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Vinny- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:28 pm
From Where Were You? by Russo
Buell Frazier
Nineteen years old at the time, Buell Frazier worked at the Texas School Book Depository and lived a few blocks from Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife, Marina, in Irving. He considered Oswald a friend and drove him to work on that fateful day.
The first day I met Lee Harvey Oswald was his first day at work. Mr. Shelley, my supervisor, called me over to his office. I met Lee Oswald outside of his office. He explained to me that Lee was a new hire and that he wanted me to teach him how to fill orders there at the Texas School Book Depository. I got to know Lee through working with him. I was teaching him how to pull orders for different publishers. “Sometimes,” I said,“you will have to read the line all the way across, because it will tell you which textbook you want.”
We filled orders for five states out of there. We did New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas; the public
schools in Arkansas might use one version of an algebra book,and maybe Texas would use another. Even though the covers looked the same, you had to know where to look on the case or look inside the book to know which textbook to send. Lee was very smart. He learned very quickly.
One time, when we were riding home, Lee asked me, “Do you follow politics?” and I said, “No, not really.” I explained to him that I just didn’t have much faith in politicians. He didn’t tell me a lot about living in Russia. I did find out later,
however, that he did live in Russia. But as far as what type of work he did there or anything like that, it was never talked about. I’ve since learned a lot about Lee, where he was, and things he did before he met me. They’re just things I found out on my own through reading or watching programs and so forth.
At work, he didn’t really fit in. He tried, but he just didn’t fit in. He wasn’t a slacker; he was a good worker. I told him
many times after he’d worked there for several days, “Now, you’re coming along pretty good.” When you’re teaching
somebody, you feed something to them as fast as they can absorb and retain it, and Lee was remarkable in that. He
learned so quickly. He was very dedicated in what he was doing. He was a no-nonsense person when he was working.
Lee rode out to Irving, where he spent the weekends with his wife at Miss Ruth Paine’s house. He rode out every
weekend except one.
November 22 was on a Friday. I was running a bit late that morning. I don’t know what I was doing, or I overslept a little bit. I got to the breakfast table there in the den area at my sister’s home, where I was living, and I was eating my breakfast.
My sister was over to my left at the kitchen sink, washing some dishes, and she observed Lee carrying a package. He
put the package in the backseat of my car, and then he came around and looked in the window. My mother was there, and she looks up and says, “Who’s that man looking in the window?” I said, “Oh, that’s just Lee.”
To Be Continued
Buell Frazier
Nineteen years old at the time, Buell Frazier worked at the Texas School Book Depository and lived a few blocks from Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife, Marina, in Irving. He considered Oswald a friend and drove him to work on that fateful day.
The first day I met Lee Harvey Oswald was his first day at work. Mr. Shelley, my supervisor, called me over to his office. I met Lee Oswald outside of his office. He explained to me that Lee was a new hire and that he wanted me to teach him how to fill orders there at the Texas School Book Depository. I got to know Lee through working with him. I was teaching him how to pull orders for different publishers. “Sometimes,” I said,“you will have to read the line all the way across, because it will tell you which textbook you want.”
We filled orders for five states out of there. We did New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas; the public
schools in Arkansas might use one version of an algebra book,and maybe Texas would use another. Even though the covers looked the same, you had to know where to look on the case or look inside the book to know which textbook to send. Lee was very smart. He learned very quickly.
One time, when we were riding home, Lee asked me, “Do you follow politics?” and I said, “No, not really.” I explained to him that I just didn’t have much faith in politicians. He didn’t tell me a lot about living in Russia. I did find out later,
however, that he did live in Russia. But as far as what type of work he did there or anything like that, it was never talked about. I’ve since learned a lot about Lee, where he was, and things he did before he met me. They’re just things I found out on my own through reading or watching programs and so forth.
At work, he didn’t really fit in. He tried, but he just didn’t fit in. He wasn’t a slacker; he was a good worker. I told him
many times after he’d worked there for several days, “Now, you’re coming along pretty good.” When you’re teaching
somebody, you feed something to them as fast as they can absorb and retain it, and Lee was remarkable in that. He
learned so quickly. He was very dedicated in what he was doing. He was a no-nonsense person when he was working.
Lee rode out to Irving, where he spent the weekends with his wife at Miss Ruth Paine’s house. He rode out every
weekend except one.
November 22 was on a Friday. I was running a bit late that morning. I don’t know what I was doing, or I overslept a little bit. I got to the breakfast table there in the den area at my sister’s home, where I was living, and I was eating my breakfast.
My sister was over to my left at the kitchen sink, washing some dishes, and she observed Lee carrying a package. He
put the package in the backseat of my car, and then he came around and looked in the window. My mother was there, and she looks up and says, “Who’s that man looking in the window?” I said, “Oh, that’s just Lee.”
To Be Continued
_________________
Out With Bill Shelley In Front.
- Vinny
- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:32 pm
Then I looked at my watch and said, “Oh, I’m running late,” so I went to the door. Lee came to the carport, and I told him, “I’m just finishing up breakfast; I’ll be out in just a minute.” I went back, finished whatever I was eating, and went and brushed my teeth. Then I went out to meet him. Lee was outside there on the carport. We walked around and got in the car.
As I was sitting down, I glanced over, looking at him, and I saw a package in the backseat. I said, “What’s the package?”and he said, “You remember I told you yesterday I was going home to get some curtain rods?” I said, “Oh, okay.” That’s the last I thought about it. But much later, I was asked a lot of questions about the package.
