Evening star., 1946-01-26
Short BIames
Surprise Attack
On General Staff
Made 'Scopeeoot' by
Marshall, Gerow and
Miles, He Testifies
By J. A. O'LEARY and
CARTER BROOKE JONES.

Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short,
asked at sthe Pearl Harbor in
quiry today what he meant by
declaring himself the "scape-
goat" of the disaster of 1941, said
the War Department was to
blame for failure of the Army
forces in Hawaii to be on the
alert against the surprise attack
and had shifted the blame to
him as their commander.
Gen. Short used the term "scape-
goat in the statement he read to
the committee Tuesday, and SEN
ator Ferguson, Republican, of Michi-
gan inquired closely today into what
the retired officer had meant.
''Scapegoat is slang, but it's
common term" Gen. Short said. Il
meant exactly what it implies"
Names Chief of Staff.
Pointing out that he had said the
War Department was responsible for
failing to inform him of the danger
of an attack or else order him on
war alert, Senator Ferguson asked:
And who do you mean when you
say War Department"
We'll, the Chief of Staff" Gen.
Short replied.
Who was Gen. George C. Mar
shall,' Senator Ferguson remarked,
adding: And who else?"
Gen. Short replied that both 1t.
Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, then head
of the War Plans Division, and Maj.
Gen. Sherman Miles, chief of the
Intelligence Division, hao "a very
direct" responsibility for keeping
him informed.
What about the Secretary Of
War?" Senator Ferguson asked.
Excludes Stimson.
Il wouldn't expect the Secretary
to be as aware of technical mat
ters," said Gen. Short. LAS far
as policies goes. I would expect him
to be fully informed"
BY saying you were the scape-
goat, then" Senator Ferguson sug-
gested, you mean to charge that
the general staff was to blame for
what happened, and they shifted
that blame to you?"
| Yes, sir
| That's what you want this COM
mittee to understand"
| That's exactly what I want the
committee to understand" said
Gen. Short.
No Helpful Material.
Gen. Short then added these
specifications:
That the Army Intelligence Di-
vision definitely failed to draw the
conclusions that should have been
drawn and failed to send us any,
thing that might have been helpful"
That the Interior Department,
blocking for nearly year construc-
ton of powerful radar warning
station in Hawaiian national park,
had no proper appreciation of the
international situation and was
more interested in beauty of design
than in preparing this country for
war"
That 1t. Col Henry Clausen was
named to make fresh investigation
| after the Army Pearl Harbor Board
had reported because its findings
were mot what they wanted" and
they didn't believe they could get
what they wanted from the Army
board"
The Army board placed a measure
of the blame for Pearl Harbor on
Gen. Marshall and Gen. Gerow.
Gen. Short late yesterday read
the committee hitherto undis-
closed correspondence in which it
appeared that the Chief of Staff had
told Gen. Short by telephone short
ly after Pearl Harbor to stand pat"
and the next day had told the Sec
retary of War he thought the Ha-
waiian commander should retire.
| Told to Stand Pat"
Gen. Short told the committee he
was in Oklahoma City when the
Sunday papers of January Is, 1912.
carried the findings of the Roberts
Commission, accusing him of
"dereliction of duty after almost 40
years of loyalty and competent serv-
ice" He said he Immediately tele-
phoned Gen. Marshall, whom he
described as a trusted friend of 80
years standing ~
Il asked him what I should do,
having the country and the war in
mind, should I retire?" Gen. Short
testified. HE replied, Stand pat,
but if it becomes necessary I will
use this conversation as authority"
The correspondence produced by
Gen. Short showed that "a hours
later Gen. Marshall wrote to Secre-
tary of War Stimson that "I am now
of the opinion we should accept
Gen. Shorts application for retire
ment today and to do, this quietly
without any publicity at the mo-
ment."
Gen. Short told Senator Ferguson
(See PEARL HARBOR, Page A-2J
Latimer RESIGNS as Head