Re: Husband E. Kimmel during pearl harbour
Forgive me for combining two or more posts and not citing the posters, but this is something I know a wee bit about.
First, Yamamoto could guarantee to the Naval High Command that the Kido Butai would have a good bag because Lt. Yoshikawa had notified him that the PacFlt was in harbor every weekend. Bankers hours and a war footing don't mix. If Kimmel had not allowed the fleet to get into a routine the Japanese wouldn't have had the confidence to risk their fleet on an attack when they didn't know if the ships would be in port. It is thus possible to argue that Kimmel is directly responsible for the losses at Pearl.
Second, Short didn't just line up his planes into target practice bait, he got so focused on sabotage that he ignored the warnings of the Martin-Bellinger Report. The Army's mobile 5" AA guns didn't get into battery until 11 AM that day because the ammo was locked up in the Crater ammo dumps. NO ready ammo available. "Ready ammo" means ready to kick butts. We weren't. It was Short's duty to make sure we were. He didn't.
Finally (yeah!) the matter of the "4th" stars. Kimmel and Short were retired in "one star" status, like nearly every other general and admiral. There's no difference in pay between a one star and four star, just status. The four-star retirement status is awarded to those who did exceptionally well at their jobs. Kimmel and Short don't fit that bill. The very last exhibit in the Congressional Investigation into the Attack on Pearl Harbor is a pair of letters to Kimmel and Short asking them to hold off requesting a court-martial to clear their names until after the war because of national security issues. After the war they were invited to file for a C.M. if they wanted one. Neither chose that course. Why? Because they knew they'd do better in the court of public opinion, as Congress has since proved.
Larry J
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