Mr. Ely.

In this particular record, it would appear that the entries were rather limited. As a matter of fact, it was not adequately maintained for the purpose for which it was designed.

Mr. Ely.

Is it possible, Colonel, to tell anything from this scorebook, assuming for the moment that it was accurately maintained, concerning the marksmanship of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Colonel FOLSOM. Well, yes. But very generally. For instance, at 200 yards slow fire on Tuesday, at 200 yards slow fire, offhand position----

Mr. Ely.

You are referring, are you not, to the page designated 22 in Oswald's scorebook?
Colonel FOLSOM. Right--well, 22 as opposed to 23. He got out in the three ring, which is not good. They should be able to keep them--all 10 shots within the four ring.

Mr. Ely.

And even if his weapon needed a great deal of adjustment in terms of elevation or windage, he still would have a closer group than that if he were a good shot?
Colonel FOLSOM. Yes. As a matter of fact, at 200 yards, people should get a score of between 48 and 50 in the offhand position.

Mr. Ely.

And what was his score?
Colonel FOLSOM. Well, total shown on page 22 would be he got a score of 34 out of a possible 50 on Tuesday, as shown on page 22 of his record book. On Wednesday, he got a score of 38, improved four points. Do you want to compute these?

Mr. Ely.

I don't see any point in doing this page by page.
I just wonder, after having looked through the whole scorebook, if we could fairly say that all that it proves is that at this stage of his career he was not a particularly outstanding shot.
Colonel FOLSOM. No, no, he was not. His scorebook indicates--as a matter of fact--that he did well at one or two ranges in order to achieve the two points over the minimum score for sharpshooter.

Mr. Ely.

In other words, he had a good day the day he fired for qualification?
Colonel FOLSOM. I would say so.

Mr. Ely.

Well, Colonel, as far as I can see, that is all the testimony that we need from you with regard to these records. No doubt there are ambiguities in the records which I have not caught. I have asked you about the ones that seemed most confusing to me.
Can you think of anything else that you would like to add for the record?
Colonel FOLSOM. No; I believe that the record is rather complete. There are no missing documents from this official record. The photostatic copy contains everything that is in the original record.
And I do not believe that there are any discrepancies, other than those clerical errors which have been noted on such items as the summary court-martial records.

Mr. Ely.

But you cannot think of any errors which we did not mention during your testimony today?
Colonel FOLSOM. No; I do not.

Mr. Ely.

All right.
In that case, Colonel, on behalf of the Commission, I want to thank you very much for giving your testimony. It has been very helpful.

Capt. George Donabedian

Testimony of Capt. George Donabedian

The testimony of Captain George Donabedian was taken at 2:15 p.m., on May 1, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C., by Mr. John Hart Ely, member of the staff of the President's Commission.

Mr. Ely.

Will you stand and be sworn?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?