Walter Campbell Short (March 30, 1880 – September 3, 1949) was a
lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
(temporary rank) and major general of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and the
U.S. military commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
at the time of the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
on December 7, 1941.
Early life
Short was born in 1880 in
Fillmore, Illinois
Fillmore is a village in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 362 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Fillmore is located at (39.115806, -89.277112).
According to the 2010 census, Fillmore has a total area of , all land.
D ...
. The son of a doctor, he graduated from the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
in 1901.
[''Pearl Harbor 1941: The Day of Infamy'' by Carl Smith, Adam Hook, Jim Laurier.] He then taught mathematics for a year at a military academy.
Military career
Pre-World War II service
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army on March 13, 1902,
and assigned duty at the
Presidio of San Francisco. He served in the Philippines and later Alaska, and took part in the
expedition into Mexico with the
16th Infantry Regiment in 1916.
[General Short, 69, Dies](_blank)
''NY Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', September 4, 1949.
During World War I, he served on the general staff of the 1st Division and as assistant chief of staff for the 3rd Army.
After the war, Short became a member of the War Department General staff and served with the Far Eastern section of the
Military Intelligence Division until 1924. He then attended the
Army War College and after graduation served as a staff school instructor.
He commanded
1st Infantry Division from 1938 to 1940 and
I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to:
France
* 1st Army Corps (France)
* I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...
from January 1940 to January 1941.
Hawaii
General
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...
appointed him to the Hawaiian command on February 8, 1941. He earned the Distinguished Service Medal and was considered to have had a successful career at that time, especially in light of his promotions during peacetime.
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Aftermath
On December 17, 1941, General Short was removed from command of the U.S. Army's
Hawaiian Department as a result of the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands. Short was ordered back to Washington, D.C., by Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. He reverted to his permanent rank of major general, from his temporary rank of lieutenant general, since his temporary rank was contingent on his command.
On February 28, 1942, he retired from the Army and then headed the traffic department at a Ford Motor Company plant in Dallas, Texas. He briefly returned to active duty from October 3, 1945 to February 28, 1946. He retired in 1946 and died in 1949 in Dallas of a chronic heart ailment.
=Roberts Commission
=
The
Roberts Commission, headed by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
Owen J. Roberts, was formed soon after the attack on the Hawaiian Islands. General Short, along with
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and
Pacific Fleet, Admiral
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband Edward Kimmel (February 26, 1882 – May 14, 1968) was a United States Navy four-star admiral who was the commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was removed fr ...
, were accused of being unprepared and charged with
dereliction of duty
Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties (or follow a given o ...
. The report charged that Short and Kimmel did not take seriously enough an earlier war warning and did not prepare for an air attack at Pearl Harbor.
In a letter dated January 24, 1941, Secretary of the Navy
Frank Knox
William Franklin Knox (January 1, 1874 – April 28, 1944) was an American politician, newspaper editor and publisher. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt durin ...
advised the Secretary of War
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...
that the increased gravity of the Japanese situation had prompted a restudy of the problem of the security of the Pacific Fleet while in Pearl Harbor. Knox wrote: "If war eventuates with Japan, it is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the naval base at Pearl Harbor." The letter proceeded: "The dangers envisaged in their order of importance and probability are considered to be: (1) Air bombing attack (2) Air torpedo plane attack, (3) Sabotage, (4) Submarine attack, (5) Mining, (6) Bombardment by gunfire."
[Attack Upon Pearl Harbor by Japanese Armed Forces](_blank)
– 77th Congress, Senate Document No. 159.
Knox's letter stated the defenses against all but the first two were then satisfactory, described the probable character of an air attack and urged the Army to prepare for such an attack. It concluded with recommendations for the revision of joint defense plans with special emphasis on the coordination of Army and Navy operations against surprise aircraft raids. It also urged the conduct of joint exercises to train the forces to meet such raids.
Stimson replied February 7, 1941, that a copy of the letter was being forwarded to Short, with direction to him to cooperate with the local naval authorities in making the suggested measures effective. Admiral Kimmel and General Short received copies of these letters at about the time they assumed their commands.
