INVESTIGATION OF THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK -- REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

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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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