HONOLULU (AP) - President Bush's decision to skip ceremonies for the
60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor is viewed by some as a setback to those
seeking exoneration for the U.S. commanders held accountable for the
success of the Japanese attack.
The president is considering whether to restore full honor to the late
Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Gen. Walter C. Short, the officers in charge at
Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. A Pentagon commission is expected to make a
recommendation in the matter.
At the 50th anniversary of the surprise attack, in which 2,390 people
were killed, the first President Bush rejected the idea of restoring the
Army and Navy commanders to the ranks they held before being demoted in
the wake of the attack. President Clinton failed to act on the matter,
even after an overwhelming vote of Congress supporting Kimmel and Short.
Bush was invited to Pearl Harbor this week but has decided to observe
the anniversary aboard an aircraft carrier in Virginia.
Kimmel's son, Edward Kimmel, paid close attention to the president's
decision about where he would be on Dec. 7.
``This is the last evidence that the government holds my father and
General Short solely responsible for the disaster of Pearl Harbor, when
all others involved went on and retired at their highest rank,'' Kimmel
said.
Short died in 1949 and Kimmel died in 1968.
Historians have spent decades debating the officers' responsibility in
the Pearl Harbor attack, with some saying the time has come to exonerate
them.
``Justice cries out for this,'' said historian Michael Gannon, who
believes Kimmel and Short were scapegoats, blindsided by officials in
Washington who failed to relay critical information before the Japanese
attack.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the heightened
state of alert imposed upon Americans, the president ``might not be in the
mood right now to exonerate people alleged not to have been alert,''
Gannon said in an interview.
In 2000, Congress put language into a defense bill urging the president
to restore both officers to the highest rank they held during World War
II.
The two officers were removed from their commands after the attack,
declared to be in dereliction of duty for not preparing Pearl Harbor and
forced to retire.
Both were pointedly left off a 1947 roster that restored other World
War II officers to their higher wartime ranks. Kimmel had been a four-star
admiral and Short a two-star general, but both were retired a notch lower.
In a long historical debate that still sparks strong emotions, some
veterans and historians still believe the commanders must take
responsibility for the destruction and death Japan's surprise attack
caused.
``Kimmel and Short were two good men, fine officers. But I conclude
they made mistakes in the days leading up to the attack and are, in part,
responsible for what happened,'' said Col. Fred Borch III, U.S. Army judge
advocate who participated in an investigation into the officers' conduct.
Gene Castagnetti, director of the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific in Honolulu, said Pearl Harbor veterans will be disappointed the
president is not coming to speak on Friday.
Castagnetti, a former Marine, said he sees no reason for the president
to further exonerate Kimmel and Short.
``Commanders are responsible for everything their men fail to do and
can't delegate that accountability,'' he said.
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