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PEARL HARBOR ATTACK XII
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PEARL HARBOR ATTACK XIII
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
On November 15, 1945 the Joint Congressional Committee on the
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack held its first public hearings
pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 27, Seventy-Ninth Congress,
first session, as follows: [1]
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 6, 1945
Mr. BARKLEY submitted the follow concurrent resolution, which was
considered, modified, and agreed to
SEPTEMBER 11, 1945
House concurs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That
there is hereby established a joint committee on the investigation of
the Pearl Harbor attack, to be composed of five Members of the Senate
(not more than three of whom shall be members of the majority party), to
be appointed by the President pro tempore, and five Members of the House
of Representatives (not more than three of whom shall be members of the
majority party), to be appointed by the Speaker of the House. Vacancies
in the membership of the committee shall not affect the power of the
remaining members to execute the functions of the committee, and shall
be filled in the same manner as in the ease of the original selection.
The committee shall select a chairman and a vice chairman from among its
members.
SEC. 2. The committee shall make a full and complete investigation of
the facts relating to the events and circumstances leading up to or
following the attack made by Japanese armed forces upon Pearl Harbor in
the Territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and shall report to the
Senate and the House of Representatives not later than January 3, 1946,
the results of its investigation, together with such recommendations as
it may deem advisable.
SEC. 3. The testimony of any person in the armed services, and the fact
that such person testified before the joint committee herein provided
for, shall not be used against him in any court proceeding, or held
against him in examining his military status for credits in the service
to which he belongs.
SEC. 4. (a) The committee, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof,
is authorized to sit and act at such places and times during the
sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Seventy-Ninth Congress
(prior to January 3, 1946), to require by subpoena or otherwise the
attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers,
and documents, to administer such oaths, to take such testimony, to
procure such printing and binding, and to make such expenditures as it
deems advisable. The cost of stenographic services to report such
hearings shall not be in excess of 25 cents per hundred words.
(b) The committee is empowered to appoint and fix the compensation of
such experts, consultants, and clerical and stenographic assistants as
it deems necessary, but the compensation so fixed shall not exceed the
compensation prescribed under the Classification Act of 1923, as
amended, for comparable duties.
(c) The expenses of the committee, which shall not exceed $25,000, shall
be paid one-half from the contingent fund of the Senate and one-half
from the con-
[1] The authority of the committee is to be found in S. Con. Res. No.
27, 79th Cong. 1st sess., passed by the Senate on September 6, 1945, and
concurred in by the House of Representatives on September 11, 1945, and
as extended by both Houses under S. Con. Res. No. 49. 79th Cong., 1st
sess., and by S. Con. Res. No. 54. 79th Cong., 2d sess.
XIV INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
tingent fund of the House of Representatives, upon vouchers signed by
the chairman.
Passed the Senate September 6, 1945.
Attest:
LESLIE L. BIFFLE,
Secretary.
Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 1945.
Attest:
SOUTH TRIMBLE,
Clerk.
On 70 days subsequent to November 15 and prior to and including May 31,
1945, open hearings were conducted in the course of which some 15,000
pages of testimony were taken and a total of 183 exhibits received
incident to an examination of 43 witnesses.
Of assistance to the committee and its work were the testimony and
exhibits of seven prior investigations concerning the Pearl Harbor
attack, including inquiries conducted by the Roberts Commission. [2]
Admiral Thomas C. Hart, [3] the Army Pearl Harbor Board, [4] the Navy
Court of Inquiry, [5] Col. Carter W. Clarke, [6] Maj. Henry C. Clausen,
[7] and Admiral H. Kent Hewitt. [8] For purposes of convenient reference
there has been set forth in appendix A to this report a statement
concerning the scope and character of each of these prior proceedings,
the records of which total 9,754 printed pages of testimony from 318
witnesses and the attendant 469 exhibits. The records of these
proceedings have been incorporated as exhibits to the record of the
committee which encompasses approximately 10,000,000 words.
All witnesses appeared under oath and were afforded the fullest
opportunity to offer any and all information which was regarded as
having any relationship whatever to the disaster. In the course of
examination by committee counsel and the committee members themselves,
an effort was made to elicit all facts having an immediate or remote
bearing on the tragedy of December 7, 1941. It is believed the committee
has succeeded through its record in preserving for posterity the
material facts concerning the disaster.
The figures and witnesses in the drama of Pearl Harbor ran the gamut of
officials of the executive branch of the Government. The principal
personalities in the picture were the President of the United States,
Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Secretary of State, Cordell Hull; the
Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson; the Secretary of Navy Frank Knox;
the Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall; the Chief of Naval Operations.
Harold R. Stark; the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet Husband E.
Kimmel; and the commanding general of the Hawaiian Department, Walter C.
Short. In appendix B to this report there are set forth the names and
positions of the ranking Army and Navy officials in Washington and at
Hawaii at the time of the attack along with the principal witnesses in
the various proceedings.
The committee's investigation has extended to the files of all pertinent
branches of the Government. Instructions in this regard from the
President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, to various departments
will be found in appendix C to this report. The committee through its
counsel requested Miss Grace Tully, custodian of the files of the late
President Roosevelt, to furnish the committee all
[1] For proceedings of the Roberts Commission, see committee exhibit No.
