DECLASSIFIED - - new or calms cm'EE Gong-darn Lili' yi Vb 381 French Gel-1f J I mm 11 _Ccmendm twelfth level Dietrich 1mm x P e ecuuman Dietrict Inteliigence Ofricer I - Dept-in- w x menace cmer-or-stetr Intern an Frontier CM I I ma Wing Officer U33 3W - men - I r cumin Executive Officer use mom Gc-lnder h S Air Officer 088 LEXINGTON Lam Fred 6 mm Mai onion wetch Officer - Linetenent Denial mm Omiceticne Officer USS BARNETT I here been ordered by the Ccuenderwin-chiet to go further into the connected with utter I think you ere e11 - with end I here here e letter which-wee prepered by Gepteih PHILLIPS et 7 direction concerning further deteile of thie hotter Heve you anything Geptein PHILLIPS to we the thie mm or June 9 191 2 PunuPs he 31 dmher No 813 thet 0011th the whole 027- M And thie lettu- reletee on the euthority of Lieutenant new miceticne Officer of the W that Consumer 3311M etetedcm- on the BARNETT that he hed been euthanized on the USS LEXINGTON to ehow e11 secret end letters to Ir Jamaal that he hed over heerd thie etetenent in general oonvereetioh which wee being con- ducted I will now reed thie letter - - contents or letter reed to the officer by the Con endent 4 There ie I let to remember in there mu In the firet plece the convereetiea to which moon refers 1e entirer eieunderetending I neturelly would have no authority wheteoever to ehow llr JOHNSON or else eeoret wetter end in the eeoond piece the Commi oeticae Weteh Officers on the USS did not take their order-e frame they took their ordere from the laurel end I did - wee however somewhat concerned hr had been with no einoe the 15th of April on the order of the thunder-We of the Pecii io I Fleet end he wee escorted ehoerd with the proper credentiele He uh - doubtedly - here'e whet - I believe I diecuaeed with non-rm I an not poeitive - concerning JOINSON who tree an extremely oh'eernnt perecn He hed been on the chip through eeriee of battles being here end there on the bridge eimele paced beck and forth end I nee concerned no to what we going to become of any information 'thet he eight have in hie eithough we but no instructional to whet to do when we errieed in port Now Mr mammal campletely ounderetood me no to my eeying that I hed any such euthority Even if I hed eeid eo it would here been ridiculoue ow the next point - there In mother point there Ahirel I didn't min on the DECLASSIFIED Authority l1 ll momma Gomdantt' 331mm Comandanta i amount I 3th Commandant until after everybody eloo had been there y'torocoe' little Itine two @3133 I Didn t you say that tho Oeptoin- told you who you could - 17- I Ho no didn't etart thio notch until after no got under way I rumor the matter or doepatchoe with tho Captain and I we were the ehip in every way we could He indietoly ot- etanding gun watches and an officer below decks on watch and aleo in lo sir Comander Manama had a room on the other eide ot the ohip other aide of that there was a private room where I oae Commdahts' lento Ihadnothingtodo- Just a moot Suppose you go on Gounod with whet you have to oey and then we will no Gunner mm ov- 3% I My Well I reneaber the hotter of - Different thinge that any have occurred to you in thio connooticn and rered to tho ehip in any way poeoible en route We had officere the coding room Hey I ooh what the next point na'o there o1r-1t_ nae pretty involved You and Commander mom comiod a room with Mr JOIWSON - on the with omral other officers and Ir Jmsou- sort of an um - then i '1 there one an intervening small room with a tablo in it and on the Thie one all con suite 1 I odd there air Iwould like to add thero Abiral one point that my not be clear Noithor m1 nor any other otfioere aloud - roepooeihility for any matter in the ehip We loaned office to tho ship but no certainly didn t attempt to assume any of the prerogativoo of tho Demanding Officer or in the thingo were carried out in handling the ehip or in the my thing were carried out Do you recall the particular deopatoh which 1o in quoo tion hero I have had one very alight glenoe at that deopatoh and the 11ttlo not remonbor eoeing it I may have oeen 1t but I do not remember it epeoifioolly The deepatchee I have read I olnye put my initiale on I didn't read all the deepatcheo there one only a on that I was interested in - that is those that more Wt to roe Did you with Er Jonson any method or none by which otrategio internation had or could be obtained age DECLASSIFIED 1 Authority Ahoolutoly not oiru a _'Did you have in your a oopy of tho roport of tho Con j loading Officer as tho IBKINGTGI rogording tho of tho ohip I oortoinly did sir Tho Ooptain of tho ammo inotruotod no - ohilo wo won on tho ASTIBIA and again oont for no 1111110 ho no on tho mom and I woo handod a copy of tho roport- thio roport woo ginn to no on tho ASTORIA Ho ooid want you to hood that over - Kocrp it Golloot all of tho dnto that you can obtain from all of tho I on tho ohip Lot in hovo tho roporto or o1 1 of tho othor hoodo of doportoonto and ovary portio1o of information you can got on routo book I And no workod no a mottor or toot- moot of tho tin no wjoro working up roporto on tho woy homo Iho onvod tho war diary and tho Quartomotor'o log book An trook chart was very value ohlo thing No had to nnko one out and I undo that trnok chart out from tho our diary and tho log book and tun-nod it ovor to A Co'pt'oin on our arrival Thio of ammo ono all on - I wanti__ it thoroughly un'dorotood on Oopt'oin ordoro' to no Woo JONNSON poroittod to thin roport and o tracing oI tho Coral I Son bottlo - - I No air not to IV knowlodgo Thoro woro two ottiooro working on that roport and onusbody had all tho facts in thoir and not down and otudiod- it it wouldn t hovo dono th oo any good in any Hanover or JOHNSON had all of tho information rolotiVo to tho Carol Soo bottlo in that sum of tho informatics that no didn't hovo Tho Carol Son hottlo and two othor ohioh woro hondod no on i - tho LEXINGTCII They ooro handod to tho Amirol with viow to letting tho otory ho roloaood at homo future timo I That ono tho Adair-al and not tho Ooptahf 7 - _r Into no I know that on tho Admiral I don't know anything about A that portioulnr thing boonuoo' it was nono of my Thoro woro othor minor points in that lottor Admiral - there might ho a slight oinundorotanding thoro I don't remember Just what they woro Tho inpliootion in tho lottor io thot I rooponoibility for com-- mmiootimo on tho BARNETT which I did not do and that I had outhor ity to oho'a to Air JGINSON but I want it very oloorly up by tho Comioationo Notch Officor that wore mor shown to hr JOHNSON and tho Cmicotimn Totoh Oftiooro onrriod out tho onoo ordoro they had carried out on tho IEIINGTON pluo tho ordoro thoy from tho Comicntiono Ottioor of tho BARNETT proou n- ably from tho Captain The captain had his own inotructiono - ohowod - how ho wanted monongoo handled and tho porsono that could than I rombor it it with the Captain that certain of tho hoado of tho h nd mosoogoo with tho WINGTON upon g lolly whoro they ooncornod thorn