Roberts Commission

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The Roberts Commission was a presidentially-appointed commission formed in December 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, to investigate and report the facts relating to the attack. The commission was headed by US Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen Josephus Roberts, and for this reason it was known as the Roberts Commission. The commission found the commanders of Pearl Harbor, Adm. Husband Kimmel and Gen. Walter Short, guilty of 'dereliction of duty'. The Commission presented their findings to Congress January 28, 1942. Members of the commission besides Justice Roberts were Adm. William H. Standley, Adm. Joseph M. Reeves, Gen. Frank R. McCoy, and Gen. Joseph T. McNarney. The commission was a fact-finding commission, and not a court marshal for Gen. Short or Adm. Kimmel.

On May 25, 1999, the United States Senate passed a resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short from the condemnations of the commission. "They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-DE), noting that they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor." (2)

A second Roberts Commission, also presidentially-appointed, (known again after its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts), was created to help the U.S. Army protect works of cultural value in Allied-occupied areas of Europe. The commission also developed inventories of Nazi- appropriated property. Along with the U.S. Military program known as Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA), the commission worked to rescue and preserve items of cultural significance. This commission took place from 1943 until 1946.

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