The Enigma of Jack Dougherty

let's see what we can ascertain from Jack's WC testimony alone without referening to the FBI reports on him  (which are actually relevant, but can wait).

In doing this, we have to assume what he answered and how he answered, was not some elaborate act.

He was 40 years old, never married, still lived with his parents and did not or could not drive a car.

That immediately paints a picture of someone who may have either some mental, physical, emotional or personality issues - or any comination of those.

The way he answers questions, along with other background data makes the above almost a certainty.

Let's face it. a laborer job at the TSBD was almost akin to working in what were once called "sheltered workshops'. You will be working alongside people with petty criminal records, the aged who need to work to survive, those without skills or much of an intellect, drifters and last-chancers.

Jack was born in about 1924 and left high school to the best of his memory in 1937. That means he left school at about 13 years of age. Yet we supposedly have school photos of him where he is surely older than 13.

In any case, he claims he worked in grocery stores until joining the army at 19. Yet at one stage, states that this work was for a "year or so".  In any case, he remembers the EXACT date he joined and EXACTLY how long he served (joined Oct 24, 1942 and served for 2 years 1 month and 17 days). What we see here is that he has no problem recalling things that are important to him - things that he obviously has some pride in and in which he invests self-worth. 

Asked if he served overseas, he mistakenly answers "yes". This is apparently not a deliberate lie, and is quickly clarified through further questions - but it does point to easy confusion if the questioning is a bit too spitfire.

I assume (maybe wrongly?) that he had a 3 year duty to serve. If so, he was released early and it is a pity that this was not explored.

Seems everyone suspected of being a "spook" of some kind, got an early out. Oswald and Crafard are the two main ones. But there were others. Here though, it would be an extraordinary feat to be picked up by an intel agency and to create a cover over a 20 year period that included not marrying, living with your parents and generally playing down your intelligence and working in a shit job for a shit company. 

When asked about his after army employment, he claims that he started at the TSBD Sept 17, 1940 - which is prior to when he claimed to join the army.

So he is very confused once again and the reality would seem to be that he actually joined the Army on Sept 17, 1940 as a 17 year old and was discharged on Oct 24, 1942 as a 19 year old. That more or less matches the period of enlistment that he claimed to have. It alo means he probably left school at 17, not 13. 

His start date at the TSBD is finally recalled as being in 1952. He claims he had no work between leaving the army in 1942 and starting at the TSBD in 1952. That is a 10 year period that taken on face value, he would have needed total support from his parents. There was a lot of history being made in the world crammed into those 10 years and it would be great to have confirmation that he was a basement dweller for that whole time and not off somewhere working for a government agency. 

I think I will end it here. We are all familiar with the many discrepencies about what he did on that fateful day and how Truly and his father ran interference so that he would not be too closely looked at.

My own gut feeling is that he was not acting - but that Truly recognized that someone like Jack would be an obedient Man Friday to have around if given a pat on the head occasionally and "important" jobs to do.  And that came in particularly handy on and around the date of the assassination - Truly having been in it up to his eyeballs.

Dougherty is a man of mystery. Hardly anything is known about him. Pictures of him are hard to come by. He seems to be a figure in the shadows. There seems to be an information blackout regarding him.

Yes, funny that Vinny, there was no information blackout concerning Oswald - hell they had the dirt on him in the evening press that Friday night and his whole back story in the next days morning edition newspapers. WTH