Top Brass and Roosevelt, Not Short
And Kimmel, Should Get Blame
} For Pearl Harbor, Says Standleyi
WASHINGTON, UP)—Retired Ad- •
. miral William H. Standley says
the report of the official investi
gation into the Pearl Harbor dis
aster “does not present the whole, !
true picture.”
Standley, who was a member
t of the board and signed its re
port, said his subsequent study of
the case would lead him now to
arrive at about the same conclu
sions as were set forth in the mi
nority report of the Senate-House
committee which investigated la
} ter. This report put principal
l blame on the late President
Roosevelt and top uniformed offi
cers of the Army and Navy.
Standley has set forth his views
’ in one chapter of a forthcoming
book to be published next fall. It
was published in this week’s issue
of the magazine U.S. News and
World Report.
Standley, now 81, was chief of
Naval operations in 1933-37, and
had retired at the time of Pearl l
Harbor. Roosevelt named him
ambassador to Russia in 1942, and
t he held that post for about a year
i and a half.
Standley was a member of the
five-man commission, headed by >
? retired Supreme Court Justice
Owen J. Roberts, which was cre
at'd right after Pearl Harbor by I
Presiden ial order.
“Of all the difficult and onerous
duties in a long career of public
service,” he wrote, “my member
ship on that Presidential commis-1
sion was beyond comparison the
most difficult.”
He described it as “a very
mixed up” group with civilian,
Army and Navy members “for
which there was no precedent in
law, custom or jurisprudence.”
The commission’s report placed
primary blame for Pearl Harbor
» on Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short and
) Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, !
.* the commanding Army and Navy
officers in Hawaii at the time.
“The tragedy of Pearl Harbor
was the fact that they were, and
had to be, removed from com
mand without a hearing and that
war conditions prevented bring
ing them to trial by general court
martial before the end of the
war,” Standley wrote.
“Thus, these two officers were
martyred, as it were, for in my
opinion, if they had been brought
to trial, both would have been
cleared of the charge of neglect '■
of duty.”
>
He declared that Gen. George
C. Marshall, then Army chief of
staff, and Adm. Harold R. Stark,
then chief of Naval operation,
“were equally culpable and
should share with Short and Kim
mel the blame for faulty judge
ment and for incorrect interpre
tation of information available to
them.”
Standley said that Marshall and
Stark “should have recognized
that war was imminent and that
an attack was on the way to some
American base.” He said only “in
effective messages” were sent to
the commanders in Hawaii from
Hawaii from Washington.
He said he thinks the commis
sion was “hurriedly ordered” by
President Roosevelt to forestall
the possibility of an immediate
Congressional inquiry. And its
directive, which told it to look for
dereliction on the part of Army
or Naval personnel, precluded any
inquiry into the conduct of civil
ian officials.”
French, Loatian
Forces Seal Off
lied Lines to Laos
SAIGON, Indochina, —The
French Command announced last
night that French and Laotian
forces, executing an enveloping
movement, had sealed off the
Vietminh’s main communications
route into south and central Laos.
The operation, carried out in
extreme secrecy during the past
ten days, was accomplished with
out a fight.
The communications route that
the French and Laotians stopped
up is a narrow pass in the lime
stone hills of central Laos which
spills out to the north into the
valley of Naphao.
The Communist-led rebels had
controlled the pass from the emi
nence of 2,000-foot-high limestone
peaks for several months, but
were caught by surprise by the
French-Laotian pincer.
* * *
HANOI, Indochina, GP)—Viet
minh artillery blasted the defend
ers of Dien Bien Phu again Tues
day, but the Communist-led reb
els still held back the massive all
out assaults the French Union
forces expect before the weekend.
