Major General Walter C. Short Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

WALTER C. SHORT (1880-1949), who would become responsible for the air and ground defense of Pearl Harbor, was promoted to Brigadier General in 1936 and Major General in 1940, when he was given command of the I Corps. In January 1941, Short was put in command of the Hawaiian Department; he was promoted to temporary Lieutenant General in February. Ten days after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Short was removed from that post. In January 1942, a commission headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts investigated the circumstances of the attack and reported poor judgment and dereliction of duty by General Short and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the Pacific fleet. Short was retired in February 1942. An Army hearing in 1944 reached no conclusion as to blame. A Congressional investigation in 1945-1946 found errors in judgment but no dereliction of duty. There was no court martial. Short maintained until his death in 1949 that he deserved a fair court martial and that his conscience was clear.