Friends of Padre Steve’s World,
This week many people, especially those in the Navy, will be remembering the Battle of Midway on its 77th anniversary. The victory at Midway would not have happened without the exceptional intelligence gathering and code breaking by the cryptologists of Combat Intelligence Unit – Station Hypo – at Pearl Harbor under the command of Commander Joseph Rochefort. He and his small yet skillful team cracked the Japanese Naval code in time for Admiral Chester Nimitz to make the correct decision as to where to send his tiny carrier task forces to oppose the massive Japanese Combined Fleet under the Command of Isoroku Yamamoto.
Rochefort’s efforts were opposed by the key officers in the Office of Naval Intelligence who refused to believe that Midway was the target of the Japanese force. In spite of this opposition Nimitz was highly confident of Rochefort’s analysis and when all was said and done the U.S. Navy had defeated the Japanese, sinking four of the carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor as well as a heavy cruiser, ripping the heart out of Japan’s premier naval striking force.
Historian Walter Lord wrote:
“Against overwhelming odds, with the most meager resources, and often at fearful self-sacrifice, a few determined men reversed the course of the war in the Pacific. Japan would never again take the offensive. Yet the margin was thin—so narrow that almost any man there could say with pride that he personally helped turn the tide at Midway. It was indeed, as General Marshall said in Washington, “the closest squeak and the greatest victory.”
One of those men was Joseph Rochefort. Admiral Nimitz credited Rochefort for breaking the codes and setting the stage for the victory, and recommended him for the Distinguished Service Medal, however, Rochefort’s rivals in Washington D.C. ensured that the award was turned down in order to claim the success for them. Shortly after Midway, Rochefort was reassigned to command a floating dry dock in San Francisco by the Department of the Navy as a way to punish him, and effectively ending his career. Rochefort retired as a Captain after the war, his contribution to the victory at Midway unrecognized by the Navy. Admiral Nimitz again recommended him for the award of the Distinguished Service Medal in 1958 and again it was turned down, but his supports continued to work to right the injustice.
In 1983 Rear Admiral Donald Showers who had worked for Rochefort in 1942 again recommended the award to Secretary of the Navy John Lehman who approved it. Unfortunately Rochefort was no longer alive to receive it, he had died in 1976. Today his service to the Navy and nation is remembered with the annual Captain Joseph Rochefort Information Warfare (IW) Officer Distinguished Leadership Award which is awarded to annually recognize the superior career achievement of one IW officer for leadership, teamwork, operational contributions and adherence to the principle by which he served, “We can accomplish anything provided no one cares who gets the credit.”
Have a great day and please don’t forget men and women who embody the spirit of Joseph Rochefort, it is a rare commodity. I am afraid that in much of the current U.S. Navy there is not the same ideal as Joseph Rochefort. Without men and women who hold the ideal of Joe Rochefort you cannot win wars. This matters even today.
Peace
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