On 7 December the nation will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, identified as “a date which will live in infamy” by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 8 December 1941, in an address to a joint session of Congress. The attack has received a great deal of coverage by the Naval Institute over the years, in books, articles, oral histories, and conferences. The Institute is proud to have given voice to many individuals who were at Pearl Harbor that day and who fought in the war that followed.
In this month’s Proceedings, we have three features and a review of two new books to commemorate this important event in the nation’s history. The first article, “Plenty of Blame to Go Around,” by long-time Proceedings and Naval History staff member and Press author Paul Stillwell, examines the long controversy on who was to blame for U.S. forces being surprised. Retired Navy Captain Gordon Peterson shares a family member’s stirring account in “Leaning on that Old Whistle Cord.” Finally, retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Thomas Cutler, the Institute’s Gordon England Chair of Professional Naval Literature, shares what it was like to attend the Naval Institute’s 1969 hosting of General Minoru Genda, who participated in the planning to attack Pearl Harbor. Genda addressed more than 750 people at the Naval Academy, generating substantial controversy. The whole affair proved to Tom that many in service “clearly understand that this nation—especially its ability to have an open forum—is worth defending.”
The December issue of Naval History carries three features about Pearl Harbor. “Commander Fuchida’s Decision” offers new evidence that the commander of the first-wave attack created confusion for Japanese forces by his signal and by his accounts in subsequent years. The author of this new research won the U.S. Naval Institute’s 1999 Arleigh Burke Essay Contest (now and previously named the General Prize Essay Contest). “Born to Command During a Crisis” focuses on then-Commander Clifton A. F. Sprague, commanding the seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8), and his crew as they brought their ship through the attack. If you are not a subscriber to Naval History, you are missing out on excellent content.
Also in this month’s Proceedings are the first prize-winning essays in the Leadership Essay Contest, sponsored with Dr. J. Phillip London and CACI International, and the Enlisted Prize Essay Contest, sponsored with Textron Systems. Winners are:
Leadership Essay Contest
• First Prize:
“Invest in Initiative”
By Lieutenant John Tanalega, U.S. Navy
• Second Prize:
“Maintaining Integrity”
By Lieutenant William Spears, U.S. Navy
• Third Prize:
“Wisdom of the Crew”
By Lieutenant Owen E. Brooks, U.S. Navy
Fall Enlisted Prize Essay Contest
• First Prize:
“Never Above, Always Beside”
By Sergeant Daniel M. Glisson, U.S. Marine Corps
• Second Prize:
“Developing Power and Influence in the Young Naval Officer”
By Fleet Master Chief Paul Kingsbury, U.S. Navy
• Third Prize:
“Gone But Not Forgotten: Changing the Way We Talk about Suicide”
By Petty Officer Second Class Jessica R. Smedley, U.S. Navy
In both prize-winning essays published in this issue, the authors speak to leadership fundamentals. Sergeant Glisson delivers a moving portrayal of effective combat leaders in Afghanistan. His essay challenges leaders to embody courage, honor, and commitment by never placing themselves above their Marines. Lieutenant Tanalega, a surface warfare officer, calls for the Navy to nurture independent decision makers. The Navy, he says, must rid itself of a perfectionist, zero-defect mentality and cut the umbilical cord that comes with constant communication.
Other content in this issue includes a wonderful range of thinking, from Admiral James Stavridis’s “Maritime Hybrid Warfare Is Coming” to Commander Mark Johnson’s “Pizza! Everybody Loves Pizza, but. . . .”
As we close out the year, the Proceedings team offers a special thanks to all who “dared to read, think, speak, and write” to make the nation and the naval profession stronger.