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Chapter I
Preamble: Authority for the Army Pearl Harbor Board and its action
taken.
This Board was appointed pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 339,
78th Congress, approved 13 June 1944, by Letter Order A.G.O. 8 July 1944
(AGPO-A-A 210.311 (24 Jun 44)) as amended by Letter Order A.G.O. 11 July
1944 (AGPO-A-A 210.311 (10 Jun 44)) and Letter A.G.O. 22 August 1944
(AGPO-A-A 248.7 (2 Aug 44)), and as supplemented by Supplemental Letter
Order A.G.O. 22 July 1944 (AGPO-A-A 210.311 (21 July 44)) which order
made reference to a memorandum for The Judge Advocate General of 12 July
1944 -- Subject: Report of House Military Affairs Committee dated 14
June 1944 alleging neglect and misconduct of Colonel Theodore Wyman,
Jr., and others concerning Hawaiian and Canadian Defense Projects, and
which was signed by Robert P. Patterson, Acting Secretary of War. This
supplemental order directed the Board to consider the phase of the
report which related to the Pearl Harbor disaster. [1]
Composition of the board:
Lt. Gen. George Grunert, 01534, USA
Maj. Gen. Henry D. Russell, 0212769, USA
Maj. Gen. Walter H. Frank, 02871, USA
Col. Charles W. West, 012774, JAGD, Recorder (without vote)
Col. Harry A. Toulmin, 0205520, AC, Executive Officer (without vote)
Maj. Henry C. Clausen, 0907613, JAGD, Assistant Recorder (without vote)
Footnotes:
[1] See copies of orders and memorandum, Exhibits 65 to 69, inclusive
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The Board interpreted these orders and the memorandum referred to as
confining its investigation to the Pearl Harbor disaster.
The Board convened 20 July 1944 and was in continuous session from 24
July 1944 to 20 October 1944. It held hearings twice in Washington,
D.C.; twice in San Francisco, California; and in Hawaii. It has heard a
total of 151 witnesses and has interviewed many additional potential
witnesses whom it found did not have any pertinent information. There
has been no available document, witness, suggestion or lead which
promised any materiality that has not been carefully investigated by
this Board. Every witness has been invited to give, in addition to his
testimony, any suggestions, opinions, leads to evidence, or any other
information that might possibly be pertinent. It has been our purpose,
and we believe we have effected it, to explore every available piece of
information on this subject. We have not had the opportunity, nor the
organization, to comb personally and exhaustively the official files,
but we have called for the pertinent letters, documents, and memoranda.
We believe that practically all of them have been secured, although we
have found a few files from which important and vital papers are
missing. In many instances we found these documents elsewhere or were
able to prove them through copies in other hands.
This Board has been without power of subpoena, but in no instance has
its invitation to appear and testify been ignored.
In view of the fact that the War Department appointed this
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Board, under Joint Resolution of Congress, [1] to examine the Army's
part in the Pearl Harbor disaster because Congress desired, as appears
from the legislative history of the Joint Resolution, a more thorough
study, it has been necessary to examine the records of the Roberts
Commission and the Roberts Report in the light of the new testimony
adduced by this Board, new witnesses, and new documents; and to set
forth wherein the Board's findings are in harmony with the Roberts
Report; or, if in conflict, are correct and supported by fuller
evidence.
The Board has made, therefore, a careful review of the record and
exhibits of the Roberts Commission. This Board has been materially
helped and enlightened by the Report and Record
Footnotes:
[1] Public Law 339 -- 78th Congress, Chapter 247 -- 2nd Session, S.J.
Res. 133, Joint Resolution: To extend the statute of limitation in
certain cases.
"*Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,* That effective as of December
7, 1943, all statutes, resolutions, laws, articles, and regulations,
affecting the possible prosecution of any person or persons, military or
civil, connected with the Pearl Harbor catastrophe of December 7, 1941,
or involved in any other possible or apparent dereliction of duty, or
crime or offense against the United States, that operate to prevent the
court martial, prosecution, trial or punishment of any person or persons
in military or civil capacity, involved in any matter in connection with
the Pearl Harbor catastrophe of December 7, 1941, or involved in any
other possible or apparent dereliction of duty, or crime or offense
against the United States, are hereby extended for a further period of
six months, in addition to the extension provided for in Public Law 208,
Seventy-eighth Congress.
"Sec. 2. The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy are
severally directed to proceed forthwith with an investigation into the
facts surrounding the catastrophe described in section 1 above, and to
commence such proceedings against such persons as the facts may justify.
"Approved June 13, 1944."
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of the Roberts Commission. We append to this report a section
indicating the additional information and documents which have been made
available as a result of our extended investigation, and which probably
did not come to the attention of the Roberts Commission; or, at least,
were not mentioned in either the testimony, documents or report of the
Roberts Commission.
