Please be seated.
My name is John Ely. I am a member of the legal staff of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
Staff members have been authorized to take the testimony of witnesses pursuant to authority granted to the Commission by Executive Order No. 11130, dated November 29, 1963, and Joint Resolution of Congress No. 137.
Under the Commission's rules, each witness is to be provided with a copy of the Executive order of the joint resolution, and a copy of the rules that the Commission has adopted governing the taking of testimony from witnesses.
Is it correct that I have provided you with copies of these documents?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Yes.

Mr. Ely.

Under the Commission rules, also, each witness is entitled to 3 days' notice before he is required to come and give testimony.
You were not given 3 days' notice.
However, each witness can waive that notice requirement if he wishes, and I assume by your presence that you are willing to waive that notice requirement.
Captain DONABEDIAN. I do.

Mr. Ely.

Would you state your full name, please?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Captain George Donabedian, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy.

Mr. Ely.

And what position exactly do you hold?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Staff medical officer, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.

Mr. Ely.

You are an M.D., is that correct?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Yes; I am.

Mr. Ely.

How long have you held the position of staff medical officer?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Since July 1959.

Mr. Ely.

Prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, had you ever heard of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Captain DONABEDIAN. No; I had not.

Mr. Ely.

You, like Lieutenant Colonel Folsom, were called in to give us some help in interpreting the records of Lee Harvey Oswald--in other words, your testimony does not stem from any personal contact with the man.
Captain DONABEDIAN. Right.

Mr. Ely.

I will show you now a document which I have just labeled "Donabedian Deposition Exhibit No. 1."
(The document referred to was marked "Donabedian Deposition Exhibit No. 1" for identification.)

Mr. Ely.

Doctor, could you tell us generally what this document is?
Captain DONABEDIAN. This is taken from the health record of the marine.

Mr. Ely.

It is, in other words. a photostatic copy----
Captain DONABEDIAN. A photostatic copy of a medical document which each military person has. We have the physical examinations on entrance, and any other illnesses that he may develop during his service, which diseases are recorded and the treatments are recorded, and the inoculations he receives.

Mr. Ely.

I have numbered the pages of this exhibit in the upper right-hand corner. Because it was previously part of a larger document, Commission Document 82, the pagination of Donabedian Deposition Exhibit No. 1 runs from 132 through 171.
Doctor, I would like, first, to refer you to an entry made on page 147 of this exhibit, and dated July 12, 1938.
Could you explain it?
Captain DONABEDIAN. "Bleeding from the rectum. For the past 1 month has noticed bleeding on paper after bowel movement. This a.m., one to two drops bright red blood dropped into stool. Bowel movement light brown and very hard. Examination."

Mr. Ely.

The copy at that point becomes illegible.
Captain DONABEDIAN. "Slight irritation and moderate." Anyway, they gave him treatment with mineral oil.

Mr. Ely.

And what was the overall diagnosis?
Captain DONABEDIAN. Hemorrhoids was the diagnosis.

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