So in 1942, during the Second World War, the federal legislature notes that they will be conducting a review and investigation about the attack at Pearl Harbor.
This leaks to the press and causes a bit of a firestorm, but also provokes individuals to write in and give their two cents on the matter to elected officials. Many letters are directed at Senator Homer Ferguson from Michigan, who is seen as the member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Investigations most likely to Chair an investigation into Pearl Harbor.
A related but separate issue of the planned court martials of both Adm. Husband Kimmel and Gen. Walter Short. The 1941 Roberts Commission had laid blame on both Kimmel and Short, and that was re-examined in 1944. The public felt otherwise though, and many wrote to Ferguson asking for a wider-scoped investigation and prosecution for those involved.
I knew those basic broad-brush facts before diving into the Ferguson papers. What I did not know were the claims made in this document, labelled ‘Is It True?’ and sourced to Porter Sargent, who wrote “Getting US into War” in 1941.
Honestly, on this list, I had heard that Joe Kennedy was a bootlegger, and a bit about the Tyler Kent affair, that the US provoked Japan into war, and that the dismissal of Adm. Richardson from Pearl Harbor was very suspicious a few months prior to the attack.
But all the other claims were brand new to my eyes.
I consider myself something of a conspiracy connoisseur, but these claims were surprising to me. I have not looked into them yet, but I plan on it and will report back.