"Don't worry about it."
Those words, which he uttered on a peaceful Sunday morning in 1941 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, would haunt Kermit A. Tyler for the rest of his life.
Posted on 02/25/2010 1:24:17 PM PST by JoeProBono
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- An American pilot who dismissed initial reports of what turned out to be the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has died at age 96.
Kermit Tyler was the Army Air Forces' first lieutenant on temporary duty at Ft. Shafter's radar information center in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, when two privates reporting seeing an unusually large blip on their radar screen, indicating a large number of aircraft about 132 miles away and fast approaching.
"Don't worry about it," Tyler famously replied, thinking it was a flight of U.S. B-17 bombers that was due in from the mainland.
The aircraft were the first wave of more than 180 Japanese fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers and horizontal bombers whose surprise attack on Pearl Harbor shortly before 8 a.m. plunged the United States into World War II.
Many questioned his decision for years, and the 1970 movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!" portrayed him in an unflattering light.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
"Don't worry about it."
Those words, which he uttered on a peaceful Sunday morning in 1941 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, would haunt Kermit A. Tyler for the rest of his life.
Probably cost him his career.
I dismiss this report.
HAHAHA. Man, that made me laugh.
Oh, jeez. Are will still blaming this man for an understandable interpretation of fuzzy information provided by new and imprecise technology? If we tallied the blunders made by the US leading up to and including that fateful day, in order of significance, this man’s decision would rank about 2,000th. His “error” might have cost a few lives. Roosevelt’s caused a couple thousand.
Nope.
Went on quite well, actually.
It was Bush’s fault don’t cha know
Don’t worry about it.
Rest in peace.
Since Gen Short had clumped all the planes together and had no pilots on stand by and the Navy was entirely asleep (except for Halsey’s Carriers) it wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of difference.
R.I.P.
They have recently found out that TWO, not one Japanese subs probably penetrated the heart of the harbor, reaching immediately next to battleship row. The new thinking is that they accounted for many more hits than had previously been attributed to them.
Also, the Zero’s with highly experienced pilots far out matched and out numbered our green pilots and their P-40’s The Zero’s would have made short work of them. All those pilots lived to fight another day and in better planes.
ping
The article said he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) in 1961. Nope, it didn’t hurt his career.
The USS Ward sank a midget sub about an hour before the attack. That report was never acted upon with the seriouness it deserved either.
No kidding. This guy probably hadn’t had a good rest in 70 years. His action would not have made a material difference. What was destined to happen, was going to happen.
But, what a burden to live with.
God speed, young man.
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