Walter Short
Encyclopedia
Walter Campbell Short was a Major General
in the United States Army
and the U.S. military Commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii
at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941.
. The son of a doctor, he graduated from the University of Illinois in 1901. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on March 13, 1902 and assigned duty at the Presidio of San Francisco
. He served in the Philippines and later Alaska, and took part in the expedition into Mexico
with the Sixteenth Infantry
in 1916. During World War I he served on the General Staff of the 1st Division and as assistant chief of staff for the 3rd Army. After the war, Short became a member of the War Department General staff and served with the Far Eastern section of the Military Intelligence Division until 1924. He then attended the Army War College and after graduation served as a staff school instructor. Short commanded the 1st Division at Fort Hamilton, New York, from 1938-1940 before commanding the 4th Army Corps and the 1st Army Corps. General George Marshall appointed him to the Hawaiian command on February 8, 1941. He earned the Distinguished Service Medal and was considered to have had a successful career at that time, especially in light of his promotions during peace time.
On December 17, 1941 General Short was removed from command of Pearl Harbor as a result of the attack. Short was ordered back to Washington, D.C. by Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall in disgrace. He was reduced in rank from his temporary rank of Lieutenant General to his permanent rank of Major General, since his temporary rank was contingent on his command.
was held soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. General Short, along with Navy
commander, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
, was accused of being unprepared and charged with dereliction of duty
. The report charged that he and Adm. Kimmel did not take seriously enough an earlier war warning and did not prepare for an air attack at Pearl.
In a letter of January 24, 1941, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
advised the Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson
that the increased gravity of the Japanese situation had prompted a restudy of the problem of the security of the Pacific Fleet while in Pearl Harbor. Knox wrote: "If war eventuates with Japan, It is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the naval base at Pearl Harbor." The letter proceeded: "The dangers envisaged in their order of importance and probability are considered to be: (1) Air bombing attack (2) Air torpedo plane attack, (3) Sabotage, (4) Submarine attack, (5) Mining, (6) Bombardment by gunfire."
Knox's letter stated the defenses against all but the first two were then satisfactory, described the probable character of an air attack and urged the Army to prepare for such an attack. It concluded with recommendations for the revision of joint defense plans with special emphasis on the coordination of Army and Navy operations against surprise aircraft raids. It also urged the conduct of joint exercises to train the forces to meet such raids.
Stimson replied February 7, 1941, that a copy of the letter was being forwarded to Short, with direction to him to cooperate with the local naval authorities in making the suggested measures effective. Admiral Kimmel and General Short received copies of these letters at about the time they assumed the commands.
The report found that had orders been complied with:
None of these conditions was in fact inaugurated or maintained for the reason that the responsible commanders failed to consult and cooperate as to necessary action based upon the warnings and to adopt measures enjoined by the orders given them by the chiefs of the Army and Navy commands in Washington.
The Roberts Commission was not a court martial proceeding or a judicial tribunal. Rather, the investigations were for fact-finding. There is generally no right to "due process", in the sense of a right to counsel and to cross-examine witnesses at a fact-finding investigation.
Short testified on his own behalf before Congress about the 1941 attack in 1946. Unlike some of his predecessors in Hawaii, Short was more concerned with sabotage from Japanese-Americans on Oahu, and this led to Army planes parked in such a way as to make them more vulnerable to aerial attack. In explaining his reasons for his instituting an alert against sabotage only, General Short has stated: .
He also declared that he did not receive adequate warning and suffered from lack of resources. He and his family attempted to get the Army to restore his rank of Lieutenant General in the retired ranks on the basis that warnings from the War Department prior to the attack were vague and in conflict. He requested but did not receive a formal court-martial.
passed a resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short in a 52 to 47 vote. The resolution stated they had performed their duties “competently and professionally” and that the Japanese attacks were “not a result of dereliction of duty.” "They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-DE), noting that they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon. Senator Strom Thurmond
(R-SC) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor."
Admiral William Harrison Standley
, who served as a member of the Roberts Commission, later disavowed the report maintaining that “these two officers were martyred” and “if they had been brought to trial, both would have been cleared of the charge”.
Robert Stinnett, in his book Day of Deceit
(2000), claims that Kimmel and Short were deliberately kept out of the information loop, at least indirectly on the specific orders of FDR. Stinnett's claims have been disputed by other historians, with a reviewer in the Journal of Military History characterizing Day of Deceit as "a bad book ...[that] relies on distortion and ignorance to fabricate a case".
in the 1970
film Tora! Tora! Tora!
, which was made by American and Japanese filmmakers. In that film, the story balances out his fighter arrangement blunder with his prudent efforts of installing radar
stations that could have warned the base of the attack had their detection of approaching Japanese aircraft been heeded.
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and the U.S. military Commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941.
Early life
He was born in 1880 in Fillmore, IllinoisFillmore, Illinois
Fillmore is a village in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 362 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Fillmore is located at ....
. The son of a doctor, he graduated from the University of Illinois in 1901. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on March 13, 1902 and assigned duty at the Presidio of San Francisco
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
. He served in the Philippines and later Alaska, and took part in the expedition into Mexico
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa...
with the Sixteenth Infantry
16th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 16th Infantry Regiment is a regiment in the United States Army.-Formation:The 34th Infantry Regiment and 11th Infantry Regiment consolidated into the 16th Infantry Regiment on 3 March 1869. The 11th Infantry's history prior to the consolidation is normally included with the 16th's.-U.S...
in 1916. During World War I he served on the General Staff of the 1st Division and as assistant chief of staff for the 3rd Army. After the war, Short became a member of the War Department General staff and served with the Far Eastern section of the Military Intelligence Division until 1924. He then attended the Army War College and after graduation served as a staff school instructor. Short commanded the 1st Division at Fort Hamilton, New York, from 1938-1940 before commanding the 4th Army Corps and the 1st Army Corps. General George Marshall appointed him to the Hawaiian command on February 8, 1941. He earned the Distinguished Service Medal and was considered to have had a successful career at that time, especially in light of his promotions during peace time.
