Legal Case of the Navy Breaking the Japanese Code at Midway

Tidewater · Sep 17, 2016

A journalist for the Chicago Tribune reported that "Navy Had Word of Jap Plan to Strike at Sea."

The Navy went after the Tribune, but the grand jury declined to return a true bill.
Still, the testimony before the grand jury has stayed classified since and one historian is trying to get that unsealed.

For the record, despite the Tribune's disclosure, the Japanese Navy never figured out that the US had broken the code. They kept using the broken code until 1945.

Funny to see a WW II court case still going on today.

OreBama · Sep 17, 2016

WWII is the most interesting story of the 20th century. I honestly never get tired of hearing stories about it. I hope the information is disclosed.

Tidewater · Sep 17, 2016

OreBama said:
WWII is the most interesting story of the 20th century. I honestly never get tired of hearing stories about it. I hope the information is disclosed.

In the article, the journalist in walked past the radio room on a ship that wasn't even involved in Midway. He saw a decrypted message saying that the Navy knew exactly what was coming. As soon as the journalist got to San Diego, he filed his report. It is an interesting question. If you let journalists hang around military units, can you get angry when they find stuff out and disclose it?

bamachile · Sep 17, 2016

Tidewater said:
In the article, the journalist in walked past the radio room on a ship that wasn't even involved in Midway. He saw a decrypted message saying that the Navy knew exactly what was coming. As soon as the journalist got to San Diego, he filed his report. It is an interesting question. If you let journalists hang around military units, can you get angry when they find stuff out and disclose it?

No, you can't. The segregation of sensitive activities from the public - including the press - is in accordance with common sense, common law, and common decency.

TIDE-HSV · Sep 17, 2016

Tidewater said:
In the article, the journalist in walked past the radio room on a ship that wasn't even involved in Midway. He saw a decrypted message saying that the Navy knew exactly what was coming. As soon as the journalist got to San Diego, he filed his report. It is an interesting question. If you let journalists hang around military units, can you get angry when they find stuff out and disclose it?

Actually, quite a few journalists were allowed to hang around, far more than today. There were very few leaks. I wouldn't bet on that today...

Crimson1967 · Sep 17, 2016

You probably won't ever see "Jap" in a headline again.

crimsonaudio · Sep 17, 2016

Tidewater said:
If you let journalists hang around military units, can you get angry when they find stuff out and disclose it?

If we're at war and they publish information damaging to the effort, then yes, I say you can get angry. Treasonous behavior, imo.

bamachile · Sep 18, 2016

crimsonaudio said:
If we're at war and they publish information damaging to the effort, then yes, I say you can get angry. Treasonous behavior, imo.

Point well taken.

Tidewater · Sep 18, 2016

crimsonaudio said:
If we're at war and they publish information damaging to the effort, then yes, I say you can get angry. Treasonous behavior, imo.

Two other aspects. FDR hated the editor of the Tribune. That had something to do with the Feds going after that newspaper.
The Navy had left classified documents unsecured in the radio room on a US Navy ship, so the disclosure was in large measure due to the Navy's negligence.

I'm a bit curious why the testimony before the grand jury cannot be released to the public 74 years after the fact, however.

Tidewater · Sep 18, 2016

Crimson1967 said:
You probably won't ever see "Jap" in a headline again.

Until Tet '68, the Washington Post used to refer to the VC/NVA in Vietnam as "reds." After Tet, the WaPo started calling them the "National Liberation Front."

Tide1986 · Sep 18, 2016

crimsonaudio said:
If we're at war and they publish information damaging to the effort, then yes, I say you can get angry. Treasonous behavior, imo.

Shaky ground when you start accusing journalists of treason. If anything was treasonous, it was the Navy's decision to give non-military personnel unfettered access to a military installation. If you don't want such information to be disclosed, you don't give people access to it.

NationalTitles18 · Sep 18, 2016

Tide1986 said:
Shaky ground when you start accusing journalists of treason. If anything was treasonous, it was the Navy's decision to give non-military personnel unfettered access to a military installation. If you don't want such information to be disclosed, you don't give people access to it.

True. Think about the reporting in Vietnam. Are all those guys guilty of treason or of exposing some unsavory things damaging to the war effort (nevermind the absence of a declaration)? Slippery slope argument, but where do you draw the line when you are derelict in protecting information like that? You can't yell fire in a crowded theater when there isn't one. You can't actively spy for the enemy. This was different.

Search

Legal Case of the Navy Breaking the Japanese Code at Midway

Tidewater

Hall of Fame

OreBama

All-American

Tidewater

Hall of Fame

bamachile

Hall of Fame

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame

crimsonaudio

Administrator

bamachile

Hall of Fame

Tidewater

Hall of Fame

Tidewater

Hall of Fame

Tide1986

Suspended

NationalTitles18

TideFans Legend

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop - NEW Stuff!