The U.S. knew the Japanese were about to attack

Your editorial on Pearl Harbor contains a misinterpretation of fact regarding our intelligence shortcomings with respect to the attack.

Our intelligence was sharp. Prior to that date we had cracked Japanese codes. We knew they had assembled a task force. We knew that force had sailed. What we supposedly did not know for sure was the point of attack.

However, the commander of our Asian naval forces had warned Washington to expect an attack on the Philippines and in fact had ordered all Navy dependents out of the area during the summer of 1941.

Commander-in-chief Pacific Fleet (COMINCH) took precautionary steps to place Pearl Harbor on a readiness state.

As an ensign, I had been directed to take a donated yacht to the Section Base Pearl Harbor. We arrived there on Dec. 5.

A few days earlier, around Dec. 1, COMINCH received a communication that in Hawaiian waters there were hostile submarines operating and if contacted we were to attack them. Only hostile submarines were in the area, since no American submarines were operating there.

Within 12 hours that order was directly countermanded from Washington. In that directive we were ordered not to attack under any circumstances.

There are two interpretations that can be given to that. One is that knowing an attack was coming we did not want to (give) the Japanese government an excuse for the coming attack by saying that an act of aggression had been committed against them.

The other interpretation is that we knowingly allowed the attack to occur as the only way that this then-isolated nation could enter the war against Germany, defend England, and prevent the Nazis from establishing outposts over all of Europe. This was made possible because Japan was an ally in the alliance known as the Axis.

Whatever conclusion one may reach as to the explanation, one fact stands out. More than 3,000 men gave their lives to protect our borders, and they should never be forgotten. Their sacrifice should be honored by the establishment of a national day known as Pearl Harbor Day, a day of remembrance and a reminder that what we enjoy has a price.

Incidentally, there is a Ventura County connection to Pearl Harbor. The command of the Pearl Harbor Section Base was J.B. Cook, who later served as the county's assemblyman in the state Legislature.
M.J. Kramer
Thousand Oaks