The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-10-04

HAZEL
EYES
TIL TRUTH ABOUT
PEARL HARBOR
BY JOHN 7. FLYNN
Continued from last week.

forces was Gen. Marshall, chief of
staff. The commander of the navy
was Adm. Stark, chief of naval op-
erations. Both, of course, were SUBJ
ject to the President who had by
now got into the habit of referring
to himself as the commander-in-
chief. This was not a mere peccadil-
10. He was already performing di-
rectly that function, issuing orders
to Stark which the secretary of the
navy knew nothing of and issuing
orders to Marshall without consult
ing the secretary Of war.
His intrusions into the operations
Of the navy were more frequent be-
cause, while Roosevelt had, under
the influence of flatterers around
him, come to think of himself as a
master of diplomacy, an expert in
political economy, an adept in poll
teal manipulation, a wizard in pub
lie finance, a profound student Of
foreign affairs and a military strate-
gist of large dimensions, he regard
ed himself as little less than a genius
in naval organization and direction.
This obsession led to the habit of
secrecy to avoid the annoyance of
hostile advice upon projects he wish
ed to manage.
Thus in June, when he directed
the transfer of naval vessels from
the Pacific to the Atlantic, the Sec
rotary of the navy heard about it
first from the secretary of war. La
ter, when Hull was asked what had
happened to the proposals submit
ted by the Japanese premier direct
ly to the President, he said: II am
wondering myself.
Unable to LeGrn Plons
Later we shall see that the chief
of naval operations could not find
out what our plans for the Pacific
war were and an American admiral
first learned Of certain plans Of u
government in his theater from a
British admiral. Here we are about
to see this headstrong man, sur
rounded by subservient and obse-
Quious courtiers like Harry Hopkins,
Henry Wallace, Sam Rosenman and
others, playing secretly the devious
game of diplomacy with the Japs
and running, often behind the backs
of his admirals and generals, seq
ments of a rapidly developing war
in two vast oceans. !
The point upon which all the
forces we have been examining were
converging was the small island of
Oahu and, in particular, its great
naval base near Honolulu-Pearl
Harbor. 1t was supposed to be one
of the strongest in the world. The
commander of the military establish
ment in Hawaii was Gen. Short. The
Pacific fleet was based at Pearl Har-
Dor and it was under the command
of Adm. Kimmel. Responsibility for
the defense of the island was in the
hands of Gen. Short. Adm. Kimmel
was expected to give whatever as
sistance was required from the navy.
But Adm. KimmeIs area Of opera
tions extended over the whole Paci-
fic. Further to the west was the
Asiatic fleet based on the Philip
pines and under the command of
Adm. Thomas c. Hart.
Richardson in Command
Here we must note a fact of great
importance The Pacific fleet had al
ways been based on our west coast.
Pearl Harbor was a supply and re-
pair base in event of operations in
the mid Pacific. 1t was Roosevelt
who forced the change of bringing
the fleet into Pearl Harbor. In Janu-
airy, 1910, Adm. Richardson was
made commander in chief of the
Pacific fleet. He was one of the
navy's foremost figures. Since his
earlist days, after leaving Annapolis,
he had made the study of Japanese
warfare his life work. He was be-
yond question the navy's outstand-
ing authority upon Pacific naval
warfare and Japanese strategy. He
was the logical man for the post. AS
the war clouds darkened over the
Pacific he was in the spot for which
his whole professional life had been
a training.
Richardson was ordered to hearth
the Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor.
This he refused to do-an act no one
but a very distinguished officer
could risk. He was ordered a second
time and again refused. 1t was Rich
ardson's belief-and indeed general
1y supported by the navy-that the
fleet should never be berthed inside
Pearl Harbor where it would be a
mark for attack. This was particu-
arly true in such troubled times