DECLASSHHED Authoritym m jig 6 IN Tm MATTER OF THE - - INVESTIGATION BEFORE GRAND OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE INC WEB 18 1942- WITNESSES Stanley Johnston 278 J Loy Malbney 529 J Loy Maloney resumed 554 GEORGE FITZGERALD COURT AND GENERAL REPORTING DEARBORN 2770 DECLASSIFIED Euhe Authority IN RE INVESTIGATION OF CHICAGO TRIBUNE Tuesday August 18th 1942 10 00 o'clock A M The Grand Jury met pursuant to adjournment Present Mr Miller A N called as a the Grand Jury having been first duly sworn by the Foreman to testify the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth was examined and testified as follows A I A I By Mr Miller You are Mr Stanley Johnston A Yes sir This grand jury hae extended to you the privi lege of voluntarily appearing here which is evi - DECLASSIFIED Authoritym h 2g 1 6 79 2 denoed by the fact that you are here new Yen have signed a waiver of immunity So you under stand A Yes It outlines your constitutional rights A Yes You are here at the requeSt of the grand Jury for the purpose of making whatever statement- you Wish to make Go right ahead and make it A Ladies and gentlemen asked to come before the grand Jury here to give my story _ It isn't in any way very much different to the story I told A JUROR Raise your voice THE WITNESS The story I told Admiral Wilson and Admiral Wilkinson'and Mr Mitchell when I went to Washington on two occasions There are one or two things I want to straighten out First because of the Coral Sea stories there is a false idea around as to my importance Up to the time that the Coral Sea stories were written I was a very small reporter working for my plaoe on the_paper I joined the Chicago Tribune 1 Authority uid1940 in England I did not get on the pay- roll I began writing for the Chicago Tribune at so much per word of the copy that they accepted I covered the battle of Britain for them in Dover and during the year because of the work that I had done I was put on the staff in England I then resigned from the Chicago Tribune in England in May 1940 after the last air attacks on London were overAustralia via the United States 7 My purpose in calling in the United States at that time was to see if I oould get back with my old firm Press Willis It is a communica tions oompany in which I was manager in Amsterdam prior to Hitler taking Holland over While here I got some opportunity on the Tribune to write some more stuff material on war weapons I was to write a story of the battle of Britain which ran in series in the Chicago Sunday Tribune and again paid so much a word They liked my work here The stuff I had written was factual It was picked up by reports 2R31 DECLASSIFIED Authoritymn'gD 26 2 16 VII 4 coming in information from Europe as to how the war was going and I was put on the staff of the Tribune again to go back to Bern and opening a communications office in Bern for the Tribune I was waiting in New york booked to leave on the 4th of Deoember -last year I was waiting in New York for passage on the glipper when the war started the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on the United States There was no purpose of my going to Europe to open this communications office because their ccrrespondents' telephone connection with Switzerland was then broken down So the paper offered to send me out to the Pacific as a war correspondent for them with the fleet That was my position with the Tribune up to the time of these stories and not a very important reporter The success that followed the Coral Sea stories and I mention those things because it might have led you to believe that I was one of the big correspondents I was not I am still not - Regarding this story that was printed on the 7th to which objection is taken one part DECLASSIFIED Authoritymm 2g 2 If a of the story that is objected to is the fact that it is laid to the Naval Intelligence I think that the Tribune has made it cleer that I did not write that part of the story nor did I here anything to do with the phrasing of that section of the story at all When I sent_out with the Fleet I underu stood that anything that I gained with the Fleet I have a copy here of the paper dealing with that This is directions for war correspondents Navy Department This is the agreement which binds you for anything that you write In connection with authority granted by the Navy to me the undersigned to visit m- well wherever you visit It may be a ship an army camp a factory or some- thing for the purpose of securing news or story materiel still or motion pictures or en gaged inradio broadcasting I subscribe to the following conditions that as a civilian accredited to the Navy -u that includes theMarine Corps because accredited to the United States -- I am subject to the provisions of the articles of the Government and the Navy United States Naval Regulations and such other instructions as may DECLASSIFIED Authority my2 M 1 lg 283 6 be in effect in the area visited that I will govern my movements and actions in accordance 'with the instructions of the Navy Department and the senior officer present of the unit to which I am accredited I understand that means I am to obey the officers Whoever they be It is understood that this includes the submission for the pur pose of censorship of all