Evening star., 1941-12-16
Epic of Pearl Hcrbor


Despite the heavy loss of life and
the damage done to the ships and
planes of the armed forces, the
people of the United States may
we'll be proud of the epic battle
waged by the American forces at
Pearl Harbor when they were at
tackled without warning by the Jap
anese on the morning of Deem
ber 7.
The defending units were taken
completely by surprise. Hence, the
extraordinary toll of 2,947 killed, at
least 656 wounded, battleship,
three destroyers and two lesser
ships sunk and an unspecifled num-
ber of other vessels damaged in
varying degree. In addition to this
list, of course, there was the damage
to the Army and Navy air establish
ments and the destruction of large
but undisclosed number of planes.
AS the story is told by Secretary
Of the Navy Knox, it appears that
the approaching enemy raiders were
first detected through glasses by men
in the navy yard signal tower. They
flashed the AFRAID alarm, and in
something less than four minutes
the guns of the fleet went into
action. That is fast work, but not
fast enough under modern combat
conditions.
The explanation, of course, lies in
the statement by Secretary Knox
that the Army and Navy were mot
on the alert" Just what this means
IS uncertain, but it seems evident,
for one thing, that plane detectors
were not in operation, since the raid
ers were first spotted through glasses
At this stage of the matter, how
ever, there is little to be gained by
guesses as to why the attack came
as surprise. Secretary Knox has
given assurance that a board of in
quiry will be appointed to 60 thor
oughly into this question and fix re-
sponsibility for any negligence or
errors Of judgment which may have
contributed to the disaster. Pend
ing report by this board, hasty con-
clusions should not be drawn
For all of US, the important thing
is the assurance given by Mr.. Knox
that our Navy has not been knocked
out, that "the entire balance of the
Pacific fleet are uninjured and are
all at sea, seeking contact with the
enemy"
These words should put an end to
the flood of rumorS which have been
sweeping across the country-rumors
which have been more harmful to
public morale than would have been
a prompt disclosure of known facts
as to the extent of the damage done.
1t may have been necessary, of
course, to hold up an announcement
of losses to keep information from
reaching the enemy, but the fact
that the Japanese knew of and an
nounced the sinking of the Arizona
before that news was made available
to the people of the United States
casts some doubt on the validity Of
this explanation. In any event, it
IS to be hoped that the administra-
tion will realize that the American
people are strong enough to bear up
under bad news. Certainly they
would rather know the facts, how
ever unpleasant, than to be subjected
to the needless worry which feeds
on runors impossible to confirm or
disprove.
For the future, the epic of Pearl
Harbor will stand as an inspiration
to all Americans, both in and out
OF the services The men of the Navy,
II opportunity presents itself, will
know how to even their score with
Japan. And the rest of us-all those
who must make their contribution
as civilians-can do no less than to
back them up to the very limit by
Intelligent and unremitting applica-
ton of the new spirit of American
unity and determination which has
grown out of Japan's act of consum-
mate treachery