Show Go Round Round Pearl Harbor Facts Bared 3 Years Later By Drew Dreu Pe Pearson Jon WASHINGTON It has now been exactly three years since the backbone of the Pacific fleet was virtually wiped d out ut at Pearl Harbor and despite the top secrecy secrecy secrecy sec sec- sec sec- recy of ot the admirals and generals generals gen gen- some of the inside facts regarding that tragedy tragedy can can now be revealed There ha have ve been two basic reas reasons ms' ms or jor for hush hush-h hush hush-hush sh secrecy and last weeks week's whitewash v of Kimmel and Short One is the I already admitted fact that several several several sev sev- eral other officers in both the army and navy navy including including some really top bracket were men men were were involved The other is the clash of ot opinion Inside the cabinet In 1941 regarding the wisdom of sending the strong note to the emperor of Japan proposing that Japan get out of all China and offering a n non-aggression non pact if she w would uld Both Pres Roosevelt and Secy Hull felt that the United States had appeased d J Japan pan long enough and that during th this s appeasement Japan had reached out f farther and farther Secretaries Knox x and Stimson Stimson Stimson son however felt that the United States was not prepared and that the note to the emperor emperor em em- would bring war They favored continued appeasement and went on record In writing to that effect In the end Roosevelt and Hull overruled them and the note to the emperor was was sent sent Nov 26 However the written opinions by Knox and Stimson remain in the record and would have had to come out in any court martial of ot Kimmel and Short That is one reason for the failure JO to court martial Pearl Harbor Inefficiency In In addition the he entire record of several Pearl Harbor admirals ls g generals and nd junior officers Is pretty bad as far as efficiency is concerned There is no question question ques ques- tion put but ut that the war and navy I departments in Washington g t ton o n acted promptly on Nov 27 one day after the note was sent to the to warn warn Pearl Harbor Har Har- bor Warnings were sent to Pearl Harbor almost up to the eve of Dec 7 7 On Dec Dee 1 th the the navy navy department department department de de- de- de advised Kimmel that the Jap fleet had moved southward southward southward south south- ward and it was clear that extensive extensive extensive ex ten ten-sive preparations are under underway underway underway way for hostilities On Dec 3 Kimmel was was' advised that Jap consulates were burning confidential confidential confidential papers Arid And on Dec 6 he was instructed that he himself himself him him- self might burn confidential papers papers pa pa papers pers in case of ot greater emergency emer emer- gency Despite this the crews of fleet were permitted shore shore liberty liberty on that same n night and 40 of ot the officers were absent next morning when the attack started It was not revealed in the Roberts Roberta report but in Jn addition to the official warnings sent from Washington Kimmel and Short got a confidential warnIng warning warning warn warn- ing from the F FBI B I. I Hoovers Hoover's men had been tapping the telephones of ot the Jap consulate in Honolulu and on the morning of Dec 6 listened in o on an minute 18 conversation to Tokyo during which a very suspicious weather I report was given which so worried worried worried wor wor- ried the F FBI B that a transcript of the conversation was taken immediately to arm army and navy in intelligence Naval int intelligence was not in inter in- in ter sted But the chief military intelligence officer considered th the message so important that he took it immediately to Gen Sho Short t who W was S on the golf golt c course JUrse Short put the message In his pocket Incident of ot Jap lap Submarine Submarine- However the most moat Inexcusable dereliction on the part of the navy was the way it laughed off a Jap submarine sighted just outside Pearl Harbor one hour before the attack This pis is is touched upon very delicately in the Roberts Roberts' re re- re port But th the real facts are that one ne Jap sub arrived d at the entrance of ot Pearl Pearl Harbor Harbor at a a. a. a m. m on Dec 7 7 waited until 4 20 when the submarine net was l lowered to to- let out a garbage garbage garbage gar gar- bage scow scow then cru cruised sed all round md inside the harbor The sub later was sunk and when raised its Us chart showed the exact time it had passed each U. U S. S warship The sub passed outside the harbor at a.m. am a. a m. m and apparently apparently apparently ap ap- ap- ap lay off the harbors harbor's mouth where it radi radioed ed the lo location location location lo- lo cation of U. U S. S vessels to Jap airplane carrl carriers rs About an hour before the attack a sub was sighted by bythe bythe bythe the U US S S and the U US S S. S Ward Vard which reported to the watch officer The shore hore officer of of- facer that these observed 1 t damn destroyer skippers are always seeing submarines He also observed that it was too early carly to disturb the admiral Shortly th thereafter the Ward reported that It had sunk the submarine At t this is point a fi a. m m. the watch officer finally got up nerve to wake his chief However no alert warning or other alarm was sounded The officer In command of ot Pearl Harbor naval b base e was Rear Adm Claude C. C Bloch Kimmel commanded the fleet Copyright 1944 by United Feature Syndicate At every step we are tripping over enemy dead in the under under- brush The woods are full of ot dead krauts Col Glenn D D. Walker of Clinton Mass Maas in forest Germany |