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

The Administration Initiates an Investigation 405
Attorney General Francis Biddle and Acting Assistant Solicitor
General Edward Dickinson were consulted. Several suggestions
with respect to the wording were made by FDR and others. FDR
was anxious to have the matter settled. Finally, a phrase very similar
to that suggested for the War Department’s letter to Short
was agreed on.
On February 19 Kimmel received formal notifi cation from
Knox that he would be placed on the retired list on March 1.
Knox’s letter read in part: “Th is approval of your request for retirement
is without condonation of any off ense or prejudice to future
disciplinary action.” 133
Ever since the attack, blame and opprobrium had been heaped
on both Kimmel and Short. Th ey had received abusive letters and
even threats on their lives.
When Kimmel read the second paragraph of Knox’s letter,
with its conditional approval of his request for retirement,
he promptly wrote Stark: Was the letter “to be published to the
country as a promise that I will be disciplined at some future
time”? Kimmel stood “ready at any time to accept the consequences
of [his] acts.” He did “not wish to embarrass the government
in the conduct of the war;” but he felt that his “crucifi xion
before the public has about reached the limit.” He felt that publication
of the secretary’s letter with its conditional approval of
Kimmel’s retirement would “further infl ame the public and do
[him] a great injustice.” 134 Kimmel “regret[ted] the losses at Pearl
Harbor just as keenly, or perhaps more keenly than any other
American citizen.” He wished he had been smarter than he was
and able to foresee the events of December 7. He had devoted all
133 Ibid., part 19, p. 3963; part 33, p.692, Kimmel’s statement to Naval Court of
Inquiry. And Husband E. Kimmel, Admiral Kimmel’s Story (Chicago: Henry
Regnery Co., 1955), p. 182.
134 Kimmel, Admiral Kimmel’s Story, pp. 181–82. See also Joint Committee,
Pearl Harbor Attack, part 6, p. 2562.