Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

352 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
was entitled to see them, and he asked to be briefed. Navy courier
Lieutenant Commander Kramer assembled for Forrestal a sizeable
folder of the intercepts bearing on Pearl Harbor, took them
to Forrestal’s offi ce on December 10, and spent some time “going
through [the folder] . . . giving [Forrestal] the general tenor of the
way the things shaped up from this traffi c.” 1
It was a long trip to Hawaii in 1941, more than two days
each way. Th e fl ight began on December 9. Accompanying Knox
were his aide, Captain Frank E. Beatty, Lieutenant Commander
Edward A. Hayes, USNR, Joseph W. Powell, vice president of
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company and two Knox assistants, one
a specialist in shipbuilding matters. Th e Knox party fl ew fi rst to
Memphis where the plane was gassed up, and then to El Paso
where they overnighted because of bad weather. Th e next day
was rough; the plane iced up heavily going over the mountains,
but arrived safely at San Diego where a four-engined fl ying boat,
heavily loaded with medical supplies badly needed in Hawaii, was
waiting to take them on the 2,000+ mile overseas fl ight. Th ey had
trouble taking off but fi nally made it. Th ey encountered such turbulence
and icing conditions at 7,000 feet that everyone donned
full cold-weather fl ying gear and wrapped themselves in blankets.
Th e pilot brought the plane down to 1,000–1,200 feet where it
was smooth but still intensely cold.
Not knowing what to expect in Hawaii, Knox and his party
prepared for the worst. As they approached the islands, the
plane’s machine guns were manned. Everyone donned life preservers
and parachutes. To avoid being mistaken by some triggerhappy
lookout for an enemy plane, the pilot followed his landing
1 79th Cong., 1st sess. Joint (Congressional) Committee on the Investigation
of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Pearl Harbor Attack, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Offi ce, 1946), part 36, pp. 83–84. Kramer testimony
at Hewitt Inquiry.