"A Matter of Honor" – the 75th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

A week from now, Dec. 7, 2016, is the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. As many know, my Dad’s brother, my Uncle Frank, went down with his ship, the USS Arizona.
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But for this moment I digress, to call attention to another victim of Dec. 7, Pacific Fleet Admiral Husband Kimmel, who, along with his Army General colleague Lt. General Walter Short, became the “fallguys” for the immensely successful surprise attack by the Japanese. [See postnote at end of this post.]
Nov. 24, 2016 came an e-mail from Thomas Kimmel, grandson of Adm. Kimmel. The contents of the e-mail are below. I first met Mr. Kimmel on-line perhaps 7 years ago. He knows my story, and I was introduced to his.
The full title of the book is “A Matter of Honor: Pearl Harbor, Betrayal, Blame, and a Family’s Quest for Justice.” (click on title for the link to Amazon.com).
I bought the book, and have completed it. It is extraordinary. My hope is that many have an opportunity to read and discuss its contents (which, I would argue, apply to situations in the present day). Of course, its focus is Admiral Kimmel and in large part the events that took place during his tour of less than a year as Pacific fleet commander. But if you open the book, your eyes, too, will open. It is a page turner.
The e-mail from Thomas Kimmel:
“On Tuesday, November 15, with the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor
approaching, HarperCollins released a new book A MATTER OF HONOR.
In the aftermath of the disaster, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander in
chief Admiral Kimmel was relieved of command, accused of dereliction
of duty, vilified. What the public was not told was that crucial
pre-attack intelligence, pointing to what was coming, had not been
shared with the commanders. The Admiral and Hawaii’s Army commander
became the scapegoats, the fallguys.
With new information, A MATTER OF HONOR not only tells Kimmel’s story
but resolves long-running controversies, at last clears President
Franklin D. Roosevelt of the charge that he knew the attack was
coming, and uncovers duplicity and betrayal in high places. This is,
too, a heartbreaking human story – of a military man, his sons and
grandsons, in a fight for their family’s honor that is continuing.
High advance praise for the book from historians and military experts
can be found on the book’s Amazon page. A later commander of the
Pacific Fleet, Admiral Lyons, says it is “the most comprehensive,
accurate and thoroughly researched book” on the subject ever written.”
Publishers Weekly says it reads “like a thriller”.
Close to and on the December 7th anniversary, History Channel and The
Movie Network (in the Americas), Channel 4 (in the UK), and BBC
Worldwide will be running documentaries based on the book.
What I [ask is] to post a review of A MATTER OF HONOR on
AMAZON. It’s important to get this information to the public, and
posting a 5-Star review on AMAZON accomplishes that. I assure you
there is nothing in it for me other than supporting Admiral Kimmel’s,
and, accordingly, my goal of getting the full story of the Pearl
Harbor attack available to the American public. It’s amazing how much
new information is contained in the book.
If you do post to AMAZON, good. If you convince others to do so, better.
Feel free to use any of this information on your blog.
Thanks again for your help and interest.”
I will followup on some of my own impressions of the book at this space on Dec. 7, 2016. Suffice for now: I highly recommend that you read the book, and pass the information along to others.
POSTNOTE December 1, 2016: It was not till I was near the end of the book that I noted that restorative legislation had been passed in the 106th Congress, signed Oct. 30, 2000, but was never implemented. Overnite, I accessed the wording of the actual language of the legislation which, to my knowledge, remains in full force and effect, but as yet not implemented. The six page document is here: public-law-106-398001. I plan to deliver in person to the office of my local Congresswoman, and two United States Senators, this legislation along with a note urging their efforts to implement a Law long on the books. I encourage readers to do the same.
The Kimmel website is, aptly, PearlHarbor911attacks. It includes contact information for Thomas Kimmel.