143.
[2] For proceedings of the Hart Inquiry, see committee exhibit No. 144.
[3] For proceedings of the Army Pearl Harbor Board, see committee
exhibit No. 145.
[4] For proceedings of the Navy Court of Inquiry, see committee exhibit
No. 146.
[5] For proceedings of the Clarke investigation, see committee exhibit
No. 147.
[6] For report of investigation conducted by Major Clausen, see
committee exhibit No. 148.
[7] For proceedings of the Hewitt inquiry, see committee exhibit No.
149.
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT XV
papers in these files for the year 1941 relating to Japan, the imminence
of war in the Pacific, and the general Far Eastern developments. She
furnished such papers in response to this request as she considered
might be involved and stood ready to testify before the committee at any
time.
All parties in interest have attested to the fact that they have been
afforded a full, fair, and impartial public hearing before the
committee. All witnesses who retained counsel Admiral Stark, Admiral
Kimmel, and General Short were given the opportunity to be examined by
their counsel if they so desired, and to submit questions to committee
counsel to be asked other witnesses.
The following action was not taken by the committee for the reasons
indicated:
(1) Former Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was not called before the
committee as a witness for the reason that his health would not permit.
Mr. Stimson did, however, submit a statement under oath for the
committee's consideration and the answers supplied by him to
interrogatories propounded were considered by the committee. He supplied
the portions of his personal diary requested by committee counsel and
informed the committee that the portions of his diary now in evidence
are the only portions thereof having any relationship to the Pearl
Harbor investigation.
(2) Former Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew appeared before the committee
as a witness and testified to material appearing in his personal diary
having a relationship to the events and circumstances of the Pearl
Harbor attack. On the basis of his personal representation that no
additional material pertinent to the subject of the committee's inquiry
appeared in his diary beyond that to which he had testified, the
committee did not formally request or otherwise seek to require the
production of Mr. Grew's complete diary.
(3) A request by one member of the committee for the appearance of the
former Prime Minister of England, Mr. Winston Churchill, was disapproved
by a majority of the committee. At the time Mr. Churchill was a guest in
the United States and it was not felt that he should with propriety be
requested to appear as a witness.
(4) A request by one member of the committee for production by the State
Department of all papers relating to the so-called Tyler Kent case was
disapproved by a majority of the committee. The State Department had
advised that these papers were in no way pertinent to the subject of the
committee's inquiry, and, additionally, members of the committee had
discussed the question with Mr. Kent who advised that he possessed no
facts that would in any way have relationship to the Pearl Harbor
attack.
Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull appeared before the committee but
was forced to retire by reason of failing health before completion of
the examination by all members of the committee. Mr. Hull subsequently
responded to interrogatories propounded by the committee.
The committee has conceived its duty to be not only that of indicating
the nature and scope of responsibility for the disaster but also of
recording the pertinent considerations relating to the greatest defeat
in our military and naval history. Only through a reasonable amount of
detail is it possible to place events and responsibilities in their
proper perspective and give to the Nation a genuine appreciation of the
salient facts concerning Pearl Harbor. For this reason our report is
XVI INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
of somewhat greater length than was initially believed necessary. It is
to be recalled in this connection, however that the over-all record of
the committee comprehends some ten million words. It was felt therefore
that the story of the antecedent, contemporaneous, and succeeding events
attending the disaster could not be properly encompassed within a report
any more concise than that herewith submitted.
We believe there is much to be learned of a constructive character as a
result of the Japanese attack from the standpoint of legislation and,
additionally, for guidance in avoiding the possibility of another
military disaster such as Pearl Harbor. Accordingly, in the section
devoted to recommendations there are set forth, in addition to the
recommendations proper, a series of principles, based on errors revealed
by the investigation, which are being commended to our military and
naval services for their consideration and possible assistance.
Our report does not purport to set forth or refer to all of the enormous
volume of testimony and evidence adduced in the course of the Pearl
Harbor investigation. It is believed, however that the material facts
relevant to the disaster have been outlined in the report. The
committee's record and the records of all prior investigations have been
printed and are available for review and study. It is to be borne in
mind that the findings and conclusions are based on the facts presently
in our record after an exhaustive investigation.
We desire to acknowledge particular gratitude to those who have acted as
counsel to the committee for their excellent work during the course of
the investigation and for their magnificent assistance in compiling the
facts for the committee in order that we might draw our conclusions,
which are necessarily those of the committee only.
In the following pages an effort has been made to present a review of
the diplomatic and historical setting of the Pearl Harbor attack
followed by a picture of the Japanese attack itself. Set forth
thereafter are separate treatments of responsibilities in Hawaii on the
one hand and responsibilities in Washington on the other. Situations
existing in our Army and Navy establishments having a proximate or
causative relationship to the disaster have been distinguished from
those which, while not to be condoned, are regarded as having no direct
or reasonable bearing on the conditions prevailing at Hawaii, preceding
and in the wake of the Japanese attack on Sunday morning December 7,
1941. To assist in following and better appreciating the story of the
attack there has been outlined in appendix F the geographical
considerations and military installations playing a role in and relating
to the disaster.
Throughout the report italics have been freely employed to facilitate
reading and to bring out more clearly matters regarded as of particular
importance.
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