and I think WOKEWTH my to able to toll you more about that than I don am you anything more you would like to add Commander - Nhilo I oon't think of anything Juot this sir I an very om - ions to oioor thio thing up and anything no can do wo wont to do A Pg f Commandant Commandant PHILLIPS DECLASSIFIED LAUthO tymilD 1330mm - I haven't anything except to repeat and to re enphaeize reveral of the i a native Australian naturalised American oitieen He had worked in line hie awn backyard He knew the place He knew more about the Alielande than we did with the charte we had available He wee so I 1 say very_ cheervant and undoubtedly collected an awful lot of informa- t1on as far as the Coral Sea battle is concerned At no tine did he ticularly in anything that waa go1ng on at the time in the Pec1tio 'you and I will have to get deepatchee and message and find out the 1- Japanese forces in the Pacific - and aaid that this interaction he -noon I read it once and 1t nae removed fron ny hande and I have no linformation cancerning any Japanese - or the Japanese in the Pacific of the United States forces in the Midway area and which I showed to Then we will eek Commander DUCKWORTH if he will anything - pointe concerning these circumstances points that Commander SELIGMAN hae brought out mainly'that ur JOHKSGI had absolutely no ecoe ee to any confidential or secret messages of any kind at any time during his entire etqy on the LEXINGTON or BARNETT _a He was a smart man or he wouldn't have been at h1e 10b 5 had had - province naval training as a Signalman and code read1ng He could read 3 served as a gunner 1n the Anetralian Army during the leet war He 1a the New Guinea area for a matter of four or five yeare with the geld ldning- interests there and was very intimate with the natives their customs the islands and he knew the Coral Sea area as well no any civilian could 1t and the fact that he had any deta11I'_j concerning the battle of the coral Sea ie to be recognised because it '7 1mm BARNETT 01 indicate that mm inure-ted pap other than his general interest 7 There were very few of as who knele much about what wee going on Captcin PHILLIPS called Commander and I to hie cabin one morning the exact date I can't tell exact date and showed us in red a deapatch very aimilar to the one - in questions in Which be outlined the Pacific - the novenente or the considered too vital to be let apread around the chip in any manner A whats cover and proposed to burn it up after we had read it He eeid am going to burn this up How a to my recollection ac to ever seeing the deepatch in question I got a glance at it yeeterday arter meane ny'recolleotion ie that it contained a lot more detailed Ocean I personally doubt whether the message in question was ever routed to any officer on the - I mean any on the BARNETT a are just trying to get at the truth you were the Air Officer to that you have nothing to do with deapatchoe and nothing except - - Suppose we have PHILLIPS make that etatenent right now with reference to the handling of this message referred to Captain relate the circumetances and also anything that ney bear on this aubject an to the handling or messages The measage referred to Just previously hy Commander wae an AIDAO message which gaVe - which as I recall gave the dispoeition Cmander saumm macaw and the Executive Officer of the 3mm - 1 DECLASSHHED i lg 216 1 PHILLIPS continuing and then destroyed 11 eweelf immediately thereafter The i I - AIDAC wee in force at that t1me and I considered 11 wrong Ior it to 1 be deciphered _w _7 - _It should not have been deciphered on 1he ship - 1 Yes 11 should not have been deo1phered on the sh1p - Thie was not the meesege referred to in 1he 1nveetigation I '-We were discussing eir the question of having four carriers in this1 force and three battleships _Hy understanding is that there were Jap carriers in that message weren't there messages in the morning about our forces - well I don't recall the- 7 51 contents of the messagee- exnept they were two AIDAC messages deciphered Vafter showing them to these Officers Those are not the messages which are under the subject of investigetion ' I happen to know def1nitehy Now this message which is under- investigation Captain PHILLIPS What was its nature and should it have been deciphered by your cmmio-e-i - tione group It was addressed to - 1 have 1he message and the officers who initialed it in my pocket Now how it was saved out of the wreck I wouldn't know bu1 I have the message here Bo you wish me to thie time I 1 1 lee Axe See it was addressed to All Task Force Commanders but Iollowing the Lgfj usual custom in the Fleet the on these messagee of great gi f interest to the whole Fleet apparently are not considered That is theLJCr odmmon prect1ce throughout - it has been common - I 31 It hae been the common practice to break such messages down for the formation of the Commanding Officer 'For the Commanding Officer and such officers as he feels fit to see them or course you understand Admiral I probably couldn't substan- -fg tiate that I Just know from going from ship to ship - we spoke of thinge that we both know and the could get it was to 7 15% break it down to message That had six initials on it - th-et 1e Com 55 wander and I took the other to be JUNKER and the other one down in the corner I don't know whose that is E H T - do you that 1e might recognize it e1r - maybe it is Hr TERRY's eignature Commandant There appears here - there Captain PHILLIP's initiele commander 7 15 and Commander SELIGHAN and Commender JUNKER - I a BREWER I I can explain this - 1 that is my signature here - I signed because - I I showed it to the Communications Officer and the Radio Officer and when they saw a message I signed for them and the Cammunicstions Ofw ricer was sick at the time DECLASSHHED 1% LAuthorityMII gD ZQI 1 momenta - mums PHILLIPS I4 SELIGMAN Commandant nuckxuon'm I II I eomething going to_ Alaska or Dutch Harbor and I recn11--go1ngI3prob IHI lately aboutI how the M1duny show in going on and he laid Ho theI --'atqu 13 act coming over in any code we have which I took he- neent either in this Jeep code or th1II AIDAC code There 0re we were at a loss for informdtion Now the battle ot the Coral See wee d1ecuaeed was trying to br1ng out i air in that JOHNSON 1 a very h1gh1y trained 1 -been on ships before I think he Iea1d hi hld ton sunk on hIin- Br1t1eh i Ishipethe Crete campaign sunk in Crete - tfmummyn right from the 01 10 However um wouldn't have u to givehim r to have and we had no authority to detain him or anything of the sort I might add there that my Communications Officer said that for some - 1 reason or other he didn't like the man from the beginning when he saw exnmining the one civilian on board I -ii at ask-at n meme San my '0f oonrse they wouldnit have examined-hie pepere 'ix -- the gueltion is how we got of the enemy wen - Admiral I brought out these points about Jonson mainly Well I can anyI this air that I recall going Ito the Captain on the bridge a day or so