We got in the car and went on to work. The weather was overcast and cloudy, and it was misting rain—real fine, little specks, much like a straight pin, about that size, real small.While we were going to work, I said, “I wish this rain would stop,” but we didn’t talk a lot about a lot of things that
morning. The rain didn’t seem to bother him. He just observed what I said and said, “Okay,” or something like that. Then we got to work, and a few minutes before work I sat there and charged the engine on my car a little bit because I’d been having trouble sometimes with it starting. While I was doing that, he got outside the car, and he got the package and stood there for a minute. Then he decided to go on, and he walked on ahead of me.
The area where I parked was down in the employees’ parking lot, which was a good two hundred yards or more from the building where we worked. We had to walk through a rail yard, where they switched and put a lot of trains together. I was always fascinated with trains, even when I was a little boy, so I’d watch the guys doing that. When Lee first started out, he was probably fifty feet ahead of me, and as we walked along, he got a little further and a little further ahead.When I was getting close to the building, I noticed something:He was going up the steps on the dock, and he went inside. I didn’t see him for some time, so what he did once he got inside, I don’t know.
I said, “What’s the package?” and he said, “You remember I told you yesterday I was going home to get some curtain rods?”
I did see Lee that day. I could go to any floor we had. We had seven floors and a basement. The first floor is where we put a lot of the orders together and shipped them out, by parcel post or freight. The basement had certain publishers in it. A man by the name of Jack Dougherty mainly worked the basement floor. Jack was a great guy, and sometimes I would go down and help him. We got along wonderfully. It was nice and cool down there, even in the summertime.
Jack didn’t talk about President Kennedy coming by that day, and Lee didn’t say anything about it. But one of the workers there, a man by the name of Junior Jarman, always bought a paper every morning before he’d come to work. He was looking at me and said, “Look at this! The presidential
parade’s going to come right by, out in front of the building.”He said, “Do you think we’ll get to go out there and watch that?” I said, “I don’t know.” I had a good rapport with the supervisor. So when one of the workers looked at me, I said,“You all have been talking about that for a couple hours. Why don’t we just find out?”
They said, “Well, who’s going to go find out?”I said, “I’ll go find out,” so I went and asked Mr. Shelley,and he said, “Let me check with Mr. Truly,” which was his boss, Mr. Roy Truly. He checked, and then he went up and talked to a man by the name of Mr. Casin, and they realized what a great opportunity that was. When you stop and think about it, how many times do you get a chance to see the president of the United States in a motorcade in your lifetime?
Unless you’re in a business where you travel with him and do a filming, that doesn’t happen very often—or at least it didn’t back in that time.
To Be Continued
As I was sitting down, I glanced over, looking at him, and I saw a package in the backseat. I said, “What’s the package?”and he said, “You remember I told you yesterday I was going home to get some curtain rods?” I said, “Oh, okay.” That’s the last I thought about it. But much later, I was asked a lot of questions about the package.
We got in the car and went on to work. The weather was overcast and cloudy, and it was misting rain—real fine, little specks, much like a straight pin, about that size, real small.While we were going to work, I said, “I wish this rain would stop,” but we didn’t talk a lot about a lot of things that
morning. The rain didn’t seem to bother him. He just observed what I said and said, “Okay,” or something like that. Then we got to work, and a few minutes before work I sat there and charged the engine on my car a little bit because I’d been having trouble sometimes with it starting. While I was doing that, he got outside the car, and he got the package and stood there for a minute. Then he decided to go on, and he walked on ahead of me.
The area where I parked was down in the employees’ parking lot, which was a good two hundred yards or more from the building where we worked. We had to walk through a rail yard, where they switched and put a lot of trains together. I was always fascinated with trains, even when I was a little boy, so I’d watch the guys doing that. When Lee first started out, he was probably fifty feet ahead of me, and as we walked along, he got a little further and a little further ahead.When I was getting close to the building, I noticed something:He was going up the steps on the dock, and he went inside. I didn’t see him for some time, so what he did once he got inside, I don’t know.
I said, “What’s the package?” and he said, “You remember I told you yesterday I was going home to get some curtain rods?”
I did see Lee that day. I could go to any floor we had. We had seven floors and a basement. The first floor is where we put a lot of the orders together and shipped them out, by parcel post or freight. The basement had certain publishers in it. A man by the name of Jack Dougherty mainly worked the basement floor. Jack was a great guy, and sometimes I would go down and help him. We got along wonderfully. It was nice and cool down there, even in the summertime.
Jack didn’t talk about President Kennedy coming by that day, and Lee didn’t say anything about it. But one of the workers there, a man by the name of Junior Jarman, always bought a paper every morning before he’d come to work. He was looking at me and said, “Look at this! The presidential
parade’s going to come right by, out in front of the building.”He said, “Do you think we’ll get to go out there and watch that?” I said, “I don’t know.” I had a good rapport with the supervisor. So when one of the workers looked at me, I said,“You all have been talking about that for a couple hours. Why don’t we just find out?”
They said, “Well, who’s going to go find out?”I said, “I’ll go find out,” so I went and asked Mr. Shelley,and he said, “Let me check with Mr. Truly,” which was his boss, Mr. Roy Truly. He checked, and then he went up and talked to a man by the name of Mr. Casin, and they realized what a great opportunity that was. When you stop and think about it, how many times do you get a chance to see the president of the United States in a motorcade in your lifetime?
