Today in Military History, January 24, 1942: Two high ranking military careers go into the toilet when a joint military court of inquiry places the blame for Pearl Harbor on U.S. Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and U.S. Army Lieutenant General Walter C. Short. On December 7, 1941, Kimmel served as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) and Short served as Commander of the U.S. Armys Hawaiian Department. Both men shared the responsibility for the protection of the U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. The fleet was moved from San Diego, California, in May of 1940. Kimmel took command in January 1941 and Short took command of Hawaii on February 8, 1941. Both men were known for their abilities, their attention to detail and was said by most to have done everything that they could have done and also allowed to do prior to December 7, 1941. It is a fact that any messages to Hawaii concerning Japanese pre-attack activities were either incomplete or just plain late. The final war warning to Admiral Kimmel, on December 7, 1941, arrived one hour after the attack began doing Kimmel, and the Sailors of our fleet, no good. He and General Short would now become the scapegoats for a nation that was unprepared for the coming war due to much inattention and simply denial by government leaders in Washington D.C. The thought of an air attack was never expected by those leaders believing distance was the U.S. ally. Orders were sent to Hawaii to defend against submarine attacks and sabotage. General Short was possibly the biggest scapegoat as his duties were to support Kimmel and the admiral could only ask for what he needed from Short from what he was told to expect. Admiral Kimmel did order previous actions prior to the attack by ordering the fleet to sea to protect Hawaii utilizing his battleships and their escorts supported by his aircraft carriers. He gave this order due to the reports he had received but he too would be overruled by an order from the Navy Department and would then instead order the carriers, U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2) and U.S.S. Enterprise (CV-6), to deliver aircraft to Midway and Wake islands. His third carrier, U.S.S. Saratoga (CV-3) would be leaving Bremerton Navy Yard during this time and arrive in San Diego to embark her air wing on December 7, 1941. Without his carriers Kimmel was not going to deploy his battleships without air cover against what knew was most likely enemy carriers and the fleet sat helpless in Pearl Harbor when the attack came. The only bright spot was the U.S. aircraft carriers not being present. For two men, and the only men, who did everything that they could to protect the U.S. Pacific Fleet they would soon see the axe fall. Both men were relieved of their commands on December 17, 1941, and reduced in rank to two stars. After the joint military court of inquiry the Roberts Commission, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in late January 1942 to investigate the attack, placed the blame solely on Kimmel and Short. Among other things the commission said that the men were even guilty of dereliction of duty in the events leading up to the attack. Both men defended themselves adamantly and brought forth many witnesses to back their positions. None did a bit of good and the two former heralded flag officers would crash and burn. Both men retired at their reduced ranks on February 28, 1942, and entered the private business world. Several attempts have been made to clear the mens names over the years with all being ignored. First the mens families asked President Richard Nixon to exonerate the men but he refused. The families also asked every president since him the same and they all also refused, including Ronald Reagan whom the families were certain would do so. On May 25, 1999, the United States Senate passed a non-binding resolution to exonerate Kimmel and Short and requested that the President of the United States posthumously restore both men to full rank. No U.S. President since then has signed it and the resolution still sits unsigned today in the White House of U.S. President Barrack Obama. In a 1964 interview U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz, who took over as commander of the Pacific Fleet three weeks after the attack, said that Kimmel and Short did everything possible to protect the fleet and that their actions were certainly hindered by the information that they were given. (1) U.S. Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. (2) U.S. Army Lieutenant General Walter C. Short. Both men are shown during their commands on Hawaii in 1941 prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photos courtesy of the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 22:17:36 +0000