The report found that had orders been complied with:
*the aircraft warning system of the Army should have been operating;
*the distant reconnaissance of the inshore air patrol of the Army should have been maintained;
*the antiaircraft batteries of the Army should have been manned and supplied with ammunition; and
*a high state of readiness of aircraft should have been in effect.
None of these conditions was in fact inaugurated or maintained for the reason that the responsible commanders failed to consult and cooperate as to necessary action based upon the warnings and to adopt measures enjoined by the orders given to them by the chiefs of the Army and Navy commands in Washington.
The Roberts Commission was not a court-martial proceeding nor a judicial tribunal. Rather, the investigations were for fact-finding. There is generally no right to "due process", in the sense of a right to counsel and to cross-examine witnesses at a fact-finding investigation.
Admiral
William Harrison Standley
William Harrison Standley (18 December 1872 – 25 October 1963) was an admiral in the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1933 to 1937. He also served as the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1941 until 19 ...
, who served as a member of the Roberts Commission, later disavowed the report, maintaining that "these two officers were martyred" and "if they had been brought to trial, both would have been cleared of the charge."
=Short's defense
=
In 1946 Short testified on his own behalf before Congress about the 1941 attack.
Unlike some of his predecessors in Hawaii, Short was more concerned with sabotage from Japanese-Americans on Oahu. This led to Army planes parked outside of their hangars so they could be more easily guarded. However, this made them easy bombing targets and many were subsequently destroyed on the morning of the attack.
In explaining his reasons for his instituting an alert against sabotage only (local "Alert One" level),
[Arakaki, Leatrice R. and Kuborn, John R. (1991)]
''7 December 1941: The Air Force Story''
Pacific Air Forces Office of History. , p. 19 (p. 5 in text) General Short stated:
* that the war warning message he received on November 27 contained nothing directing him to be prepared to meet an air raid or an all-out attack on Hawaii ("Alert Two" and "Three");
* that he received other messages after the November 27 dispatch emphasizing measures against sabotage and subversive activities;
* that the dispatch was a "do-don't" message which conveyed to him the impression that the avoidance of war was paramount and the greatest fear of the War Department was that some international incident might occur in Hawaii which Japan would regard as an overt act;
* that he was looking to the Navy to provide him adequate warning of the approach of a hostile force, particularly through distant reconnaissance which was a Navy responsibility; and
* that instituting higher level alerts would have seriously interfered with the training mission of the Hawaiian Department.
He also declared that he did not receive adequate warning and suffered from a lack of resources. He and his family attempted to get the Army to restore his rank of lieutenant general in the retired ranks on the basis that warnings from the War Department prior to the attack were vague and in conflict.
He requested, but did not receive, a formal court-martial.
1999 Senate resolution
On May 25, 1999, the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
passed a non-binding resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short by a 52 to 47 vote. The resolution stated they had performed their duties "competently and professionally" and that the Japanese attacks were "not a result of dereliction of duty." "They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator
William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE), contending they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon. Senator
Strom Thurmond (R-SC) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor." The resolution was originally attached as an amendment to the Department of Defense spending bill for FY2000 (S.1059) and cleared the Congress as a whole in October 1999, urging President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
to restore Kimmel and Short to their full wartime ranks.
Congress Backs Son's Fight to Return Admiral's Honor
''Los Angeles Times'', October 13, 1999 However, neither Clinton nor any of his successors acted on the resolution.
Movie portrayal
Short was portrayed by Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...
in Tora! Tora! Tora!
''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' ( ja, トラ・トラ・トラ!) is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji ...
.
Awards
Dates of rank
References
External links
Arlington National Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Walter
1880 births
1949 deaths
United States Army Infantry Branch personnel
American people of World War I
United States Army generals
United States Distinguished Marksman
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
Attack on Pearl Harbor
People from Montgomery County, Illinois
Military personnel from Illinois
United States Army War College alumni
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
United States Army generals of World War II