Fine Job Printing at the Nugget
RADIO PROGRAM
ARMED FORCES RADIO SERVICE — NOME FIELD
*
Wednesday
5:00—Junior Miss
5:30—Bud’s Bandwagon
6:00—News
6:15—Sports News
6:30—Revenuers’ Romp
7:30—This Is the Story
8:00—Cinema Music Hall
8:30—Red Skelton
9:00—The American Way
9:30—The Big Story
10:00—Requestfully Yours
11:00—News
11:15—Don Cornell
11:30—One Night Stand
12:00—Music from the Nite
1:00—News Headlines
1:05—Sign Off
Thursday
6:26—Sign On
6:30—Bill Ring Show
6:45—Rise and Shine
7:00—News
7:15—Rise and Shine
8:00—News
8:05—Rise and Shine
8:30—Morning Devotions
8:45—Ronnie Kemper
9:00—Tennessee Ernie
9:15—Dave Garroway
9:30—Coffee Concert
10:00—Fred Waring
10:30-—Bob and Ray
11:00—Lucky U Ranch
11:15—Morning Melodies
11:30—Piano Portraits
11:45—Strike It Rich
12:00—At Ease
12:15—Today’s the Day
19:30—Platter Parade
1:00—Curt Massey
1:15—Hillbilly Jamboree
2:00—News
2:15—Nat’l Guard Show
2:30—Music a la Carte
4:00—Sports Answerman
4:15—You and the World
4:30—Remember
4:45—Lum and Abner
5:00—Our Miss Brooks
5:30—Bud's Bandwagon
6:00—News
6:15—Sports News
6:30—Revenuers’ Romp
7:30—Mr. President
8:00—Jane Pickens
8:30—Bob Hope Show
9:00—What’s My Line
9:30—Gunsmoke
10:00—Requestfully Yours
11:00—News
11:15—Sammy Kaye
11:30—One Night Stand
12:00—Music from the Nite
1:00—News Headlines
1:05—Sign Off.
Friday
6:26—Sign On
6:30—Bill Ring Show
6:45—Rise and Shine
7:00—News
7:15—Rise and Shine
8:00—News
8:05—Rise and Shine
8:30—Morning Devotions
8:45—Ronnie Kemper
9:00—Tennessee Ernie
9:15—Dave Garroway
9:30—Coffee Concert
10:00—Fred Waring
10:30—Bob and Ray
11:00—Lucky U Ranch
11:15—Morning Melodies
11:30—Music from S. Amer.
11:45—Dude Martin
12:00—At Ease
12:15—Today’s the Day
12:30—Platter Parade
1:00—Curt Massey
1:15—Hillbilly Jamboree
2:00—News
2:15—Johnny Mercer
2:30—Music a la Carte
4:00—Inside Track
4:15—Behind the Story
4:30—Remember
4:45—Lum and Abner
5:00—Great Gilderslee ve
(AFRS program schedules subject to change without notice.) I
New Way of Learning Alphabet
LONDON, (#) — Moscow Radio
told Russian school children today
that American kids have a new
way of learning the alphabet—
“A for atomic.
“B for bomb.”
The broadcast, heard here, was
a special one for “Pioneers,” the
junior branch of the Soviet Youth
Organization.
It said American children are
being brought up as “obedient sol
diers ready to rob other nations.”
NOTICE
Ordinance No. 365, entitled "An
Ordinance of the City of Nome,
Alaska, Prohibiting the Use of.
Addiction to, or Possession of
Narcotics in the City of Nome,
Alaska, Except When Adminis
tered Prescribed by or in the Pos
session of a Licensed Person, and
Prescribing a Penalty for Viola
tion."
and
Ordinance No. 366, entitled "An
Ordinance of the City of Nome,
Alaska, Pledging All Funds Now
in the Possession of, or Payable in
the Future to the City of Nome
from the Tobacco Tax Fund Es
tablished by the Laws of the Ter
ritory of Alaska (Chapter 42, Ses
sion Laws of Alaska, 1942) To
ward Payment of Indebtedness
Incurred by Construction in the
City of Nome of a School Addi
tion, Now Known as Project Num
ber 50-A-189, Until Such Time as
the Full Indebtedness Has Been
Paid."
have been passed by the Nome
Common Council, April 12, 1954,
and are posted in the U.S. Com
missioner's Office, U.S. Post Of
fice and City Hall for your fur
ther reading and clarification.
By Carrie M. McLain
City Clerk.
Publ. Apr. 14, 16, 19, 1954.
VOTE for J. B. (Bert) CARO
Republican Candidate for Treasurer
Menkber Pioneer Alaska Family
In Business in Alaska
Knows Alaska
INTERESTED IN THE FUTURE OF ALASKA
'-----A
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