Unless you’re in a business where you travel with him and do a filming, that doesn’t happen very often—or at least it didn’t back in that time.
To Be Continued
_________________
Out With Bill Shelley In Front.
- Vinny
- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:36 pm
That’s something I think somebody should understand,because the country back in 1963 was a lot different than it is today. We didn’t have the technology we have today. There’s just a lot of things we didn’t have. But we did fine.When the presidential motorcade came by the Texas School
Book Depository, I was standing on the top step, on the first floor when you go out the front of the building. I think there were seven steps there. I was standing on the top step, but I was in the shadows. If you were out taking a picture, you wouldn’t have seen me because there were people down in front of me. While we were out watching the parade, I didn’t see Lee.
I was just thinking to myself as they were coming down Houston Street and getting ready to turn, and as they turned,I said to a lady, “Look how realistic, how normal they look!” I said it because at that time we had Life magazine, and the photography in the Life magazines were just really something special. I remember seeing pictures of the Kennedys in different places throughout the world, and I remarked on how beautiful Jackie was and how real. I just couldn’t believe that I was that close to the first lady and the president of the United States.
It was exciting. Here was a little country boy from a rural town in East Texas, and I had a chance to come to the big city. I was excited about that, and I was working. When I was a child, I thought everybody was my friend. I know different now; that’s not true.When the motorcade was turning the corner, they were being led by a group of motorcycle policemen, and they were cutting the motorcycles on and off, making them backfire. At the first shot, I thought it was someone still doing the backfiring. But when the second and third shots came, I realized it was no longer backfire, and the acoustics down in the Dealey Plaza—how sounds bounce off one building onto another—has given the impression to some people there were more shots than three.
A lady came running up the sidewalk to right where Elm goes down to the underpass. She was coming right up by where we were standing, at the steps, and she said,“Somebody has shot the president.” It was real bad. People were running and hollering and falling down. No one knew what was really going on. I just couldn’t believe it, because back in that time, and even today, that’s such a tragedy. I hope it never happens in this country again. It was just hard to believe that somebody would do that. I never thought of anybody doing that, in the wildest imaginations that you could
come up with. I never thought anybody would do that.
I stayed right there in the step area. Billy and Mr. Shelley said they were going down to see if they could learn more about what had just happened. The whole time when we were watching the parade and everything, I never thought about anybody except just being so close and being able to witness that live. I look back on that now—that really meant a lot to me, and I didn’t realize that at the time.
To Be Continued
Book Depository, I was standing on the top step, on the first floor when you go out the front of the building. I think there were seven steps there. I was standing on the top step, but I was in the shadows. If you were out taking a picture, you wouldn’t have seen me because there were people down in front of me. While we were out watching the parade, I didn’t see Lee.
I was just thinking to myself as they were coming down Houston Street and getting ready to turn, and as they turned,I said to a lady, “Look how realistic, how normal they look!” I said it because at that time we had Life magazine, and the photography in the Life magazines were just really something special. I remember seeing pictures of the Kennedys in different places throughout the world, and I remarked on how beautiful Jackie was and how real. I just couldn’t believe that I was that close to the first lady and the president of the United States.
It was exciting. Here was a little country boy from a rural town in East Texas, and I had a chance to come to the big city. I was excited about that, and I was working. When I was a child, I thought everybody was my friend. I know different now; that’s not true.When the motorcade was turning the corner, they were being led by a group of motorcycle policemen, and they were cutting the motorcycles on and off, making them backfire. At the first shot, I thought it was someone still doing the backfiring. But when the second and third shots came, I realized it was no longer backfire, and the acoustics down in the Dealey Plaza—how sounds bounce off one building onto another—has given the impression to some people there were more shots than three.
A lady came running up the sidewalk to right where Elm goes down to the underpass. She was coming right up by where we were standing, at the steps, and she said,“Somebody has shot the president.” It was real bad. People were running and hollering and falling down. No one knew what was really going on. I just couldn’t believe it, because back in that time, and even today, that’s such a tragedy. I hope it never happens in this country again. It was just hard to believe that somebody would do that. I never thought of anybody doing that, in the wildest imaginations that you could
come up with. I never thought anybody would do that.
I stayed right there in the step area. Billy and Mr. Shelley said they were going down to see if they could learn more about what had just happened. The whole time when we were watching the parade and everything, I never thought about anybody except just being so close and being able to witness that live. I look back on that now—that really meant a lot to me, and I didn’t realize that at the time.
To Be Continued
_________________
Out With Bill Shelley In Front.
- Vinny
- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:40 pm
I stayed there outside, the steps there for a while with some people. After some time, we decided to go back into the building. I’d gone back in with some other people, and then, I know this may be strange, but I was hungry. I always kept my lunch down in the basement, where it was nice and cool, so I told somebody, “If Mr. Shelley or Mr. Truly’s looking for me, I’m going down to the basement to eat my lunch.”
I’d gone down, and I was sitting there, eating my lunch,and I heard a door open. I looked up, and there was a policeman; he asked me, “You been down here very long?”I said, “Not too long.” He noticed I was eating my lunch and said, “Have you seen anybody walking around down here?”
I said, “No, sir.” He asked me several questions. When he got through, I said, “Anything else?” He said, “No, you’ve told me everything I need to know.”