following our conVereation and he indioeted to - DUCKPORTH and myself that there wee Isomething going up to idumy and ably the Ca-ptain will recall tIhie I laid Here you heard any dope with lr - JOHNSON and I might add there that I think what observer has been a war correepondent for none years He has He was in- the Crete coopaign he was in the Libyan campaign and o a T- couree came to the LEXINGTON with the highest kind of reeonnehdatione any secret message what I was concerned about I uanted to empha size about what was going to be done to see to it that none of the stuff that he had might be of nature that they wouldn't want anyone He was a free agent II did however arrange for him to meet the Pub -lic ReIlationa Officer of the Eleventh Havel District and they chatted - and he left his articles in their Office and the Commandant arranged 'for a Iplane to fly them Beet Apparently this thing is something en I 'tireiy diffbrent and I never had the that he wan very much I interested in the Midway affair he was working day and night on hie on t-he Coral Sea He had enough to write three books of then f him He Was rather suspicious of him and he personally'took him by the hand and led him up to the Inspector and the Immigration officials in San Binge so as to be sure there was no slip about their and the DestroyerIBeae I It ien't question here quite eoI much of what he knew or could reveal of our operations it ie a questiOn of his deVeloping in thia article I- Captain PHILLIPSI or hiaIetatements there speak of the that muons - mumps i momenta SELIGHAH 'ICohnandant DECLASSHHED -DUCKHORTHI A '_Corel See battle - I mean I an Just try1ng to clarify the situat1on ineofer 1 Ir JOHRSON 1e concerned and ourselves also 1117 - It so much the or infornnt1on as to our own Fleet'e movements don't see how Admiral that_1o1ld have been brought up by any officero j i% THO 813 7 i 8311mm Womm 1 7 I think you can readily undorotnnd oven if a person hero vary much more familiar with the Japanese Float than we are I couldn_'t read that dee- patch through and repeat it my memory isn t that good A 1anhief is going to make - a Verbatim copy of the deepatch That is heforo we had orders from _rnm -you to come up here There is one other point I would like to make with-1 11 -action and Admiral ILSOH had that letter yocterdny - cont1nuins JOHNSON had to the- events and the facte concerning the So tho questions that I ask you Commander SELIGMAN do not concern etc but it hinged around quoetiona of that information was Obtainahle concerning the Orange 1eet end how that - I think no 11 know is one 11 of the thing that should never be in our oerV1co Have- you read thie ertiolc _I So that you havo no knowledge of anything on that - _when that night m No air no hove boon wracking our brains to discover 7 I I - Nor have you I are' I It is a deepatch It begins with an oetimate naturally the Commander-11 Rono of us has seen that article air I talked to Admiral over the tolephono yostorday morning and ho said that the article he considered probably contained a verbatim copy of this deepatch and I want you to try and find out where JOHNSON got regard to the confidence in which Admiral FITCH and Admiral 1 held arc Admiral SHERMAN made a very fino recommondatien to the-Secretary of the Navy that he should be awarded a Navy Cross-or- such other award as the Secretary considered'appropriate I can't quote the exact Horde on account of his heroic conduct I think I will just oak you to relate anything that you havo of your own knowledge that may be helpful in clearing these _queetionc thatm hevo been discussing The ccnuunicatidne are run the same no we run them on our own ships 1 7 without any changes There are a couple of points in regard to comp 1 mnnications that might not be perfectly clear unlooe yon hart been out DECLASSIFIED I 1 Authority 15 lg 11 6ij - anthrax I continuing on en opereting ship recently That is 1n regard toI because you never know when you will find an addressee 1n the 'text Consequently we decoded everything that we had I syitem for And all my Junior officers under me - I was CcImunicetione Watch or Imnicatione secur1ty and I feel that they'ere very very dependable I thnt no information or no alone was ever observed or they routed the same as myself Fhen they had the watch they did i-y d1d due to the feet that the off1cere cancerned would ask no 1 there 1 was anything to be routed I would go up to look and I would 11nd 1t wand route it to - consequently I did more routing than anybody '-and I can say truthfully that I have never seen a message or I neseege rficere' who were reading it 'ferred to No sir I never talked to the men myself never I sen him about he obtained this_knowledge from some Revel source Looking at the- in anybody'a mind that the information'he published was obtained from the mesedgee that you decode It has been the prectice on our force and all ships in our force to decode everything that you bed I systeI Those of no 1ntereet are destroyed- Those of some interest -- ricer - along with the rest or the men under the ecumenicetione Officer 5 and they have- had specific orders time and time again regsrd1ng cosh-j 2 men In fact I have contacted _ell but one and I an sure of the that ever allowed- to be out or either their hands while they'eere- routing r it or 'the officer who was reading thet message Thet hee been edhered t o completely and in the routing-1n regard to the point of routing renting it there was any routing to do I did possibly more than file that was out of either my hands when I ens rout1ng or the or- were you aware that Mr JOHNSON bed knowledge of these deepetchee re- 3 No air I am not Not in ordinary conversation or in any other unofficial Icy chip first one place and then another but I never did say anything to 1 him I might edy it looks like he deliberately kept away from the Connuni- cations personnel who handles these messages They were always in the officer' a hands who was reading them or in my own hands during the routing and when we had them in our possession the officer who was routing them - the Covers were closed of the dee- patches may I make a little obserVetion on this I don t think ought to - atart trying to see it he did see it however I would like- the nutter cleaned up as far as I am concerned 1' In this erticle Hr JOHNSON if this was written hy him- it ie not signed - states that_details were released by reliable sources in the Naval Intelligence In other places he states the responsibility for_ his information is deecr1bed by the-sane source where1n he reveals that_ deepatch and a newspaper article there can be no question I think ramps '-nimxrs Con-endent 1e heen't been reveeled ee yet - momma - 7 y hen I talked to Adldral'hILSON yeeterdey morning he told no thet - Goeeandent it JOHNSOR night here hed access to thie deepatch or to version of it IComnander I have been wrecking my brain 7 mm - I have no knowledge of 1t bnt that 1 a possibility neturelly you would not permit it if you knew about