- To: president@whitehouse.gov
- Cc: vice.president@whitehouse.gov
- Sent: Tuesday, November 27,
2001 12:18 PM
- Subject: Pearl Harbor Day -
Admiral Kimmel and General Short - Scapegoats
- Dear President Bush,
-
- With the advent of December
7, 2001, Pearl Harbor Day, our nation will observe 60 years of
disgrace and shame it brought upon itself when it consigned Admiral
Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short into historical purgatory by
unfairly placing the blame for the Japanese sneak attack on these two
outstanding officers. For 59 long and agonizing years, they and their
families have lived in infamy, and at times hostility, because of the
failure of our government, administration after administration, to
admit, despite overwhelming evidence, that these two officers were
unjustly blamed for the disaster and made the Pearl Harbor scapegoats.
-
- With release of occasional
small quantities of classified documents in the past decade, about a
half dozen books about Pearl Harbor and the role specifically played
by Admiral Kimmel, and the command in Washington, have been published.
These books reveal evidence that contribute significantly to the
exoneration of Admiral Kimmel as well as General Short. Although they
repeatedly requested a court martial where their cases would be heard
under oath and witnesses called and cross-examined, they were never
granted one. Despite a number of government investigations (courts of
inquiry exonerated Kimmel and Short in 1944, but the findings were
kept secret until after the war), they were never charged with
dereliction of duty or errors of judgment, or any other military
offenses, as a number of ignorant pundits have recently declared.
-
- In 1994, following the
release of Pearl Harbor documents, Senator Strom Thurman, then
Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, held a hearing to
consider this new evidence. As a result, the Department of Defense
issued a report declaring that: "responsibility for the Pearl
Harbor disaster should not fall solely on the shoulders of Admiral
Kimmel and General Short, it should be broadly shared." However,
while those unnamed officials (referring to those in command at
Washington) were allowed to retain the high ranks to which they were
advanced during the war, Kimmel and Short, who were more deserving of
keeping their highest ranks than they were, were not advanced to their
highest ranks.
-
- As you know, in October
2000, Congress by a unanimous bi-partisan vote, adopted the
conference report of the Defense Authorization Act of 2001 in which it
requested the President to take necessary action to restore Admiral
Kimmel and General Short to their highest wartime ranks, that of
4-star Admiral and 3-star General, respectively. President Clinton
signed the Act on October 30, 2000. Although he took time to pardon
240 criminals during the remaining weeks of his administration, he
ignored the unanimous request of Congress to restore Kimmel and Short
to their highest ranks, probably because it was an exoneration rather
than a bribe generating pardon. No reason has yet been given why
you and your administration have failed to take action to honor this
unanimous request.
-
- Several months ago, with the
stroke of a pen, you put an end to the bickering of the dozen or more
agencies delaying the construction of the National World War II
Memorial. With the same stroke of a pen, you can put an end to the
six decades of agony and suffering the Kimmel and Short families have
painfully endured. Also several months ago, the Secretary of the
Navy complied with the request of Congress, included in the same
Defense Appropriation Act, to expunge the infamous court martial
conviction of CAPT Charles McVay III, commanding officer of the USS
Indianapolis. It is a searing shame on our government that McVay
became so despondent over his unfair conviction that he committed
suicide. It is also our country's shame that his son, who worked
feverishly to clear his father's name, died, surely of a broken heart,
just before this interminable and inexcusable delayed action was
taken.
-
- Admiral Kimmel had three
sons, all of whom served in the Navy during World War II. One son,
Manning, was commanding officer of the submarine USS Robalo.
In 1944, the Robalo struck a mine while on patrol in the
South China Sea and sank with the loss of all hands. Another son, Tom,
served in four submarines during the war, and later commanded a heavy
cruiser before retiring in 1965 with the rank of Captain. He died in
1998. A third son, LCDR Edward "Ned" Kimmel, served on the staff of
the Commander Atlantic Fleet, and is the only surviving son. He has
worked strenuously for more than half a century to clear his father's
name. Must he too die of a broken heart before his father's name is
cleared because of the callous indifference of your administration to
set the record straight?
-
- It is said that an injustice
done to one in uniform is an injustice to all in uniform. It is long
past time that decency and justice are restored to Admiral Kimmel and
General Short, and the mark of dishonor that has branded all that
served in our armed services is removed. If we are to believe that
your administration is a compassionate administration,
there is no better way to manifest this than by righting the grievous
wrongs done to Admiral Kimmel and General Short. Among the comments
made by more than 40 contemporary 4-star Admirals, US Senators, and
naval historians and authors, Senator Jesse Helms said it best:
"These two officers are the most maligned men in the history of the
United States." It is mind-boggling why the provision of a
unanimous, bi-partisan Congress that cited 21 reasons in requesting
the president to take necessary action to restore Kimmel and Short to
their highest ranks, goes unheeded.
-
- Mr. President, I am an 87
year old veteran with 42 years of Navy and Naval Reserve service,
starting in 1932. In 1938 - 1939, I was a signalman aboard the heavy
cruiser USS San Francisco when Admiral Kimmel was aboard the ship as
flagship for Commander Cruiser Division 7. For the past ten years I
have spent most of my time seeking justice for Admiral Kimmel.
-
- Mr. President, I implore
you to restore Admiral Kimmel and General Short to their highest WWII
ranks at least by the time we commemorate the 60th Anniversary of
Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2001. By doing so, you will remove the
shame and disgrace unjustly cast upon these two officers for the past
60 years.
-
- Respectfully,
-
-
- CAPT Vincent J. Colan, USNR-Ret.
- P.O. Box 2207
- Hendersonville, NC 28793
-
- 828 697 2748
- vjcusnr@ioa.com