So I finished eating my lunch, and then I went back upstairs. Then we had a roll call, and everybody was there but Lee. I remember them calling out his name and Lee not responding. Lee hadn’t taken his lunch that day. I asked him that on the way to work. I noticed he didn’t have his lunch,and I said, “You didn’t bring your lunch today?” He said, “No, I’m going to buy my lunch today.” We had a catering truck, which used to come at break time around ten o’clock, and some of the guys would buy their lunch off the catering truck.
There were also places that you could go and sit down, like a lunch counter. I thought, Maybe Lee might’ve wandered off to one of those places where you could get a sandwich and he just hadn’t gotten back. Mr. Truly announced that because of what had occurred, the School Book Depository was closing early that day, and that we would resume our normal work schedule on Monday morning. So I walked down to my car.
Lee had told me the night before that he would’t be going home with me on Friday. That morning, I checked: “Now, you told me that you didn’t want to be going home with me this afternoon.” He said, “That’s correct; I won’t be going with you.”
So I asked him, “You got something planned?” He said, “Yes,” something about a driving test or something like that. I used to listen to the radio. One of my favorite stations was KBLX 1480; it would tell you about traffic, where the accidents were, so I was listening to that, and then they broke
into the normal radio station. They said that the president had been severely injured, that he’d been taken to Parkland Hospital, and that he had been pronounced dead. I said, “Oh, my gosh.” I just couldn’t believe all this happened—things happened so fast—and I just couldn’t believe anything like it
would happen, but it did.
To Be Continued
I’d gone down, and I was sitting there, eating my lunch,and I heard a door open. I looked up, and there was a policeman; he asked me, “You been down here very long?”I said, “Not too long.” He noticed I was eating my lunch and said, “Have you seen anybody walking around down here?”
I said, “No, sir.” He asked me several questions. When he got through, I said, “Anything else?” He said, “No, you’ve told me everything I need to know.”
So I finished eating my lunch, and then I went back upstairs. Then we had a roll call, and everybody was there but Lee. I remember them calling out his name and Lee not responding. Lee hadn’t taken his lunch that day. I asked him that on the way to work. I noticed he didn’t have his lunch,and I said, “You didn’t bring your lunch today?” He said, “No, I’m going to buy my lunch today.” We had a catering truck, which used to come at break time around ten o’clock, and some of the guys would buy their lunch off the catering truck.
There were also places that you could go and sit down, like a lunch counter. I thought, Maybe Lee might’ve wandered off to one of those places where you could get a sandwich and he just hadn’t gotten back. Mr. Truly announced that because of what had occurred, the School Book Depository was closing early that day, and that we would resume our normal work schedule on Monday morning. So I walked down to my car.
Lee had told me the night before that he would’t be going home with me on Friday. That morning, I checked: “Now, you told me that you didn’t want to be going home with me this afternoon.” He said, “That’s correct; I won’t be going with you.”
So I asked him, “You got something planned?” He said, “Yes,” something about a driving test or something like that. I used to listen to the radio. One of my favorite stations was KBLX 1480; it would tell you about traffic, where the accidents were, so I was listening to that, and then they broke
into the normal radio station. They said that the president had been severely injured, that he’d been taken to Parkland Hospital, and that he had been pronounced dead. I said, “Oh, my gosh.” I just couldn’t believe all this happened—things happened so fast—and I just couldn’t believe anything like it
would happen, but it did.
To Be Continued
_________________
Out With Bill Shelley In Front.
- Vinny
- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:44 pm
Before I got off to Irving, the radio said they had captured a man outside of the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, and the more they talked about what went on, I put things together and realized they were talking about Lee. I said, “My gosh. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Since I’d gotten off early, my mother and my stepfather were up visiting one of my sisters and her husband and three children. He had had a heart attack, so he was in the hospital at Irving Boulevard and Pioneer. I thought, I can stop by and check on him , so that’s what I did. I was in his room, and then a nurse came to the door and said, “I have a phone call for you at the desk.”
I said, “Just patch it through here to the room.”She said, “I’m new; I don’t really know how to do that.”I said, “OK, I’ll be there in just a minute.” Well, I opened the door to go to the nurses’ station, and two guys grabbed me and threw me up against the wall; I was totally shocked. I said to them, “What is going on here? Why are you doing this to me?” They said, “We’re arresting you.” I said, “For what? I haven’t done anything.”That was Detective Rose and Detective Stovall. They took me to their car, and we stopped at the Irving Police Station.
They talked with someone there, and then they took me on to downtown Dallas. They asked about everything you could think of. It was just repetitious—over and over and over for hours. Detective Rose and Stovall started off; then they took a break,and two more detectives come in and quizzed me with the same questions, over and over. They just asked me things about Lee and my work and stuff like that. Things I knew I could tell them. They asked about the package Lee had with him. I said, “He did bring a package with him this morning.”
They asked me about the length of the package, and I told them, “It was roughly two feet, give or take an inch or two either way.” Every answer I gave them was the answer I knew. One time, Captain Will Fritz, who was head of the Homicide Department, brought in a typed statement, and he wanted me to sign it. Now, Captain Fritz, I’m sure, did a lot of good things for the Dallas Police Department, but over the years, I’ve asked myself: Somewhere along the line did he become like the people he hunted?
