Pearl Harbor Story Paperback - 2001

From the publisher

Major General H. D. Russell was a member of the US Army Pearl Harbor Investigation Board, (the Roberts Commission) which completed its work in October 1944. He dictated his recollection of that experience in early 1946, soon after his return to civilian life following six years of active duty with the Army. A few copies were made, but the general public remained unaware of the existence of Gen. Russell's manuscript, in part for reasons of national security. David L. Mincey, a World War II naval combat veteran living in Macon, Georgia, finally unearthed a copy of Gen. Russell's memoir and, with the consent of the general's heirs, has now made it available for publication.

The immediacy of this first-person account of the behind-the-scenes activities of the commission is its greatest feature. Gen. Russell was angry about the attack, and almost equally angry about attempts to sanitize the incident for public consumption. He promised to "speak his mind freely" if ever asked about his experiences as a member of the commission.

Like the Warren Commission's report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Roberts Commission's findings concerning Pearl Harbor faced immediate criticism from many quarters. Unlike the Warren Commission, however, the federalgovernment silenced dissenting views from the Roberts Commission for many years. The rest of the story can now be told.