The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-09-27
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES
BY JOHN T. Y

BY JOHN I. FLYNN
Continued from last week.
Demand Formal Inquiry
From time to time voices rose in
congress to ask some degree Of JUS
tice for the accused men. Finally
congress, by resolution, ordered the
army and navy to make formal in
quiry Of the indicted officers. Boards
were named in each service and the
inquiries were made. The boards re-
ported to their army and navy Sec
retaries on dates fixed in the resolu-
ton sue
These reports were made last No
vember. They were promptly sup
pressed by Mr.. Roosevelt. Why?
Stimson and Forrestal merely said
the facts did not warrant a court
martial Of Kimmel and Short and
that they would be further studied.
They remained suppressed until
President Truman released them.
The third bead in the bracelet of
defense of the administration has
been that the army and navy and
the President himself were taken
completely by surprise. While they
look upon this as a defense for
themselves, they apparently do not
think it a defense for Kimmel and
Short. The theory. endlessly repeat
ed by press and radio, is that we
were at peace. that we were actually
negotiating for a peaceful settlement,
and that the President was waiting
in complete security for the japanese
answer to his last proposal for peace
when, out of a clear sky, the bombs
began to fall on Pearl Harbor.
Here is the whole case. Our gov
eminent, while trying to induce ia
pan to enter upon a peaceful settle
ment, was taken by carefully studi-
ed surprise. But, Notwithstanding
the surprise. that government had
adequately warned Kimmel and
Short Of the attack which it did not
expect: the admiral and general did
not put their commands on the alert
required. and IS q consequence the
great naval base was exposed to
the full fury Of the japanese treach-
cry.
Why Pair We're "crucifisd"
believe that the facts which I am
now about to divulge will complete
ly clear up this entire story and that
II will fix definitely the responsible
lily for the disaster which cost us in
a single day the use of a great fleet,
the sacrifice of the Philippines, and
three and a half years of savage
warfare to recover for ourselves and
our allies possession of the vast en-
pire which literally slipped from
their hands after the initial blow at
Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.
We shall see now why Adm. KIM
mel and Gen. Short were crucified.
And who was the real culprit whose
clossal laundering has been hidden
from the world by blackening the
names Of two honorable men.
THE FICTION OF PEACE
y. 3. Sends Arms. Ammunition. De-
stxoysrs and Planes to Britain.
C~~~~> rod (k3un |
There is a story Of profound i'm
portance yet to be told about the
state Of peace so far as America was
concerned before Preal Harbor. Ger
tainly we had not declared war. But
we had sen an army across the sea
to Iceland to join the British army
there; we had been sending arms,
ammunition and destroyers and
planes as a gift to Britain and France
and China. We had been with our
warships hunting down German SUBJ
marines for British planes and even
bombing them.
On Nov. % w. Averill Hartman,
the Presidents agent in London,
said: 1.-THE United States navy is
shooting the Germans-German SUBJ
marines and aircraft at sea-. And on
Sept. 20, 194l, a dispatch from Hyde
Park reported that more than half
of the United States navy is forced
TO remain in the Pacific at a time
when the United States is operating
against German and Italian subma-
rines and air raiders in the Atlantic"
In the Pacific we had cut off all
shipments and trade of essential ma
terials with Japan and frozen and
seized here $3.50, 0Oo, 900 of her funds,
which Walter Lippman called "a
declaration Of economic warfare.
Let Me Baby Her Along"
We had sent an American military
mission to China and an American
economic adviser to Chang kai-