When he put the paper down in front of me, I started to read it. He wanted me to sign a paper that I was confessing to being part of the assassination and that I knew of it—that I had knowledge of it and that it was going happen. I told him I wasn’t signing that. I told him it wasn’t the truth. Well, Captain Will Fritz was quite hot-tempered. When I told him I wasn’t signing it, he drew back his hand to hit me, and I took my arm up to block. I was sitting there at the table, and all during the questioning, I just had to look straight into a wall. I couldn’t look sideways or anything, and when I told him I wasn’t going to sign it, I think he really could have struck me.But I told him, “Outside that door are some policemen, and before they get in here, we’re going to have one hell of a fight. I’m going to get some punches in.” He walked out, and I never did see the man again. I don’t want to come across as though I hated the man. I just was so unhappy with the way he treated me.
To Be Continued
I said, “Just patch it through here to the room.”She said, “I’m new; I don’t really know how to do that.”I said, “OK, I’ll be there in just a minute.” Well, I opened the door to go to the nurses’ station, and two guys grabbed me and threw me up against the wall; I was totally shocked. I said to them, “What is going on here? Why are you doing this to me?” They said, “We’re arresting you.” I said, “For what? I haven’t done anything.”That was Detective Rose and Detective Stovall. They took me to their car, and we stopped at the Irving Police Station.
They talked with someone there, and then they took me on to downtown Dallas. They asked about everything you could think of. It was just repetitious—over and over and over for hours. Detective Rose and Stovall started off; then they took a break,and two more detectives come in and quizzed me with the same questions, over and over. They just asked me things about Lee and my work and stuff like that. Things I knew I could tell them. They asked about the package Lee had with him. I said, “He did bring a package with him this morning.”
They asked me about the length of the package, and I told them, “It was roughly two feet, give or take an inch or two either way.” Every answer I gave them was the answer I knew. One time, Captain Will Fritz, who was head of the Homicide Department, brought in a typed statement, and he wanted me to sign it. Now, Captain Fritz, I’m sure, did a lot of good things for the Dallas Police Department, but over the years, I’ve asked myself: Somewhere along the line did he become like the people he hunted?
When he put the paper down in front of me, I started to read it. He wanted me to sign a paper that I was confessing to being part of the assassination and that I knew of it—that I had knowledge of it and that it was going happen. I told him I wasn’t signing that. I told him it wasn’t the truth. Well, Captain Will Fritz was quite hot-tempered. When I told him I wasn’t signing it, he drew back his hand to hit me, and I took my arm up to block. I was sitting there at the table, and all during the questioning, I just had to look straight into a wall. I couldn’t look sideways or anything, and when I told him I wasn’t going to sign it, I think he really could have struck me.But I told him, “Outside that door are some policemen, and before they get in here, we’re going to have one hell of a fight. I’m going to get some punches in.” He walked out, and I never did see the man again. I don’t want to come across as though I hated the man. I just was so unhappy with the way he treated me.
To Be Continued
_________________
Out With Bill Shelley In Front.
- Vinny
- Posts : 3356
Join date : 2013-08-27
Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:46 pm
On Saturday morning I was cleared to go home. They cleared me one time, and we were on the way out to Irving when they got a call and turned around and brought me back. That’s when they did the fingerprints and a mug shot. I couldn’t believe what was going on. This was kind of like a
nightmare to me. We went back, and after more questioning and so forth, they finally let me go. I didn’t know anything about Lee shooting the policeman, J. D. Tippit. When I’d tell them something, they’d come back and say, “That’s not true.”
But I knew it was. I knew what I was telling them was the truth, and I didn’t deviate from that.On Sunday morning I was in the kitchen there at the
house. I’d just got through eating breakfast. Someone turned the TV on, and there it was, live. They were going be transporting Lee from the jail on Horowitz Street down to another jail. They were in Dallas, and then they were in the basement. They said where they were. There was a transfer,
and everything was going to happen. As we were watching,Jack Ruby stepped out of the crowd and stepped right in to Lee and fired the shot.
It wasn’t easy. I just sat down and asked myself, What have you gotten yourself into? All I’d wanted to do was come to work in Dallas, save money, go to college. I wanted to go to college right out of high school, but I didn’t have the money.
Since that weekend, it’s been kind of like a roller coaster. My life has been valleys and peaks, and most of it’s been living in valleys far more than peaks. Hasn’t been good. I’ve had some good times, but I’ve also had some rough times,trying to figure out: How do you adjust this. How do you go
on with this? I was just a young boy, nineteen years old, from a rural town. I wasn’t worldly; I wasn’t ready for anything like this. It was just very hard. There were jobs I lost because they found out I was a friend of Lee Harvey Oswald at one point. I have a hard time understanding why someone would take something out on you when you had nothing to do with it. Now, we know people read things, and the fact is:Everything you read about the John F. Kennedy assassination is not true.
To Be Continued
nightmare to me. We went back, and after more questioning and so forth, they finally let me go. I didn’t know anything about Lee shooting the policeman, J. D. Tippit. When I’d tell them something, they’d come back and say, “That’s not true.”
But I knew it was. I knew what I was telling them was the truth, and I didn’t deviate from that.On Sunday morning I was in the kitchen there at the
house. I’d just got through eating breakfast. Someone turned the TV on, and there it was, live. They were going be transporting Lee from the jail on Horowitz Street down to another jail. They were in Dallas, and then they were in the basement. They said where they were. There was a transfer,
and everything was going to happen. As we were watching,Jack Ruby stepped out of the crowd and stepped right in to Lee and fired the shot.