it continuing copy of this deepetch no the the eeqnence nr the - there can be no queetion ee to thet g what the Hegel source 0N1 eende out liet of the orgen1cetion of the teek forcee He poeeibly hed seen one of we get thoee ehoerd ship you knoe every month No eir that is entirely different thet wouldn't here helped hie in thie becauee whet GUI sent out nee the organisation of the Fleet and the noreel teek foroee It has never except in that mdeepetohgoing to eek you in queetion which I nee ehout to 1 eat anyeey - to state any circumstances eithin your knowledge which might indicate the poeeibility or_ the probability that at Any time Mr Captain not to my knowleoge no air air to try to figure out - - hoe he night here gotten access to it The suite - more or lose - 1n which we were living there was a bunk in each corner of one room a little deck there where JOHNSON worked and bio hie typewriter There nee tehle outside where - that we need for the officers -and one thing and another the Communications Bitch Officers very often brought the right in to he at this table and we would read the deepetchea end hand then back to the Conennichtione watch Officer bee assured me that he never can anybody capy deepetoh and I can't ilegine anybody doing it but it is perfectly poeeible that some body wee etending there and nede some notes from memory about that dee- mtoh and left them lying around I an merely theorising It would also under certain conditione- with the chronic conditione under which we eere living - the number of people in the room etc - it might have been poeeible for the Wetdh- Officer' attention to be diverted our ottention eleo diverted peeple were about reading the deepatch and eouebody look over your shoulder and read the deepetch Of couree Now there ie5 only One other poeeibility thet I can think of I have seen occasione in the file when it got pretty thick where deepetdh or two would come looee They would have to be stuck back in I don't knee what the Watch Officer did about then can answer that nueetion But there ie one other thing that occurred to me How come thie perticuler deepatch wee eaved out of that file and no other 2 DECLASSIFIED I 6 I The probnble ennter to i that it ten of the greetent poneible -J interent Films No nir the renew for it Adlirn1 _ ten the Cumulatidn Of- - fio'er had it in hit enfe end hndn't banned it Th t we the lent fen - 7' with which thin ten end he Just put it off overnight lie it in hin nefe but ten in necure in hot in '7 - diaging for the teenage the thin utter onne up and he did net destroy the Inuit fet meeng'en we decoded i with Get you tell nae that offioer delivered thin antennae to then the in- itieled it I etnted in any report Add 1 the COmaniontienn Officer nhOted it to melf the Security Officer of the BARNETT end he in turn gm it to a NEWER end he ehoted it to the denimted mm ot- fioern in nine borne out by that 3mm enid - Chucmoarm 1dnirn1 theohnte on thin deepntoh in the 3111 inn't correct - - - airTuendny the 2nd 0mm Can you for thin denpntoh Hr BREWER dm-ina the entire period that it we in your poeneenion Inn 111 I believe I can accent for it It It routed to con-nude - mm in hin onbin end We mum - they were in onbin on the other tide of the nhip on the qunrterdeok 1 did thin nenior officer and then I routed it to Lieutentnt DAVIS in the tnrd- i 1 room sitting in large ohnir DAVIS Annietnnt Cell-anions tion'n Officer he teak over the Comiontione Office fter h TERI got eiok although Hr still required- he tn in bed in hie cabin - and after the renting an cemleted it we returned It we returned to the 00 Office in all it tem't routed alone - it are routed with the rent of the file Ununlly we i dicha't take it down only a couple of time n dny end it piled up to be belt a dozen of such Would it be out of your eight at any tine during your routing No air I In sure that the tee in poneennion Or the other offioern tho tere reading it Then it wouldn't be left with him No air I etend by nir I believe each office in- every of- fioe r to them I have routed message per-smelly will beer at out in etntemmt Did you handle thin menenge Lieutenant In air on the nhip I took it to the Ceptnna tend to team non- Inge to him once 6W and nomtinee twice dny - tin whole file g1o I continuing I I would'l'ea've it with mind he would eend an orderly after no when he wae through with 1t 13 he tell no to take it hook to the Security Officer or the Radio Sentry keep the file for about _ten or twenty minutee and eend for no 7 But it oamebaokteyou fronthe perennineaoh ouetowhonyoo de- tieere - reeponeible officere It wee brought up a little while age thy hm made notee fru a deepatoh on the same _eheet of paper 'In other wee-do with this deepatoh __ they would draw figuree on the bottmu or heard of any of cer copying it on another pieoe of paper We had this method to prevent that - no copiee being node on the NJ one on the ehip had- any reaeon to preaerve any copiee of the mea- I 1- No air the only tine I ever at him - the ehip - the Gun - patohee on it wee a hie work bench that I would him That is the And during the time you had it at any time out of your sight m it wee I don t know- oh - eone tinee he would call no in there with him ae 13 read then and ether timee he would Just take it end livered it - - air the Captain delivered- it to me pereOnally 1 wioe_ he gave it to the Enoutive Officer of the ehip who delivered it to no pereonelly j'3 I don't know ofenytime itwee out orthe hende of of - about people oopying deepatohee New I have time when of the page but I have never any officer or heard or any officer 7 BARNETT In the part flag officere have made copies of nee- 1 eagee but we got away from that entirely and I adopted thie method or putting the tape on paper to prevent that - - eage ae we were merely trying to _keep oureelvee up to date more or hue We were a little oonoerned becauee we were not so far removed from the striking force that ni31 t come dam south - Did you ever Hr mm Hr Jonson making note or Dying any of this deaoription nery Officer hrc'mght him up to on room one day and the BARNETT Gunnery Officer aeked if I could fmieh hin with an old chart of I think - i it wee the South Pacific he I wee Navigator of the ehip I went and got it for him and he looked around and talked for a little while That wae the only time I ever talked with him except in the ax-dream - he wee with the Werdroom Officer of the ehip - Did you ever see him making notee from a deepatoh or thie doeoription No air I haven't In the room he won ueually at typewriter - Sene- - timee he was workin there with the men but he wal not near the dee- only plane where I would him Captain mums was there a chart prepared on the ship indicating m diepoeitione or any diapeeitione in the Hidwey Area No air not to my knowledge it wasn't prepared in my cabin cu a - i DECLASSHHED 1 Authoritybn l'p 1g 1 16' Commandant 1 ISELIGMANI sILIaugng -25ECamIIndentx I PHILLIPS '1 SELIGMAN See bIttle This perticuler Ihow Just In I mItter or interest