Kermit Arthur Tyler (April 13, 1913 – January 23, 2010) was an American

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

officer. Tyler was assigned as a pilot in the 78th Pursuit Squadron at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

on December 7, 1941, the day Japan

attacked 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, ...

Biography

Tyler was born on April 13, 1913, in

Oelwein, Iowa Oelwein is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,920 at the time of the 2020 census, a decrease of 11.5% from the 2000 census. The largest community in Fayette County, it is located at the junction of State Highways ...

. He moved with his family to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, and joined the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...

for two years before becoming an Army Air Corps flying cadet in 1936.

Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, Tyler was a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the Army Air Corps serving as the

Executive Officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, ...

of the

78th Pursuit Squadron The 78th Attack Squadron (78 ATKS) is an Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit under the 926th Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and Tenth Air Force (10 AF) at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The 78 ATKS conduc ...

, based at

. That morning he was assigned duty as the Officer In Charge of the partly-activated Pearl Harbor Intercept Center. His duties were to assist the controller in ordering American planes to intercept unknown aircraft approaching Pearl Harbor. Tyler, new and untrained, was warned by Private

Joseph P. McDonald On the morning of 7 December 1941 the SCR-270 radar at the Opana Radar Site on northern Oahu detected a large number of aircraft approaching from the north. This information was conveyed to Fort Shafter’s Intercept Center. The report was dismissed ...

of the approach of a large flight of aircraft from the north. He presumed it to be the scheduled arrival of six

B-17 bombers The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

from the mainland. In fact, the radar operators were tracking Japanese planes coming to attack the base. However the operator, operating in training mode, failed to make clear the size of the formation even though it was larger than anything they had ever seen, and he did not pass on an alarm of "attack imminent.” Following an investigation by a

Naval Board of Inquiry Naval Board of Inquiry and Naval Court of Inquiry are two types of investigative court proceedings, conducted by the United States Navy in response to an event that adversely affects the performance, or reputation, of the fleet or one of its ship ...

in August 1942, it was determined that Tyler had been assigned to the Information Center with little or no training, no supervision, and no staff with which to work. Tyler was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the Board, and no disciplinary actions were taken against him.

Later life

Tyler retired as a lieutenant colonel in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

in 1961. After leaving military service, he obtained a business degree and worked as a

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

. He died in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on January 23, 2010, at the age of 96.

References

External links

''Columbus Dispatch'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Kermit 1913 births 2010 deaths United States Air Force colonels Attack on Pearl Harbor People from San Diego People from Long Beach, California United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Civilian Conservation Corps people People from Oelwein, Iowa Recipients of the Legion of Merit Deaths from pneumonia in California Military personnel from California Military personnel from Iowa