It wasn’t easy. I just sat down and asked myself, What have you gotten yourself into? All I’d wanted to do was come to work in Dallas, save money, go to college. I wanted to go to college right out of high school, but I didn’t have the money.
Since that weekend, it’s been kind of like a roller coaster. My life has been valleys and peaks, and most of it’s been living in valleys far more than peaks. Hasn’t been good. I’ve had some good times, but I’ve also had some rough times,trying to figure out: How do you adjust this. How do you go
on with this? I was just a young boy, nineteen years old, from a rural town. I wasn’t worldly; I wasn’t ready for anything like this. It was just very hard. There were jobs I lost because they found out I was a friend of Lee Harvey Oswald at one point. I have a hard time understanding why someone would take something out on you when you had nothing to do with it. Now, we know people read things, and the fact is:Everything you read about the John F. Kennedy assassination is not true.
To Be Continued
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 30 Dec 2020, 8:48 pm
There’s so many books that have been written about this subject, and some of the authors give their readers the impression that they know me personally and they’ve talked to me. I wouldn’t know them if I passed them on the street. I’ve never talked with them. A lot of them just take something out of somebody else’s book and put it in their book. The truth is the only thing that matters. So many people have not done
that.
I know that right after this happened, the language I used to converse in was very bad. I’m really ashamed of that, but that’s the way I talked. That’s who I was at that time. A person can use bad grammar, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. If I had been investigating this and I was
questioning a young boy, me, what I would be most interested in was the truth. Whether he used the correct grammar or not, that wouldn’t even be considered by me. I’ve made a lot of improvements in my grammar, but I still make a few errors now and then. It’s just hard to realize that this thing
happened, even though it’s been nearly fifty years.
I’ve asked myself many times, How could you be involved in it? How’d you get involved in that? Why’d that happen to you?I’m not angry with anybody. It’s just a bad thing that happened, and I just happened to be there. So I tell myself every morning when I get up and shave, I look at myself and
say, “Who is Buell Frazier?” I know—but a lot of people don’t have a clue because they try to judge me from my past.
I try to stay out of the limelight. I do things sometimes with the Sixth Floor Museum, but I don’t go out looking for publicity. That’s just not me. I think about it every year, but I just have some way I just deal with it, because I know I can’t change anything. If I could go back and change things, it
would never have happened—not to me, not to anyone. But it did, and so you have to regroup and move on, and hopefully you learn from things.
Hopefully this country’s learned a few things. I firmly believe, if you go back and look at where America was in 1963, with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that’s when America began to fall from God’s grace. The man I know as Lee Oswald, I didn’t think he was capable of the assassination. I’ll tell you why. My sister’s three little girls used to go down the street about half a block to Ruth Paine’s house. Lee and Marina had two children. They had two girls.One was just an infant when this happened, and the other one was several years old. Lee used to play with the neighborhood children around that large oak tree that still stands there today, and sometimes I would hear them laughing.
They said, “That man that rides to work with you; he’s a nice man.” You stop and think about a child. A child can see a lot of things in a person that adults can’t see. So, two Lee Harvey Oswalds? Possible. I think they had the body exhumed, and they measured it and so forth. Or did he have split
personalities? I’ve asked myself that many times over the past years. I’ve asked myself, Did I really know the true Lee Oswald?
I don’t come to Dallas very often, because it has a lot of bad memories for me.
that.
I know that right after this happened, the language I used to converse in was very bad. I’m really ashamed of that, but that’s the way I talked. That’s who I was at that time. A person can use bad grammar, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. If I had been investigating this and I was
questioning a young boy, me, what I would be most interested in was the truth. Whether he used the correct grammar or not, that wouldn’t even be considered by me. I’ve made a lot of improvements in my grammar, but I still make a few errors now and then. It’s just hard to realize that this thing
happened, even though it’s been nearly fifty years.
I’ve asked myself many times, How could you be involved in it? How’d you get involved in that? Why’d that happen to you?I’m not angry with anybody. It’s just a bad thing that happened, and I just happened to be there. So I tell myself every morning when I get up and shave, I look at myself and
say, “Who is Buell Frazier?” I know—but a lot of people don’t have a clue because they try to judge me from my past.
I try to stay out of the limelight. I do things sometimes with the Sixth Floor Museum, but I don’t go out looking for publicity. That’s just not me. I think about it every year, but I just have some way I just deal with it, because I know I can’t change anything. If I could go back and change things, it
would never have happened—not to me, not to anyone. But it did, and so you have to regroup and move on, and hopefully you learn from things.
Hopefully this country’s learned a few things. I firmly believe, if you go back and look at where America was in 1963, with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that’s when America began to fall from God’s grace. The man I know as Lee Oswald, I didn’t think he was capable of the assassination. I’ll tell you why. My sister’s three little girls used to go down the street about half a block to Ruth Paine’s house. Lee and Marina had two children. They had two girls.One was just an infant when this happened, and the other one was several years old. Lee used to play with the neighborhood children around that large oak tree that still stands there today, and sometimes I would hear them laughing.
They said, “That man that rides to work with you; he’s a nice man.” You stop and think about a child. A child can see a lot of things in a person that adults can’t see. So, two Lee Harvey Oswalds? Possible. I think they had the body exhumed, and they measured it and so forth. Or did he have split
personalities? I’ve asked myself that many times over the past years. I’ve asked myself, Did I really know the true Lee Oswald?
I don’t come to Dallas very often, because it has a lot of bad memories for me.