I don't recall enything elIe on thet chIrt ethat might have I bearing on th1I cIIe I don't remember Ieeing Inyb V thing on there I We kept treck- of our oin Ihip but I don't remember Inything iron tIere but I JuIt don't recI11 it Ijof tIe U 3 or enemy eh1pe 1n thI kidney AreI 'mitted Iny such - he did There is one thing I would like to bring out Iir thet Ifter the adventures we had out there ower I considerable period we were all arrived there Some of uI were not particularly well end in feet I Bonchou we were I11 very much under I attain which is only natural ICommIndIntI Do you know of In such thing Commander - No I1r I know of couree of the treok chert thIt we medI a the 00 1 1 In reIIrring only to the 1n10rmnt1on concerning the Iet-up No eir there I chIrt where we put the de1iy p0I1tion the Ihip o Iva- 3 I ThIt _19 your own Ihip on1y that chart but people used to go 100k It the chart quite freQuentLr WI were I11 IhXioue to get hame There 31ght have bIIn Ianething elee D1d you Commander DUCKWORIH Iny euch chart It Iny tinI2 No air there was no such chert in our ehouing the pceltion WIit I minute Admirel -Hed it come to my notice I nou1dn'thIve per-r Did JOHNSON in talking to you internally ever diecuII thiI force moan did he in the couree or converIItion ever mIke I eurniee on thIt 7 that you recall 1 I dan t remnmber specifically Admiral but I wouldn't be surprieed in very much of I mental turmpil and II it we were loeded with I terrific amount of work that we wanted to get accomplished before we supposed to go to the hoepitll todqy and the recollection of 4 specific instancee is rather difficult to bring beck WI were eort of I nae in eort or I Itete of confusion and thoueendI of people I dey asking me queetions Ihont thie Ind that Ind the other things and I - wwuldn't be able to remember I convereation to save my lifI NIturIlly the war WII discuseed It couldn't help being but I don't remember Iny of thie perticuler set-up - Sir the Executive Officer told ma that the entire LEXINGTON perlonnel 1 had been under sort of a Itreinl II they were I11 I little - Th0 officere were POQuoeted by Admiral GREENSLADE to retire to Inother room for I Ihort period and were later recalled for individuIl questionu_ 1 in II follone Mr BREWER I went to upcn you that I cIn't conceive of enyb thing more importent to the security and to the Iecurity of our whole 119 7 DECLASSIFIED g1 1 6 ottort than tho Iolut1on or th1o port1culor probloI You Itotod that dnr1ng tho I1rcu1atioh of thiI it not out of your I1ght or - That 1o correct Iir to tho boIt of IV kn0I1engr j ItItId thIt you 1n1t1o11Id 11 for two othIr officoro - Thot io coproot I do thIt quito otton I wont to mIkI euro thIt thoy Icon 1t Liout DAVIS our Radio Operator and Lieut coup runndor TERRY II I ItItId boforo who I1ok - ho 1n bod at tho I find thIt thoy had noon tho Iignod for them with thI1r ion I Iluaya tho ortioor do you want no to I15h for youDid you road 1t to thou Thoy'rood it for thomoolvoo sir lb your knowlodgo thio roId aloud by anyono 1 I don t boliovo Io thorn may hovo boon diocusoions in tho room AI 1t rIId I Ilnaya stood ovor nIIr tho door out of tho on but - don't rImIIbIr really IhIthor it was or not 5g Do you mail who 1n tho room at tho t1mo th1I dolivored I couldn't oorta1n1y all who wore 1n tho room 1 dolivorod it to 3 Commondor SELIGMAN It in h1I possession and Commando in bod near h1m and this man nearly IllayI in thoro- Ho muIt boon thIrI I didn't pay much IttIntion to him I intIrIItod 1n gotting information from h1m or Ioo1ng h1m Io noturollL I don't rIcIll Iboolutoly IhIthIr ho in thIrI at tho t1mo or not I couldn't Icy truthfully but no I rIoIll ho and thoro erI I couplo of flying officers working It that time if I recall correctly Do you rImImbIr Iooing notII or momoranda or Iny data from this 1 -hw'Inybody to whom you dolivorod 1t ho sir I do not That 1o I HII tho IubItInIo of th1o II I mattor 1nformstion throughout tho ship 3 Ho air I nIvIr hoard that it In that I hots got 1nto trouble Iovornl times or rather incurrod tho displeasure of othor officers 5 boquII I wouldn't tall thom going on and they wouldn't bother no any moro Thoy didn't like mo or something It is truo on I Ihip thoro as noun Ivorybody likes to d1ocuII tho nous No doubt thoro I don't know that there was or thoro wasn't because 1mmId1Itoly Iftor tho Commandor IignId thoIo I tIko than and gIt out - ThInk you vory much 7 Ihoro being no forthor quIItionI Lioutonant J1 J EREKER rotirod from tho conforonce room I DECLASSIFIED Authority 5 5 51 31 1% 1 13 Coronado 311m in tho handling a this particular mdor I nauld hare that hadn't on tho -I don't know 1 - ohothor that on dollvorod to no 111 thin largor room that I no nor-o I It d1dn'tooko any upon your mind that you recall 1ntorootod in tho whereabouts of tho oarr1oro in thio noo- - Now that woo what we were 1ntorootod in for than o1th tho SIOKAKU and tho 2011111111 and tho third ono I can't romonbor What no tho naturo of tho ono tho Captain gnu you Did it 111 511 - As I recall it it no a little obocnro no to tho d111t1n t1on of I and tho roaoan 1t 1mproaood no one I had thought that thoy CI I wouldn t havo ohaoh it to hm he no o1tt1n3 ght can yen recall how you it - - No air I cannot 11111111 If I hadn't soon ny oignaturo on thon-o or no an arm and aloaring Mono and corroo room and quarto orohoth'or 1t mhandodxao but I 1oag1no that it may havo boon dolivorod in that big room can't umber - I could mambo - back and romombor tho opooi o inotanoo of 1t - - Tho that tho captain ohand to DUCWTH and Wolf undo a vary do 1111to upon my mind no mo naturally saga that on in tho captain'o cabin Ono a1 thoy said - I 11 11 quite ouro four aarrioro nro on thoir way 1 know that throo wore in the hydro no had boon 1n battlo' tho mo of it thoy had been torpodaod we had board so that loft some athor oarrioro This message I don't rooall thot 111 made any upon mo Admiralt1 1111 information or did 1t discuss tho Alaska or tho Alontian foroo farcoo and 1t to no the Captain ro'morkod Hall thio bunch 13 going down to Kidway and than follows on going to tin would Ioond tho larger fax-co m1otakon1y and tho annular oith a faint 'at hidny That made a Ivory Extinct on my mind 1 Tho other mango that the Captain showed no 111 his cabin won I In quito sure had to do with took foroo but I vary distinct 1 1 1 1 four miter being mentioned in ono of the mooagoo and I bol1m tho RYUZIO was montionod I think they oaid the 1110210 no at in -- nor'thorn waters if I am not miltakon That 1- why it particularly affootod no boom no had boon all 111 otato trying to guro Int 1110111- taodayo battle Wan L1outonant Omndor Torry 1n yam- group about that tho has he in thoro group didholivo 1nyourou1to7 - Y s Giro 7 And'woo hg an 1 11 311 1 liot You o1r ho - was very ill ot111 1o Do you roaall ahaoing him th1o DECLASSIFIED Jr I amnion might have read it aloud -7 hell somatimoo in a group one pore-on might road it aloud nnd one don't have anybody in the room except those who are supposed to w and