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

The Administration Initiates an Investigation 401
in chief, Pacifi c Fleet, and commanding general, Hawaiian
Department. 117
Retirement of General Short
“Without Condonation . . . to Future
Disciplinary Action.”
When the Roberts report came out, Short was in Oklahoma
City awaiting further assignment. He was “completely dumbfounded.
To be accused of dereliction of duty after almost forty
years of loyal and competent service was beyond [his] comprehension.”
On January 26 he telephoned Marshall, “an old and trusted
friend of thirty-nine years standing.” Short asked Marshall if he
should retire. “Stand pat,” Marshall said. “[B]ut if it becomes necessary
I will use this conversation as authority.” 118
Short had “faith in [Marshall’s] judgment and loyalty.” He
told Marshall that he “would place [himself ] entirely in his hand.”
However, Short was a gentleman. As he hung up the phone, he
“decided it wasn’t quite fair to [Marshall] to have to use the
conversation as authority.” He felt Marshall should not have to
assume the responsibility of deciding Short’s fate on the basis of
oral instructions alone, so he wrote out a formal application for
retirement and sent it along with a personal covering letter to
Marshall. “[U]nder existing conditions,” he wrote, he would “very
much prefer to remain on the active list.” However, he enclosed
his application for retirement “so that you may use it should you
consider it desirable.” 119
In hope of softening any judgment against him, Short then
reminded Marshall that “12 B-17s arrived from the mainland in
the midst of the attack without ammunition, with guns cosmolined
117 Ibid., part 39, p. 21.
118 Ibid., part 7, pp. 3133–34.
119 Ibid., pp. 3134–35. Short’s January 25, 1942 letter to Marshall.