Title Page REPORT OF ARMY PEARL HARBOR BOARD Appointed by the Secretary of War, pursuant to the Provisions of Public Law 339, 78th Congress, approved 13 June 1944, to ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941, and make such recommendations as it may deem proper. Also, to consider the phrases which related to the Pearl Harbor disaster of the report of House Military Affairs Committee, as directed by the Acting Secretary of War, in his memorandum for the Judge Advocate General, 12 July 1944. Table of Contents Page Chapter I: Preamble: Authority for the Army Pearl Harbor Board and its action taken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter II: Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter III: The Story of Pearl Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Chapter IV: Responsibilities in Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Chapter V: Wyman and Construction Delays in Hawaii . . . . . . . 242 Chapter VI: Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Chapter VII: Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Legends: RR - Roberts Record R - APHB Record D - Document Ex - Exhibit Underscoring ours unless otherwise stated. (Underscoring replaced by pairs of asterisks in the electronic text.) Page 1 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 Page 2 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 Page 3 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." Page 4 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 Page 5 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 Page 6 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. Page 7-8 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.