several of those who were authorised to see them would be grouped I around the table and one would look over the other' shoulder and we would run through than May I see if his initial in on this sir loll I think said that the reason he ML put his name on that hehed shownit toComander MRI IthinkCou-nnder TBhi Iwaowl I I more to honor him than anythim glee because I doubt my much if he - Tbadly and they were giving him eedativee 3nd morphine as I recall it humanist 7 I don t recall the exact discussions Captain but there certainly was discussion on the ship of the kidney battle he were all very much interested in the developments at Midway end - however that battle beoamo generally known on the ship But then was - - you not- - tux-ally couldn t have a group of that may officers with one 91' the - biggeot engagements in history going on and they wouldn't it aloud in your suite I could have been yes air table we will say and somebody walks in a room you might not notice- Ho one in that suite 1 greet doal of the time and while we wouldn't deliberately road anything aloud if he were there we might have - ho right have been around the corner If you would like me to draw 3 little diagram or that suite I think I can show you about what it looked take ordinary precautions somebody might at any time mow up behind you of me Once in while they would bring the manage down He no oigined for by Lieutenant m might any Or your information not the doctor had been giving comender ma very large doses of morphine He was mentally very hay for days How I think the hatch Officers took those moeeagea over to him could digeot them he was on and oi'f I mean he was suffering pretty Was there any speculation or an to the oompoeition of our own 0r toroen in the midway Areo inaotar as you know held among officers on the ship was Just shortly before we got in - that this news abmt the Midway Do you think there is any possibility of that message being read it no for as you imow However it is possible the way we were living that somebody else could have been in that room They wouldn't have been noticed In other words when you are concentrating over 0 him 501114 401 wasn t in that suite much of the time like This is going to he a rather crude sketoh sir Drawing by Commander But it would be perfectly possible for to walk into this room A- people discussing something at this table and those people not see him if they were particularly interested in the discussion I could not speci cally remember dieousoiOn of this dispatch but there might have been one Now mot-her thing as I told you before air how you 215 - I DECLASSIFIED i Authoritybu jp 26 i A ConU'do' Commandant Commandant VoUc'KUosm KILPATRICK i aval Hosp1ta1 San D1ego S1r I TUere Ue1ng no er quest ons Coemsnder SELIGMAN retired red the room I sage the occasion of it I No sir not at all s1r _ It doesn't st1ok in my m1nd at I11 so ever having seen it_Ths reason I brought up the question or the other message w1th Capte1n y about and -shouod us that it contained- exactly the same interaction but is nowhere as much detail I think it concerned task crce lh1ch r was the Alaskan defense organisation We discussed the general s1tu ation that morning there was nothing further 1n any despatches for Usage came in I must have realized as I read the first part of it that I a thick file Ithst-qoestion - 'So that you don't recall having seen or having handled this message -or do you recall any discussions about this situation 1n this group into the general run of messages we saw and read something over your shoulder is Lieutenant Commander TERRY now in the hospital 1 Sit down DUCKWORTH C Do yoo recall tUe rece1pt of tU1o mes- - 1 #7 This keeps coming to me that th1s assesge was one A such 1mport tUst 1t must hove been the subject of discussion among those who were aware or it PHILLIRS - the one that he called Commander SELIGMAH nd me to his cab1n_1nxsy about two days about the_ 311duay'or Alaskan situation- and when th1s use o it was substantially the some inronuation that I had seen before It didn't make any 13 pression upon me at that time This came two or three days after the AIUAC messages which referred to the formation of the task force I was very surprised when I saw it to see that it cane You see us had the pile of AIDAG messages made Up in quite Hy thought was entirely different that they hadn't formed task for cs my recolIection and UUCKWORTB's recollection are exactly parallel on That is what were ts1k1ng about it yesterday when we got the first infestation and I couldn't place any message that gave any of the details of any Japanese sst1on except the message the Captain had read to us in his cabin and had burned up and I was very much surprised to see my 1n1t1s1s on that when Us produced 1t_ a while ago where you were I I remember particularly that since only four officers on the ship out- side of the Communications Watch Officer and 11scod1ng board knew the first message that neither Gammander SELIGMAN nor I spoke of 1t _ I say they began to contain information concerning them I can't even I quote you any or these messages The information Just began to filter TEE miss 4 - - Mecuuomuz A No air I can rmil no partiCular instance I am Aure 1 1151 we At1on over it genora1 knowledge that there was A task Iorce leav- I 1ng for EidnAy And another one leaving Japen for the AleutiAn Islands Now the details or that tAAk force I am sure were never montionod beyond this point - that there wort tour corriera 1n the Mid 1 -oru1AerA of course and A trAnAport -I never hoerd AnyhOAy montion by name except tho AKAGI and tho KAGA As I recall - those were I h n arlY together and that is the genorAl trend of the oonveroAtion 7 11 111111110111- doepotohee Aloud to save the other people's time And their attention A deepatoh bocnuso - I would like-to read it th Ivee rf Angus And read than right there Ho one read them to 11111 1 magi certeinly'oan t recall any - A 165 Admiral he was in there in and out a little 4 I mean hie type- Ho couldn't help but overheAr A 1ot of general conversations -Do you rocali that there was Any discussion around the ship or around tho WArdroom let us any before thie Midway affeir that_uou1d hAve indicated t_hat thorn was general knOAIAdge of it throughout tho ship moot hove tAlkod - I mean - I say that we did tAlk the generAl situ why task force And we were undor the impression that there were three battloahips -Tho threA battleships Atiok in my mind because I A I recall it An AIDAC meeaage originAIIy AAid that the Japanese were moving battleAhipA plus supporting light forcea which means heavy the only onoa that could have possibly have been thAre They were all slow ships none of tho that carriers were mentioned in thore They correspond more to the battleships and could opArAte more Mr in times when thorn were men working At this tAbIe And 1 the deepatohes were brought in were there timAA when oonebody road thef boing token from tho work thAt ue going on - I should that Abaolutely that was not A practice