written or photographic material either private correspondence or any thing for publication released with the Navy or after my return 'After my return if the news is in written form or photographic based on my observations that is on anything I see or anything that I am told officially I take it that means made dur ing the period or the confidential place visited under this authority I agree to observe the same rules in regard to the transmission of information as service That means that my letters be sub- mitted to the censors in the same say as any man in the force It goes a little further than that _ It_means the deepatches I send back he sent 2 34 DECLASSIFIED Authoritymh gD 2g 1 lg i 7 back in the manner that they go through the Navy censors in the area in which I am filing from When 1-went out with the fleet my first ship was the Lexington There were no stories sent back from the Lexington ne-we went down the Corel See We went into action on the 4th 5th 6th 7th and 8th I lost the stories that I had Written when the ship was blown up I saved my notee on the ship-that rescued ue I had tn use of a typewriter and I wrote the etoriee of the Coral Sea very hurriedly and when we pulled into the port in the South Pacific I handed the stories addressed to the Navy Ceneor Pearl Harbor for transmission through Navy channels I gave a copy of the same stories to the Executive Officer of the Lexington who is Commander Schligman I weetreneferred over to another ship We went to another island I had sent my stories so I had nothing to file We then spent I think from the 18th at May until the 2nd of June on a Navy Tren nort coming back to the West Coast On the transport I re wrote the stories and having more time expanded them and had an DECLASSIFIED 2 3 8 opportunity of doing a little more justice to the boys that did the fighting We had time to talk about the battles on the ship and when I arrived at the naval air station on the West Coast I asked the executive officer of the Lexington how I oould_get those stories to Washington He said that he would make arrangements with the Naval Censor They notified me on the 5rd of June that if I delivered the stories to the Public Relations Office at the Naval air station that they waild send them by I think it is it is the way that Navy mail goes between the West Goaet and Washington to the censors there I Meanwhile on my arrival at the West Coast I telephoned the Tribune and just announced that I was back in the United States and that I wanted some money sent immediately They asked me where I had been I told them I couldn t tell them Two or three times I spoke to different people They hung up hung back hang up and back and finally'they asked me He said that there had I max i DECLASSIFIED AuthorityMDEgD 2 lg 9 285 been a Naval battle I referred them-to the communique that was issued around about that time There was a small communique then issued I think we heard it on the radio of the ship stating that a Naval battle had been fought and giving very few den tails That was around about May 9th I think I referred them to that communique I said It is that battle I am talking about And they said What happened in that battle I And I said can t tell you because at that time we had one secret which We were guard- ing very closely That is the fact that the Lexington had been lost The Japanese did not know that she had been lost because the last they saw of her was 11 55 in the morning and she was all right It was eight hours later hem fore she went down I couldn't even tell the newspaper anyu thing about the battle because I did not feel that it should he discussed on the telephone On a long distance telephone you don't know who is I DECLASSIFIED Authority I i 287 10 listening So they said Why didn't you send your stories through on the wire I said The stories cannot be tele graphed because there is anumber of people handling the telegraph copy I said They have to go to Washington and will be handled there Now coming home on the transport and while we were in the Coral Sea and while we were in Pearl Harbor and in years before this war I have been interested in wars and armies the air force and navy is the stuff I have written and has been published I I was one of the men who was con sidered a fool in 1959 when I said that the German army would take Paris in thirty days not because the French were not good people not because they would not try to fight but because the German army was organized for war 'They had weapons which the French couldn t be- lieve You can imagine an unknown newspaper man trying to sell that story at that time It was the DECLASSIFIED Authority I I M a a ll most utterly ridiculous thing that had been said It turned out to be true unfortunately Here in Chicago last year Russia was attached by Germany when all the news we got in the newspapers came from the experts and circles in Washington and London said that the Germans would capture Moscow in anything from two to four weeks I wrote a story here which was pub lished in the Tribune four days after the attack on Russia in which I said the German Army defeat Russia in the first year It is a fact they hoped themselves to take the part of Russia that Hitler wanted There would be a long continuous war on the frontier between