ABSTRACT
Central to the official explanation of how war came was the official thesis that the responsibility for the disaster at Pearl Harbor rested upon General Short and Admiral Kimmel, the high officers of the Army and the Navy in charge of defending that outpost in the Pacific against the Japanese. The specific subject of General Short's retirement and treatment by the Administration was taken up at an examination of General Marshall by the Congressional Committee, December 13, 1945. Thereupon Admiral Kimmel, who had hitherto not considered the idea of submitting a request for his retirement, decided that he would not stand in the way of action by the Navy Department; and so he submitted his own request for retirement. Had the Empire of Japan inspired the charges brought by President Roosevelt's Commission against the commanders, given these charges to the public, and retired the commanders with official announcements in Washington which imputed guilt to them?