Someone might have called Attention to now particular point in A deopAteh to some I I one else who sitting there but I think most poople resented havinng- TERRY 1Aid up there in his bank how did they communioAto tho infor '_ mation contained in theso despatohee to him I don't recall ever acting him do it He was 111 with a very bad case- or hives and was quite sick trot it but I think that he took the mesa Anti JOHNSON was in this Auite mg of the time writer work and - however most or the time during tho day he would A I wouldn't most of the timo ho in the habit of sleeping quite late in the morning out of the morning We used to kid him About 1 trying to work while everybody else was asleep But he most or his sleeping in the morning and worked rathAr f He was bound to ovurhear A lot of conversations but I can never recall 15 anybody speaking of the dotaile of this information outside of what I 1 AAid - the tour oarriera of which we only knew the names of the two the-' AKAGI and the and as fAr as the cruisers and All that I was not under the impressiOn that they were even mentioned - Il% l7 Knrnaxcr Gomandantal DECLASSIFIED uthoritmubl l 7 that article met have had an opportmity not to lieten to- anyone I - reading it but to copy it He met have copied it directly air tron that I 0' We have to accept that can you ve on any cl e an to how that ght Ice air I can draw you a picture of the auite and show you approxi- mately how it could have happened Here ia the picture of it here W alr ady We a they would cit dam and have a cup or coffee and when the Clo-mica have been able to read aeor the shoulders of the officere That-is an absolute fact and a possibility It could be read over the shouldere here you aware that that did happen on any coca-ion Thank yon the room by captain introduced to Admirale WSLADE and This is your initial here - no you recall thie particular deepatch and the of its receipt 4 1 1 Now while you can't state ae a fact one can't read this mp5 clipping and this deepatch without realiaing that the man that wrote have happened Clearly it met have happened on the am How then at thie end of the table we had the two officere working on the track chart of the Coral Sea and anybody who came in to hit down - he only had about two chaire in the place one being need there- and tione Watch Officer came in there were officere tting around the table here reading that deepatoh or any deepatoh He weald lily of the officers - I have never aecn or never recall anyone looking over more elee' e shoulder It is poeeible that they have done that They were backed chairs or course and a parade could have easily stood behind you and read it over your shoulder The being no mrther queetion e Cow woman retired from the room m a r mam Chief Engineer usa lama wae eeoorted into Mormon familiarined with the eahjeot under and wee then qmetioned no follow Do you recall receipting for a deepatch concerning intonation of the organisation and make-up of a force I don't recall that particularly air I recall one deepatch abmtan actuate Ice air that in my initial air - I don't the 1r maul read the it might help him to recall it Do you recall that you were in the leuite occupied by a group or officere -- of rt-he on the occaeion of the receipt of that deepatch Cf 33g 2' DECLASSIFIED J15 - l Authoritymn It I gamma A Iir I 'No air I could see no for that The messages were elweyu Inge and I handed it back to him Here you eny thoughts that you wou1d like to have oIeered up1 in There being no further queeti m Condr JUNKERS retired from the roon f'3 '15 other thinge that we would like to clear up Do you remember any or- the circumstances c6nneoted with your etetement here that Commander had mentioned that it nee the custom to order or that he had -Where wee your Itateroon with relat1on to thie _' w were on the other e1de of the ehip eir Do you reoIll eny- -exoit6nent 6r on th6t attended receipt of 'thiI deepateh1 - I reoail thet I receipted for that in my own Itateroon If you a group of officers - there were I11 of uI honking together eir - Right direotly aoroee from thil ue11 1 reoeived that eir when I wee alone was alone ihen I oeipted for that deIpateh - x lo sir I don't recall eny 6 in% ch 066 you help uI 1n thiI queetion ae to th possibility in the handling or I of this kind on that particular ship of it being Icon and copied by'unnuthorized persons brought to me by an officer and he Itayed there while I-reed- the meI 6 No air we11 I think that is about ell Commander Juet leave your address with my'Aide and in I went to get hold of you again nsThere 16 6 no compuleion to remain where you are put Only Just keep ue informedzi A for the next couple of deye You can phone my Aide before you go baok 7 Thank you very much ll Sit down Lieutenant- BONTEGOU Hr BONTECOU there are couple of authority to show eeoret and lettere to or - 1 I remember that he said never can the or any of they code but that he had seen a lot of other aeoret confidential paperI What was the purpoee- of that remark and under what oircumIthnoeI was it IWI made - When we were in the chart house one morning and I Ieked him thet becauee '3 the day before thiI I think this wee about the beginning of the trip Iran not eure- but I think I told you before the Gunnery Officer brought thie newspaper man up to my room aeking for chart and I gave him a chart My room ia right across from the chart house That nae I restricted chart - it was a plotting Iheet that was all it wee I aeked him if he thought that was all right and if I remember oor- 1 reotly - 1% a I DECLASSHHED LAuthontyM aowwacout 1 No air I neVer delivered anything in their quarterI Commandant Commandant Commandant 7' I asked him if he thought that was all right and he said lee thie new-paper me had been authorised to pee secret confidential pub- A 'lioatione not restricted - I don't that - but became he had thing he never did while on the IEXINGTOR wa'a the coding machine and all the ooding devioee wae authorized to do that but embody a lot higher than he had given 1 all I lobby or in the front of the Executive Oftioer'e offloe fin there - thoae quartera - while he no don't know Commander - I imaw who he wae '30 you didn't see him while he was on board n lea air he need to eat up in the Wardroom and I think about the first - Did you have much to do with JOHNSON -- did you have any oonnreationa man who talked a lot article must have had in his possession the deepatoh or a copy of it You aeked Camder 7 Yea air This was a day or two later from the time I gave hill the chart He aaid- the whole battle and all that and than he went on to my lNiall one he aaid that he hineeli' Commder SELIGHAN thie newspaper man authority Thia was a general elonvereation that ie c Ma - - Did you on any ocea eion deliver naeeagee into the group iholuding Con- mende r 8mm and Lieutenant Gomander TERI in their quarto Once the Captain told me to show aoxnething to Comnder 3mm and he wee out in the I wee never 1 That I oan rememberthe ship I remember -I was in the