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

796 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
Marshall: Th at is correct. I will add that the fi rst information I
had of anything unusual was, as I have testifi ed, after I got into
my shower, or was going into my shower [December 7, a.m.]
when this message was relayed to me from Colonel Bratton
that he wanted to come out to the house with an important
matter. 224
Gearhart questioning Stark: When you left the offi ce on
Saturday night didn’t you leave word there as to where you
were going to be and where you could be reached on December
6, 1941?
Stark: Yes; when I went out I always left word. I do not recall
of any time when I did not. . . . I do not recall being out that
night but I also do not recall whether I was out or not; so there
it is. . . . [I]f I were going out at night my aide would usually
leave word with the duty offi cer where I could be found, assuming
that my intentions to go out were before I left the offi ce.
If after I got home I suddenly decided to go out somewhere, I
would leave word with the house and usually call up the duty
offi cer in addition.
Gearhart: Well, have you searched the records in the offi ce of
the chief of Naval Operations to ascertain where you were on
Saturday night, the 6th day of December 1941?
Stark: We have found nothing as to where I was and it follows
my assumption that my thought was that I was at home. Th ere
is nothing I have been able to fi nd out which locates where I
was that evening.
Gearhart: In view of the fact that the Chief of Staff [Marshall]
cannot remember where he was on that night is it possible that
you and he could have been together?
Stark: I think we had no such conspiracy at that time, sir.
224 Ibid., part 11, p. 1594.