
Mr. LE BLANC. No. When he would do it, he wouldn't even crack a smile. That is what used to get me. If somebody would be doing something in a joking .manner, at least they would smile, but he was one that very seldom would talk or would smile either, and that is why I could never figure him out.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did Oswald have any other associates or people that worked with him closely in the plant, or would you say that you probably worked with him as closely as anybody else?
Mr. LE BLANC. Well, I imagine I was about the closest, myself and the other maintenance man.
Mr. Liebeler.
The other maintenance men? There were three more?
Mr. LE BLANC. Well, there is the engineer, and they had this other boy.
« Previous | Next »

Found a Typo?

Click here
Copyright by www.jfk-assassination.comLast Update: Wed, 3 Aug 2016 21:56:32 CET