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

812 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
Stark Cannot Recall His
Saturday Evening Whereabouts or
Early Sunday Morning Activities
Like Marshall, Stark was supposed to be available 24 hours
a day; if he was not home or in his offi ce, an aide or duty offi cer
should have been able to locate him at any time. Yet Kramer,
who had phoned Stark’s home Saturday evening about the 13
parts, had not been able to reach him. Wilkinson testifi ed that he
had also tried, unsuccessfully, to telephone Stark at his home that
evening. 268
Asked during the JCC hearings where he had been the night
before the attack, Stark replied,
Nobody reached me [that evening]. . . . I thought I was home
but if they had tried to reach me I should have been there. Also
if I were not there word would have been left where I was. Also
the duty offi cer was generally informed of my whereabouts. 269
Stark testifi ed that he had tried to chase down several leads
in the attempt to discover where he had been that evening.
“Unfortunately,” he said, his wife had
destroyed her date calendar of that time. . . . 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. 270
Gearhart asked Stark: “In view of the fact that the Chief of
Staff cannot remember where he was on that night is it possible
268 Ibid., part 4, pp. 1762, 1874.
269 Ibid., part 5, p. 2183.
270 Ibid., p. 2291.