Pearl Harbor
Roberts Commission
A commission headed by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts, known as the Roberts CommissionRoberts Commission
Two presidentially-appointed commissions have been described as "the Roberts Commission." One related to the circumstances of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and another related to the protection of cultural resources during and following World War II...
was held soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. General Short, along with Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
commander, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral...
, was accused of being unprepared and charged with dereliction of duty
Dereliction of duty
Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10,892. Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties or has incapacitated himself in such a way that he cannot perform his duties...
. The report charged that he and Adm. Kimmel did not take seriously enough an earlier war warning and did not prepare for an air attack at Pearl.
In a letter of January 24, 1941, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
Frank Knox
-External links:...
advised the Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
that the increased gravity of the Japanese situation had prompted a restudy of the problem of the security of the Pacific Fleet while in Pearl Harbor. Knox wrote: "If war eventuates with Japan, It is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the naval base at Pearl Harbor." The letter proceeded: "The dangers envisaged in their order of importance and probability are considered to be: (1) Air bombing attack (2) Air torpedo plane attack, (3) Sabotage, (4) Submarine attack, (5) Mining, (6) Bombardment by gunfire."
Knox's letter stated the defenses against all but the first two were then satisfactory, described the probable character of an air attack and urged the Army to prepare for such an attack. It concluded with recommendations for the revision of joint defense plans with special emphasis on the coordination of Army and Navy operations against surprise aircraft raids. It also urged the conduct of joint exercises to train the forces to meet such raids.
Stimson replied February 7, 1941, that a copy of the letter was being forwarded to Short, with direction to him to cooperate with the local naval authorities in making the suggested measures effective. Admiral Kimmel and General Short received copies of these letters at about the time they assumed the commands.
The report found that had orders been complied with:
- the aircraft warning system of the Army should have been operating:
- the distant reconnaissance the inshore air patrol of the Army should have been maintained;
- the antiaircraft batteries of the Army should have been manned and supplied with ammunition: and
- a high state of readiness of aircraft should have been in effect.
None of these conditions was in fact inaugurated or maintained for the reason that the responsible commanders failed to consult and cooperate as to necessary action based upon the warnings and to adopt measures enjoined by the orders given them by the chiefs of the Army and Navy commands in Washington.
The Roberts Commission was not a court martial proceeding or a judicial tribunal. Rather, the investigations were for fact-finding. There is generally no right to "due process", in the sense of a right to counsel and to cross-examine witnesses at a fact-finding investigation.
Short's defense
- that the alert message he received on November 27 contained nothing directing him to be prepared to meet an air raid or an all-out attack on Hawaii;
- that he received other messages after the November 27 dispatch emphasizing measures against sabotage and subversive activities;
- that the dispatch was a "do-don't" message which conveyed to him the impression that the avoidance of war was paramount and the greatest fear of the War Department was that some international incident might occur in Hawaii which Japan would regard as an overt act;
- that he was looking to the Navy to provide him adequate warning of the approach of a hostile force, particularly through distant reconnaissance which was a Navy responsibility; and
- that instituting higher level alerts would have seriously interfered with the training mission of the Hawaiian Department.
He also declared that he did not receive adequate warning and suffered from lack of resources. He and his family attempted to get the Army to restore his rank of Lieutenant General in the retired ranks on the basis that warnings from the War Department prior to the attack were vague and in conflict. He requested but did not receive a formal court-martial.
Controversies over findings
On May 25, 1999, the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
passed a resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short in a 52 to 47 vote. The resolution stated they had performed their duties “competently and professionally” and that the Japanese attacks were “not a result of dereliction of duty.” "They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-DE), noting that they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon. Senator Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
(R-SC) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor."
Admiral William Harrison Standley
William Harrison Standley
William Harrison Standley was a U.S. admiral. He served as the Chief of Naval Operations between 1933 and 1937. He also served as the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1941 until 1943.-Biography:...
, who served as a member of the Roberts Commission, later disavowed the report maintaining that “these two officers were martyred” and “if they had been brought to trial, both would have been cleared of the charge”.
Robert Stinnett, in his book Day of Deceit
Day of Deceit
Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor is a book by Robert Stinnett alleging that the Roosevelt administration deliberately provoked and allowed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in order to bring the United States into World War II...
(2000), claims that Kimmel and Short were deliberately kept out of the information loop, at least indirectly on the specific orders of FDR. Stinnett's claims have been disputed by other historians, with a reviewer in the Journal of Military History characterizing Day of Deceit as "a bad book ...[that] relies on distortion and ignorance to fabricate a case".
Later
General Short retired from active duty on February 28, 1942 with the permanent rank of Major General. After he retired from the Army, he headed the traffic department at a Ford Motor Company plant in Dallas. He retired in 1946 and died in 1949 in Dallas, Texas of chronic heart ailment.Portrayals
Short was portrayed by actor and World War II veteran Jason RobardsJason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
in the 1970
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
film Tora! Tora! Tora!
Tora! Tora! Tora!
is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G...
, which was made by American and Japanese filmmakers. In that film, the story balances out his fighter arrangement blunder with his prudent efforts of installing radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
stations that could have warned the base of the attack had their detection of approaching Japanese aircraft been heeded.