The First Week After the Attack in Washington

After the attack, the efforts of U.S. citizens immediately turned in three directions: (1) to avenge the “dastardly act;” (2) to investigate the damage done by the Japanese; and (3) to understand the reasons for the attack.

Roberts Commission Appointed

On December 16 the president named a five-man board, with Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts as chairman, to investigate the attack. In addition to Roberts, it included two retired Navy officers, one retired and one active Army officer.[1] According to Admiral William H.

Top Secrecy on the Washington Home Front

Once we had declared war, a wave of patriotism swept over the country. All open criticism of the government’s foreign policy ceased. Yet a desire to know the truth simmered under the surface. Many people believed that Admiral Kimmel and General Short, who had been pilloried in the eyes of the public, should have a chance to present their side of the story in open court, but attempts were being made to forestall their courts martial.

The public was no closer in 1944 to unraveling the mystery surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor than it had been in January 1942.

The Army Pearl Harbor Board (APHB) was authorized by Congress “to Ascertain and Report the Facts Relating to the Attack Made by Japanese Armed Forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941, and to Make such Recommendations as It May Deem Proper.”[1] Lieutenant General George Grunert was appointed president of this “Grunert Board.” Two other Army generals also served—Major General Henry D. Russell and Major General Walter H. Frank. Colonels Charles W. West and Harry A.

On July 13, 1944,[1] the new Navy Secretary, James V. Forrestal, ordered the convening of a Navy Court of Inquiry (NCI) “for the purpose of inquiring into all circumstances connected with the attack made by Japanese armed forces on Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941.”[2] Three retired admirals were appointed to the court: Orin G. Murfin, president; Edward C. Kalbfus; and Adolphus Andrews. Commander Harold Biesemeier was named judge advocate.[3] The court opened its doors on July 24, and took testimony over 32 days.

In politics, as in war, crisis is the normal state of affairs. In 1944, with the nation at war, the Germans and the Japanese were doing their utmost to create crises for the United States forces overseas. The people of this country, united in the war effort, were working hard. Our factories were booming; weapons, ships, and planes were coming off assembly lines at unprecedented rates. Yet politics doesn’t take time off for war.

Each of the three supplementary investigations was unique.

By March 1945 the Allies were making progress on all fronts. The Germans, besieged from the east by the Russians and from the west by Allied forces, were pulling back. The Japanese were in retreat in the Pacific and southeast Asia. After leapfrogging from one Pacific island to another, the U.S. Army under MacArthur had advanced as far as the Philippines. However, more fighting lay ahead.

After almost four years of fighting on land, sea, and in the air, after the detonation of two atomic bombs on Japan—one on Hiroshima (August 6) and the other on Nagasaki (August 8)—the Japanese finally admitted defeat. On August 25 Emperor Hirohito broadcast to the Japanese people that the country’s forces were surrendering. August 25, 1945, was declared V-J Day. World War II had ended.