Germany and Russia that might last for years that the Germans in the meanwhile would try to exploit the territory that they want That is all I saw here I had never anybody else writing orheard any government official or Admiral say they all gave Russia to the Germans in two to four weeks My success in the newspaper business has not been gained because I ever knew anybody 288 It has been gained because I Worked put the I DECLASSIFIED Authority I i I I 12 facts together tried to study out what was happening without any feelings in the matter one way or the other I While I was in Pearl Harbor and on the ship coming back we had many about the Japanese Navy I wrote a story on the Jap anese Navy last year in November I pointed out that the Japanese Navy was a very powerful fight- ing force It was up to date well trained The Japanese had very modern ideas of War That story was not printed I asked Why it was not printed They said because it made the picture too dark at that time It showed the Japanese Navy to be a powerful fighting force and the people did not Want to believe that the Japanese was a powerful fighting force Unfortunately we had to find out when we fought at war I wrote that story in November of last year I tried to Show that the Japanese had learned to haild shipe from the British They had copied the American use of aircraft carriers and developed until they are the finest in the world that they had trained 289 their sailors in the same form that the British DECLASSIFIED AuthorityM D 1 lg 15 Navy train their sailors which is-a vem'effi cient method They had also absorbed theGerman Army method of training Had used what they had learned from the Russian Army Which at that time was the second most modern army in the world That was in 1959 Germany was the first Russia was the second as far as modern weapons knotledge of the use of them and train- ing of their soldiers The Japs had learned from everybody and furthermore they had eight years of practice in ear every day in China operations on a big scale It was a natural thing that on the ship that we should discuss What the Japanese had left to fight with None of us had any official in formation We were men that came off the Lexing ton had net been in touch with Pearl Harbor our- selves from April It was new the 19th of May We were coming home We'didn't know what was happening anywhere But after the fighting that we had had in the Coral Sea with the Japs we had learned a few things First We knew that we sunk two Japanese aircraft carriers the Siehahu_and DECLASSIEIED Authority MM 291 14 Zuikahu The trouble with Japanese spelling there is no alphabet in Japanese such as we have in English The old Japanese spelling is purely phonetic I would like somebody to show me a Japanese alphabet I would be interested in seeing it We had damaged another one of the Soryu class We thought at first it was the Ryuzyo because one of the flyers said it had no island on it at the time they attacked Later on we found it had a small island It was knocked off with a bomb The island is that little big structure that sticks up and was knocked off by bombs We knew that the Japanese had of their nine carriers they had six left not touched one of them the smallest is a shallow draft vessel which the Japs have used in their war with China in the rivers and close to shore It is not a big sea going carrier That left them five The fighting in the Coral Sea and then followed the argument that-had persisted previously as to what was the Number 1 fighting ship aircraft carrier or battleship In the naval warfare that ghee DECLASSIFIED I 2g 1 I 15 had taken place before the United States went into the war the battleship wee still being quoted as the Number 1 fighting unit simply because though the British have carriers they did not have dive bombers They never had torpedo planes which could carry the projectiles They did not understend the use of the carrier in the same way as the United States Navy and the Japanese Navy had developed and used carriers They used aircraft carriers in Britain mainly to carry airdraft and to defend their con- voys against other aircraft but not es an attack weapon The battle of the Coral Sea proved that a destructive thing a carrier ees You could hit your enemy 200 miles away and destroy his ship regardless of what ships they were So from that time on the basis of their strength is not through battleships It is in aircraft carriers 50 in making up the Japanese fleet I had a very simple task I had five aircraft carriers left the two biggest ones of them was the Rage and Ahege the Soryu and Hiryu Also of the biggest one called the Hiryu was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th I will tell you how 33 DECLASSIFIED Authoritymn 6 3 ts 16 I know The Navy never said so I don't know whether the United States Navy knows now the names'of the Japanese ships that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th The reason I know that the Hiryu was used in that attack was because photographs that have been published taken from a Japanese aircraft carrier with planes taking off for that attack and the crews standing on the decks waiving to them There was something in that picture that identified that ship as the Hiryu to me That is the ship a tripod mast