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barto- Posts : 3635
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Fri 01 Jan 2021, 1:28 am
Vinny wrote:Before I got off to Irving, the radio said they had captured a man outside of the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, and the more they talked about what went on, I put things together and realized they were talking about Lee. I said, “My gosh. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Since I’d gotten off early, my mother and my stepfather were up visiting one of my sisters and her husband and three children. He had had a heart attack, so he was in the hospital at Irving Boulevard and Pioneer. I thought, I can stop by and check on him , so that’s what I did. I was in his room, and then a nurse came to the door and said, “I have a phone call for you at the desk.”
I said, “Just patch it through here to the room.”She said, “I’m new; I don’t really know how to do that.”I said, “OK, I’ll be there in just a minute.” Well, I opened the door to go to the nurses’ station, and two guys grabbed me and threw me up against the wall; I was totally shocked. I said to them, “What is going on here? Why are you doing this to me?” They said, “We’re arresting you.” I said, “For what? I haven’t done anything.”That was Detective Rose and Detective Stovall. They took me to their car, and we stopped at the Irving Police Station.
They talked with someone there, and then they took me on to downtown Dallas.
Now check out the arrest report of BWF of Irving PD.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Sun 03 Jan 2021, 1:33 am
No mention of throwing him against the wall in the Irving PD report. Wonder who is telling the truth.
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Mick_Purdy- Posts : 2419
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Sun 03 Jan 2021, 12:37 pm
What a complete load of Bollocks.barto wrote:Vinny wrote:Before I got off to Irving, the radio said they had captured a man outside of the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, and the more they talked about what went on, I put things together and realized they were talking about Lee. I said, “My gosh. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Since I’d gotten off early, my mother and my stepfather were up visiting one of my sisters and her husband and three children. He had had a heart attack, so he was in the hospital at Irving Boulevard and Pioneer. I thought, I can stop by and check on him , so that’s what I did. I was in his room, and then a nurse came to the door and said, “I have a phone call for you at the desk.”
I said, “Just patch it through here to the room.”She said, “I’m new; I don’t really know how to do that.”I said, “OK, I’ll be there in just a minute.” Well, I opened the door to go to the nurses’ station, and two guys grabbed me and threw me up against the wall; I was totally shocked. I said to them, “What is going on here? Why are you doing this to me?” They said, “We’re arresting you.” I said, “For what? I haven’t done anything.”That was Detective Rose and Detective Stovall. They took me to their car, and we stopped at the Irving Police Station.
They talked with someone there, and then they took me on to downtown Dallas.
Now check out the arrest report of BWF of Irving PD.
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Colin_Crow- Posts : 322
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 10 Feb 2021, 11:43 pm
You need to listen to HSCA account. There are missing hours between him leaving the TSBD and his arrest at the hospital. Some of those gaps are filled in. I suspect the whole bag story was a product of the cops asking Linnie May about the bag when she dropped into the Paine's. Possibly earlier at the Randle’s house.
Here are some rough notes I collected from the audio a while back. From memory it is a bit hard to understand early but improves.
https://youtu.be/6GhPJBfLxy8
Here are some rough notes I collected from the audio a while back. From memory it is a bit hard to understand early but improves.
[size=15]Frazier Interview Full-HSCA
[/size]
https://youtu.be/6GhPJBfLxy8
[size=15]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhPJBfLxy8&t=2048s
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://5]14:20[/url] Left for Irving and turned on Radio – JFK being worked on at Parkland
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://6]14:51[/url] Went to sisters house and Mother was there – went to hospital – Irving Professional Center –giving father in law oxygen
“Sister said, she was there”
Phone call – after oxygen – two detectives tried to grab him - he ran to exit – they said stop or shoot – frisk and shake down – Rose and Stovall – took to Irving PS – took to Dallas
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://8]21:10[/url] Fritz attempt at confession – thought Frazier was disrespectful to him
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://9]23:10[/url] Police trying to whitewash – lax security procedures
24:00 Found out Oswald in custody – about time he left for Dallas?
25:21 Did not see LHO leave building – only found out was not there at head count – Shelley said he could go home about 1.30 – but Shelley goes to city hall with other 6th floor workers – must have been before request by Fritz to Senkel
26:30 did not notice police leave for Tippit
27:20 got home and it was on TV – sister knew what had happened (TSBD) – we both said it was bad thing ------8 sec pause ----- “she said”……..I went to house and mother was there. Asked where sister was and she was at hospital. She had been there a while, he went to relieve her (LOL).
28:20 Didn’t know about Tippit at that time
29:20 Knew Oswald had been arrested
30:50 wondered if he did it while driving –
31:10 Only thought of curtain rods when questioned – its been reported he had a package with him – what did it look like?
31:30 backed up into car port
32:30 went to my sisters house first – asked my mother - up at hospital with sister
34:30 Frazier mentioned motorcade on way to work
39:10 did not see Belknap ambulance
41:30 was printed and photographed
52:00 Did they try to make you say something that want true? Did there questioning center around this packaging and curtain rods? They knew that he…..so they were very interested
1:00:20 Has never seen rifle
1:00:30 what time did you get to the hospital? Didn’t know. Went home shot time then to hospital. Thinks mother told him Kennedy and Tippit shot. At hospital remembers someone being arrested at Texas Theater. Did not now it was Oswald
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://12]1:05:00[/url] close to hitting him
1:06:40 made package together? “the one that we made”
1:08:30 Bill did the count
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://15]1:09[/url]: when he knew Tippit was shot and Oswald arrested did he get scared? He was scared before, but had never been in trouble before. Was when at hospital with step father he thought Oswald was involved. Repeated did not know for sure at that time.
