[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

to the Socialist Party of America to profess his belief in Marxism. According to the
Commission, not only was Oswald portrayed as antisocial -- he was one of "them," the
Reds. The father of a classmate asked Oswald to leave his home during a meeting of the
New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association after the “loud-mouthed” and “boisterous”
Lee (what happened to shy and withdrawn?) began to argue about the appeal of
communism and his desire to joint a communist cell. 57 However, Oswald’s brother
Robert would later insist that he never saw Oswald read Marxist literature and did not
express sympathy with the Soviet bloc. 58 Oswald also joined the Civil Air Patrol in New
Orleans, which would indicate some degree of patriotism by the youngster, as would his
following in both of his brothers’ footsteps into the U.S. military. Assassination
researchers would later claim that Oswald met David Ferrie, who is the focus of many
conspiracy theories, while in the Civil Air Patrol and that perhaps at this age Oswald
already was laying the groundwork for later intelligence work.
The Commissioners repeatedly quoted neighbors, co-workers, and fellow Marines
as saying Oswald was a "loner" who was quiet and spent his time reading. Oswald never
graduated from high school, and, at age 17, joined the Marine Corps, apparently to escape
his unhappy home life with his mother. The Commission laconically noted that Oswald’s
“study of Communist literature…might appear to be inconsistent with his desire to join
the Marines.” His fellow Marines testified that Oswald had “few friends and kept very
much to himself.” He earned the nickname “Ozzie Rabbit” because of his meekness.
57
WC Report, 384.
58
See Robert L. Oswald with Myrick and Barbara Land, Lee: A Portrait of Lee Harvey
Oswald by his Brother, (New York: Coward-McCann, 1967), 71-72.
37