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

1944: A Year of Investigations 423
of “depositions,” others of “courts of inquiry,” and still others
which were “neither those of depositions or courts of inquiry.”
Kimmel’s counsel, Robert A. Lavender, pointed out that it was
important that any testimony taken should be “sealed and delivered
to the Judge Advocate of the court as custodian and presented
to the accused in a reasonable time for examination and
to make objections as to the introduction of evidence.” As there
was no assurance that the Hart Inquiry testimony taken would
be “sealed and . . . held inviolate” until a court martial, or that a
witness’s testimony would not be used in a court martial unless
he was dead, insane, or could not appear for some other reason, 7
Kimmel “decline[d] to attend or participate in the proceedings
before Admiral Hart.” 8
The Hart Inquiry (March 7, 1944–June 15, 1944)
In the course of interviewing naval offi cers, Hart traveled from
Washington, D.C., to New York, San Francisco, Pearl Harbor,
the USS Iowa, and the island of Guadalcanal in the southwest
Pacifi c. 9 Most of the men he questioned had served with Kimmel
in Pearl Harbor prior to December 7, 1941, but several had held
positions in Washington at the time of the attack and testifi ed
from a Washington viewpoint.
By December 1941 there seemed little doubt among those
who were following events closely that war with Japan was inevitable.
As a matter of fact, in Hawaii on Sunday, November 30,
1941, precisely one week before the attack, banner headlines on
7Kimmel/Rugg/Lavender memorandum, undated, copy forwarded to Kimmel
by Lavender under date of March 18, 1944. Typed copy of original in author’s
fi les.
8Kimmel memorandum to Knox, March 16, 1944. Typed copy of original in
author’s fi les.
9Hart’s itinerary, Joint Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 26, pp. 9, 217, 241,
291, 299, 349, 367, 397, 403, 453, 465.