Wat-dream talking to Ir 1mm and Commander TERRY came around and gave Hr BREWER some order about something on the ELLIOT to round up the list of all the eu'rvivore I think that was about the first nigit were on the ehip at all The only one was the one I mentioned before - the only convereation I ever had with him was about the chart Well then he etarted telling us all about the battle but I was busy at the time and I wanted to get away from him He did all the talking he just struck me aa a Well I gueae that is all Thank you very much I There being no further questions Lieut retired from the room Sit down Captain PHILLIPS Captain any one roading thia deepatoh which is here in question and fthe newspaper article I think wok d definitely come to the ooncluaien that the man who wrote that newepaper Yea A 7 Can you help queetion Well I have been at the bottom of things It is very greatly to my interest to have the matter cleared up The only thing I can eay ie that 11 have been over the situation from top to bottom Admiral einoe' this thing dame up I 118761 did decipher the messages only the etufr that - when they came aboard and propoee'd thie and said they had a DECLASSIFIED - Authoritybn m1 continuing 15 01 o'micationS' organization I put it - auteup on this ship that I consideerorfoct With 90 from which people tako a masaago and delivor it lotting 11 out OfEthe hands-of tho ComicatiMaf-o ioorfor tho coding'Oftioor and these-mnabogon go back and arono-troy a by_tho'- g Communications Officer and in soup oases tho moaaogos are actually 4'1 77 destroyed by no when I thought they were important Now with that not f7 f I worry dbout it at Allgf Messages were brought in to ma shown to mo and I had overy'reuaon to believe they more shown to the other officers whom I had agrood they would be Shown I and that they'wnro daatroynd 1 NoW to try to getFat tho bottom or this -th1nz _how he could have gotten it - naturally the fact that tha'y waro room1ngtt03dthar down thorn - I got the'aetyup on the roomg 3courac from tho Exncutivu Offic-r I don't know that thoy'wnroraotu- any - that ouccha'ru m living on tho other old- - that was the port that the Exncutivo Officer made to me as to how they were rooming It teams that living on the other aids and tho Communications Officer was living'with the newspaper correspondent I'Vka j and SELIGHAN Whilo I maybe wont off on a tangent'and that was whereit took place righttin that cabin I haven't in no 1n- vultigation left out any of the othor details how he could hare gotten- f it - know Ho said ha didn't have a-word with him thoroughly reliable young Renorvo offioor whom-I havo knoWn for- w' a your and I would trust him absolutely and he didn't have anything to do with him Tho only thing that I can sue ia_that WU haw a very Asa '_cluvor individual with a thorough knowledge of the Havy and that undoratand since then - he has made 1t a point to go around to tho ontiro crew my whole crew and ho guts into the inside of avorything He even know that the offioora duties were on the ship in a vory short'tims Ho was just a olevor individual and wont about to got I this_thins ow the only thing that I can throw on the light of thigpr'h thing was that I underatand-that he had in his a copy-of- - the Silhouotto Book which in I believe on the Rostrictod'List and given him That came out here in conversation a while 330 He could have made this up from gosoip that he-might nova gottcn frou thoao'offioora who saw the moaango he could_havo made thiai - darned thing up from his Silhouette Book PHILLIPS Hat you soon the aciopapor artiolo I didn't bring mV-glassoa with mo and I can't digest the ortiolc Tho paragraph_in the nowapapof follow the doupatch obSolutaly so I don't see how he could have gotten it than unleaa he actually saw tho massage oithor over aomobodyfs_shouldsr or - Did you ever haVe any I convoraation with Commander 4 No air I can't remember what he looked like They tall no that he was sick in the bunkhouao all the timn in a corner hunk of that room _' Thii dolpatch which you have givon us and which was not signod was it milling ot any tins to your knowlodgg - No air it couldn't postibly havo been because it was actually looked in-tho Communications Officer's sofa and I will bank on the fact that 1'39 1 53 DECLASSIFIED Authoritym p lg g f Cmndant I to you about him - Oh yes Gonmnder ELIGHAN and one or two of the other officers said that they recunaended that I talk to him that he was a very well-read PHILLIPS NOTE a I continning my Cmications Officer didn't give it to him That being the navigation Officer end the Genomications Officer and caning - - up 'on the Coast dnring the trip he Just forgot to burn it ew here - was a suggestion that I made It was two or three days before we could hamster these people and find out who was actual on board from the cruisers and destroyers and it is very hard when you have 130031-11 in i - addition to your own men to even get a correct muster of the officers It was about three or four days before we did it I discovered he was - have assumed that he was under their control Of course I know that I must have seemed that he was under their control otherwise I would serious slip tion I aeeumed that he was thoroughly in the confidence of the IEXINGION 32 officers and it never occurred to me to look into him but I didn't things or to even think or such a thing patch which you had received which I believe yon had stated was one were the of that desp'atch similar to this one should have been burned of centres right away but I ingine that he on board and knew his connection with LEXINGTW officers and I nut he wasn't - as a matter of fact and I am Comanding Officer but I have turned hilt over to the Intelligence Officer which I should have done when we arrived in San Diego _ That was a slip I made - a very Do you recall that hewaa vouched for by anyone or did anyone speak widely-known newspaper correspondent and from the general converse- go back again I still don't see how he could have gotten the secret deepatoh because that wasn't in the category for him to see these It was stated here that you had read to 2de SELIGMAN and other I officers including the Omications Officer in your cabin a des that should normally have been received by Admiral I am pretty sure it was not It gave the organization of Task Force and naturally I considered an organization of our own people was super-secret and I don't remember - I can't tell you - the contents ti of any other deepatch that I saw but I got that principally from talk- ing it over with the other officers here 31TH assured that it was a composition of Task Force and I saw right away that that shouldn't get out of my cabin You see they don't tell ne - the deccd- ing is done in a locked room I thought that was in a clear message No air that was in secret code and of course went to the decoding room firet The name JOHNSW appearing throughoiit the above is properly spelled as                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu