Fleet Admiral Nimitz did not decide to weigh in on the matter of who was going to get credit for the intelligence analysis that provided the critical advantage that changed the course of the Pacific War. Recall for a moment that the real story was incredibly classified. I once had lunch with friend of my parents who had been a WAVE during the war, assigned to Washington, DC. I asked her where she had worked and she answered, vaguely, “near Ward Circle.”

My eyes widened. “Were you at Nebraska Avenue? Where they had those amazing NCR mechanical computers and broke the Nazi and Japanese codes?”

She gazed at me steadily and said: “They told us that if we talked about anything we did there they would come after us and throw us in jail.”

I won’t reveal her name- she is still alive, and still concerned that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service will come after her.

So, the men who destroyed Joe Rochefort’s career basked in stolen glory. At least two of the ringleaders gained the rank of Rear Admiral. One was the first Deputy Commander of the newly created NSA. Another became Director of Naval Communications. Yet another retired as a four-star, and is buried near Chester Nimitz, which illustrates how massive the forces were aligned against one man who had the courage to disagree with Washington, and worse, be completely right.

The Golden Gate National Cemetery at San Bruno is located about two miles west of the San Francisco International Airport, and that is where Fleet Admiral Nimitz, Admiral Raymond Spruance, Admiral Charles Lockwood, and Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner are buried with their wives, their grave sites perfectly aligned in the first row along the street bearing Nimitz’s name –Nimitz Drive.

So, anyone seeking to upend the applecart of the agreed history was going to have an uphill fight. The matter stung for those who knew what really happened, and what lies were told. In the aftermath of victory, histories were published that appeared authoritative- Samuel Elliott Morrison’s was the final word on the Pacific for decades. But it was not going to last.

The first cracks in the society of secrets came in 1974 with the publication of F.W. Winterbotham’s revelation of “The Ultra Secret.” He had been the man responsible for the organization, distribution and security of de-crypted German military communications. Anthony Cave Brown followed with his masterful “Bodyguard of Lies,” which inspired me to look into a career in naval intelligence.

Jasper Holmes and Joe Rochefort also had compiled memoirs and accounts of the decoding operations at Station HYPO in Hawaii. In 1978, Jasper published his “Double Edged Secrets.” He did not tell everything he knew. He was still treating gently in areas that were still sensitive, not so much for national security reasons, but because there were careers and reputations to be protected.

Here is what Joe wrote to Jasper about the time that the truth started to be revealed:

I bought a copy of Jasper’s book when I was able to talk to Mac about those days long ago at the Willow Bar. It is a good read, but there is so much more nuance and detail that only a participant could tell. The book i would like to see is the one that Joe Rochefort wrote. I would like to know a lot more about the Redman brothers and Joe Wenger. And of course, Richmond Kelly Turner.

Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303