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

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 3 763
shown the “Winds Execute” when it was received, and about his
having helped to interpret it. 121
Th e following spring the Hewitt inquiry had begun. On May
22, 1945, when Kramer appeared there, he was “less positive” that
the “Winds Execute” had included the words referring to the
United States, “Higashi no kaze ame.” 122
When recalled by Hewitt a couple of months later, Kramer
was again questioned about the “Winds Execute,” this time by
Lieutenant Commander John F. Sonnett, counsel to Hewitt and
special assistant to the secretary of Navy. His testimony this time,
on July 6, 1945, diff ered in important respects from his 1944 testimony
before the NCI. In replying to Sonnett, Kramer adopted
Sonnett’s phraseology, agreeing that “there was a ‘winds’ message,”
but he could not say with certainty what the contents were.” Nor
could he
recall the exact Japanese nomenclature used, but the phrase
“not in accordance with expectations”. . . could have the implication
of our words “relations are reaching a crisis,”. . . either a
minor crisis or a major crisis.
It could mean simply that “negotiations concerning an understanding
with the United States were at an end or that relations
were to be broken or it could even mean that the crisis was so
severe that war was imminent.” 123
In his testimony before the JCC, Kramer said that in mid
or late September, before the committee began its work, he was
invited to Stark’s home for lunch. Also invited were Schuirmann
and McCollum. 124 Th e luncheon “was largely and primarily a
social aff air and we discussed old times.” But Kramer said “some
121 Ibid., part 33, pp. 847–76.
122 Ibid., part 36, pp. 79–85.
123 Ibid., pp. 339–50.
124 Ibid., part 9, p. 4060.