1:24:40 DPD searched the home – before or after they came to hospital –can’t remember
1:26:30 Was going to need lawyer until Rose and Stovall convinced cops he was telling truth
1:27:10 LMR and minister came to Irving PS
1:29:50 Can’t remember what mother/cops said before search
1:30:10 No one tried to call him at hospital
3:29:30 LMR at kitchen sink says must be late because Lee comes Lee
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://22]3:32:00[/url] Conversation with Lee about battery charging – this is new
[url=x-apple-data-detectors://23]3:36:00[/url] Parade close to lunch hour – he hadn’t eaten his lunch? Why not as lunch finished at 12.45!
3:39:30 one car garage?
3:40:10 Locked door? "He figured that one out!" "I guess he had"…..LOL
[/size]
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Thu 11 Feb 2021, 1:13 pm
Thanks Colin.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Thu 11 Feb 2021, 2:33 pm
There are missing hours between him leaving the TSBD and his arrest at the hospital.
Yes, Colin there are. And he has a faulty memory when it comes to trying to recollect those missing hours. He has many different versions of what transpired after the shots rang out - in fact, his whole story of what happened that day is filled with discrepancies which don't ring true.
Thanks for sharing your work Colin very much appreciated.
Yes, Colin there are. And he has a faulty memory when it comes to trying to recollect those missing hours. He has many different versions of what transpired after the shots rang out - in fact, his whole story of what happened that day is filled with discrepancies which don't ring true.
Thanks for sharing your work Colin very much appreciated.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Tue 16 Mar 2021, 4:14 am
Frazier's book is now available on the US Amazon site:
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Tue 16 Mar 2021, 9:40 am
Thanks Phil,Phil_Hopley wrote:Frazier's book is now available on the US Amazon site:
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
I'm conflicted about purchasing this. While it would be an interesting read, I'm also certain it will be filled with the same old stories which I've read before. I don't think Buell is about to reveal anything new. I'm happy to be proven wrong. Thanks for letting us know.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Tue 16 Mar 2021, 7:42 pm
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Tue 16 Mar 2021, 7:46 pm
His book has got a big fan already. See below.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 17 Mar 2021, 12:50 am
Vinny wrote:
Such an apt title.....
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 17 Mar 2021, 12:51 am
Mick_Purdy wrote:Thanks Phil,Phil_Hopley wrote:Frazier's book is now available on the US Amazon site:
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
I'm conflicted about purchasing this. While it would be an interesting read, I'm also certain it will be filled with the same old stories which I've read before. I don't think Buell is about to reveal anything new. I'm happy to be proven wrong. Thanks for letting us know.
You should buy it and then tear it a new one where applicable
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 17 Mar 2021, 7:10 pm
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Wed 17 Mar 2021, 7:38 pm
Mick,Mick_Purdy wrote:Thanks Phil,Phil_Hopley wrote:Frazier's book is now available on the US Amazon site:
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
I'm conflicted about purchasing this. While it would be an interesting read, I'm also certain it will be filled with the same old stories which I've read before. I don't think Buell is about to reveal anything new. I'm happy to be proven wrong. Thanks for letting us know.
I've bought it but I suspect the book will only create more questions than answers. Buell's comments over the past 57+ years of his activities/whereabouts on the 22nd haven't been consistent.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Thu 18 Mar 2021, 9:37 am
Phil,Phil_Hopley wrote:Mick,Mick_Purdy wrote:Thanks Phil,Phil_Hopley wrote:Frazier's book is now available on the US Amazon site:
https://www.amazon.com/Steering-Truth-Eternal-Connection-Harvey/dp/1646289382/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=buell+frazier&qid=1615828347&sr=8-1
I'm conflicted about purchasing this. While it would be an interesting read, I'm also certain it will be filled with the same old stories which I've read before. I don't think Buell is about to reveal anything new. I'm happy to be proven wrong. Thanks for letting us know.
I've bought it but I suspect the book will only create more questions than answers. Buell's comments over the past 57+ years of his activities/whereabouts on the 22nd haven't been consistent.
I'll confess I'm a bit fixated with the Frazier elements of the JFK case. I think everyone here knows that. The inconsistency of his recollections at least for me are more than just being forgetful or misremembering. I'll go to my grave believing he is lying to cover up something. I believe he knew who the person was standing next to him on his right hand side a top of the steps just after the assassination. I think he's carried that with him for all these years.
I think you're right Phil, the book will definitely leave us with more questions.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Thu 18 Mar 2021, 2:52 pm
Yes, he seems to be carrying a heavy burden. Seeing his friend Lee on the steps beside him and not being able to mention it.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Mon 22 Mar 2021, 2:08 pm
It will be no doubt heavily influenced by his long time "handlers" Ainsworth and Perry. I suspect just a regurgitation of the stuff from various oral history appearances over the past 20years.
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Re: The Recollections Of Buell Frazier
Mon 22 Mar 2021, 2:49 pm
I shouldn't comment because I've not read the book but I agree with you Colin it'll probably be more of the same rehashed nonsense.Colin_Crow wrote:It will be no doubt heavily influenced by his long time "handlers" Ainsworth and Perry. I suspect just a regurgitation of the stuff from various oral history appearances over the past 20years.
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