Many know that for all the damage done to the U.S. Navy on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese fleet failed to destroy the most important targets in the Pacific fleet. Conspiracy theorists have wondered why there were no U.S. aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor during the attack. The U.S.S. Lexington had been dispatched to deliver 25 aircraft to Midway Island and also to Wake Island in anticipation of possible Japanese action. They had not reached the islands when the Japanese attack on Pearl occurred, and they were ordered to return and conduct operations to find the Japanese fleet closer to Hawaii.

The following is from the records of the PROCEEDINGS OF CLARKE INVESTIGATION and was printed in an editorial of the Times-Herald, Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Sept. 28, 1944.

"To recap the facts: Enterprise and Lexington were out of port on Dec. 7th orders of Adm. Kimmel, not anyone in Washington D.C. Enterprise would have made it back into port on Dec. 5th if the weather hadn't delayed her. No human being prevented her from being there on the 7th. It was widely known that she was scheduled to be there on that date. After the start of hostilities both carriers were directed to locate and engage the enemy, despite facing unknown odds. It cannot be said, then that the carriers were 'safely out of port' if they are just going to be sent to look for trouble when the shooting starts.

"Given the above information it is clear that there was no 'grand strategy' to save the carriers by someone who 'knew' that the next war would be dominated by flat-tops. It is also clear that there were eight "old and useless" battleships in Pearl that day because one of our most respected and talented admirals ordered three of them to proceed under normal schedule and return to harbor on the 6th. And finally, it is also clear that the carriers, instead of being wrapped in cotton and stashed away in a box like fragile Christmas ornaments, were being used as warships with orders to seek, locate and destroy. If there was any conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor it did not include carrier conservation in its plans."

This may help to clear up some of the speculation about U.S. actions at Pearl Harbor.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.