We have been greatly aided by the Interim Report, Committee of Military
Affairs, House of Representatives, Seventy-eighth Congress, 2nd Session,
pursuant to H. Res. 30, A Resolution Authorizing the Committee on
Military Affairs and the Committee on Naval Affairs to Study the
Progress of the National War Effort, and the committee's records,
counsel, and investigation, with particular reference to the activities
of Colonel Theodore Wyman, Jr., Hans Wilhelm Rohl, the Hawaiian
Constructors, and others, as such activities had a bearing upon the
Pearl Harbor disaster and what led up to it. We have been aided by the
testimony of counsel from that committee and the complete record of the
investigation of that committee on this subject and its exhibits. We
have also heard testimony and investigated reports and reviewed
affidavits of additional affiants, whose testimony came to light, or
documents were discovered, after the conclusion of the investigation of
the Committee on Military Affairs, as indicated in its Interim Report.
We have also been aided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Department of Justice, and the Report of the Tenney Committee in
California.
We transmit with this report the record of testimony of the witnesses
consisting of 41 volumes and 70 exhibits. In the appendix to this
report is a tabulation in detail of the
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witnesses who testified and a list of the exhibits.
In order to facilitate the examination of the Board's record by the War
Department and by any others who may have occasion to review the record
and exhibits, we append to this report and make a part of it extensive
analysis of the testimony of every witness, indexing each statement by
reference to the record, and with cross references of those statements
to different parts of the record where similar or different statements
on the same subject were made by other witnesses. We have also added
cross references to the same subject matter in the record of the Roberts
Commission or the exhibits presented before that commission. It is,
therefore, possible for anyone reviewing this report to have a complete
and, we believe, exhaustive analysis of every phase of the Pearl Harbor
matters, so that any part of the situation can be easily and promptly
reviewed.
In formulating this report the Board has been conscious of the deep
spiritual and moral obligation, as well as its professional and
patriotic duty, to present an impartial and judicial investigation and
report. This we have earnestly endeavored to do, and have spared no
pains or effort to that end. With that spirit animating our actions, we
have deemed it helpful and wise to present the state of mind and the
background against which the events of the drama of Pearl Harbor could
be adequately judged; and to sketch in retrospection the events and the
knowledge of such events of each of the principal actors on the scene,
so that their actions might be more fully understood and justly
evaluated
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and judged. At no time, however, has the Board acted as a court. [1]
This is necessary because we are now passing upon the matter several
years after the event. We have endeavored to effect this reconstruction
to some degree in the second chapter entitled, "Background". The same
considerations have been evaluated in the succeeding chapters, as this
background affected the events and actions of those involved in the
matters of consideration. In so doing, we hope we have avoided the
human failing so aptly pointed out by St. Paul of "forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are
before."
In Chapter III we have presented the story of Pearl Harbor. This is a
running chronological story of events that took place leading up to the
Pearl Harbor attack and through that fateful day and for a short period
thereafter, so far as subsequent events reflected upon the conditions
previously existing. We have discussed in this Chapter III the
arguments for and against each principal proposition, have examined all
of the representations and defenses of General Short and others involved
in this matter. We have endeavored to state the surrounding facts and
circumstance, the background, the considerations and factors which
influenced each principal officer or official in the execution of his
duties.
Footnotes:
[1] Whenever any interested witness raised a question of proof that had
not been previously discussed, or fully examined, or any newspaper
report raising any question came to our attention, we endeavored to get
an answer so that the whole truth would be known once and for all.
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Therefor, whoever reads this report will have before him all of the
considerations for and against any proposition, all facts, any defense
or any claim put forward by those interested, and answers to such
questions of import to the services and to the public, in order to have
the foundation for an impartial judgment.
In Chapter IV we continue the story in so far as it pertains to
Washington. In Chapter V we relate the story concerning the Pre-Pearl
Harbor construction activities and in Chapter VI come to Conclusions.
The Board was after facts; and the surrounding conditions, background,
and atmosphere which influenced the actors in this drama and brought
them to their fateful decisions. This we believe we secured
successfully from military and naval personnel of widely varying ranks;
from civilians of varied stations in life; and from official and other
contemporaneous publications. The range of witnesses ran from men in
the ranks to Generals and Admirals, and from the humblest in civil life
to United States Senators and the President's Cabinet. [1] Each witness
was invited, additionally, to express freely his views and opinions on
the record, and to submit any facts or leads to the discoveries of facts
which might be helpful to this Board.
We set out with no thesis to prove, nor person to convict. Our approach
has been, we hope, diligently and completely factual; and also equally
impartial. Our conclusions are those compelled by the clear weight of
the evidence from the facts set forth in the record.
Footnotes:
[1] Whenever there was a shadow or shade of a doubt, we resolved it in
favor of running down the suggestion and introducing proof, if it had
any suspicion of materiality.
Page maintained by Larry W. Jewell, lwjewell@omni.cc.purdue.edu. Created: 12/12/96 Updated: 12/12/96