War Relatives -

[Harlan (Deceased)]

I know many people on his board are veterans, decedents of, or have relatives who are famous or fought in past wars and we would all like to hear about them.

My father was a tank commander and later became a drill Sargent during the Korean War.
My grandfather was a master aircraft mechanic in WWII and stayed in the U.S. building and repairing aircraft engines.
He was the head mechanic a facility and the only one who was allowed to run-up P-51 engines and taxi them. When he was alive he'd tell me specifics about Merlin engines and Allison engines as if he worked on them the day before.
I had an uncle I never met who died trying to land a shot-up Panther on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War.
He veered off the deck and he and his plane were never recovered. (Family had no closure and even during my young life family members still hoped he somehow survived)

My most famous (infamous) relative was seldom talked about by my family but I think he actually got a bad deal that ruined his life.
My great uncle was General Walter Short and he blamed for what happened at Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor was a screw-up from every aspect of the government and we were unprepared for what the Japanese were capable of. All reports from the government said the most danger at that time was from sabotage. General Short placed all aircraft close together and under extreme security from sabotage. He was dong his duty from what he knew of. Nobody anyplace in the military believed the Japanese were capable of at that time. Communications were poor all over the place and the government didn't tell the military what they knew.

I grew up knowing my family was ashamed of him. As a child I saw him portrayed in movies like "Tora, Tora, Tora" and I was ashamed because they made him look like an idiot. It still goes on today in every history program and they blame him. He had an unbelievable distinguished military career beforehand, but he was ruined after Pearl Harbor. Times were different back then without internet or nightly news and all my family members knew were from newspapers.
The whole country was outraged because of Pearl Harbor and everyone wanted to blame someone. I know first hand he was outcast from my family by everyone and died from heart failure a few years after WWII --
I think he's a little like General Custer in the way he's been placed in History now.

The military never gave him a chance at a court marshal at that time.
(The military screwed up from Pearl Harbor and didn't want to be blamed)
History now shows the government was to blame for not being prepared with info they knew about, but General Short still gets blamed.

This 'Wikipedia' account is fairly close to the truth from what I know now.

Walter Short - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Who's next with history of family members or yourself from any military service?

Any photographs would be very nice. History of service should be passed on.

Regards,
~ Harlan Short

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