on the side That tripod mast was shown clearly in the picture That small item identified to me that the Hiryu wee the ship That has never been printed anywhere I hope that is not navy in formation I recognized that from thefact the other ships have not got that tripod mast It is a thin trellis mast put up there to make spnial signals The JapaneSe in their attack on the Philippines they have some good battleships some new ones big ones In their attacks on the I Philippines they used battleships of the Haruna 294 DECLASSIFIED Authority a I a 17 type or Kirishima type which are the same ships sister ships We know that they used those ships 'in the bombardment of the Philippines because the United States Army has cited antain Colin Kelly with the Congressional medal for bombing the Haruna That is how we know they used that type of ship in the bombardment of the Philippines The Navy never said they did You would not nee your best battleships to bombard land installations because you expeot that you will lose one or two of them either through Idefending submarines or from defending aircraft And furthermore your best battleship is no more effective throwing shells at the fortiu fioation on shore than the oldest battleship beu cause all you want for bombardment is the gun volume That is why they use their old battleship for the attack 'That is why I say they used their ships of the Kirishima class for the attack on Midway The attack on Midway was no surprise to me or the attack on the Hawaiian Islands because in harsh of this year I was working in Honolulu at Pearl Harbor and through the United States Navy office at Pearl Harbor through the sensors I I I DECLASSIFIED Authoritybg gD ZQZ I6 is Nu 18 0 wrote a story pointing out the situation of the' fleet from the Pacific and the great inportance to the United States of the Hawaiian Islands The story emphasized that we should do more or even if possible to defend the Hawaiian Islands because they were so vital to the United States I used that as the reason which I gave in the story they were so important to us that they were equally important to the Japanese And therefore we must expect a Jap anese attempt to capture the Hawaiian Islands in the coming months because they are out 2 400 miles from America towards Japan While we hold the Hawaiian Islands Japs cannot touch the main coast That is what I based my judgment on that they would be after the Hawaiian Islands to damage inVade and capture them before they could get anywhere with their war in Pacific or before they could attack America That is why I know ehen the radio said it was Dutch Harbor on the 7th it was Balderdash It was a raid It was nothing more than a bomb raid That is Why I used battleships of the Kirishima type in my 295 story instead of the more bigger battleships and 296 DECLASSIFIED Authority i I I - 19 the latest battleships that the Japanese have lf_the United States Navy sent our latest tnobattleshins over to bombard some island somewhere instead of sending the oldest ones they would be crazy They would not do'it l I put down in my list here_two cruisers of the Tone class There is nothing very remark able about that The Tone class cruisers are un- like any other cruiSers in the world They have been built for a special purpose There are no other cruisers in the world that have got all of their guns in front of the funnel before the bridge That is one distinction they have They got them in four turrets of three all at the for ward and of the ship All of the after end of the ship is given up to carry airplanes and they could carry a lot of airplanes Would you oare to mention the book you are referring to A This is Jane's Fighting Ships It is the best publication in the world that is in exist ence That is used by navies throughout the werld all Navy men anybody who is interested in navies Every newspaper office has one or should have I AnthorityMl gD I 25 0 0 20 One I think It comes out every year I know the man that publishes this book Mr hehurtrie He has the next office in London I had an in tereet in Janefe Fighting Ships and spoke to the editor and publisher I have been able to get in a couple of photographs he wants one of a new kind of ship and particularly about the German warship building The Tone olaee cruiser there are tee of them These ships are specially built for this purpose I have two They can go with the fleet They have enough seablanee to work ont and be scouts for the fleet They come in Their armament and guns are all in front They are not built to etand up and fight like the other ships They are built to come in fighting They have got their eeaplanee maybe ten or fifteen on each ship and work a long way from them to find out what is happening or to bomb or there has been a cry raised as if it wee something wonderful and mysterious because I said the forces would come in three groups a striking force support force and invasion force Ladies and gentlemen When a navy man in the world there is nothing mysterious about DECLASSIFIED 7 1 Authority WM 298 21 that Any Admiral that puts his transports and troop ships with his main battle force would be foolish The troops with transports and troop ships are very slow He brings them separately with a light escord He sends a snpporting farce that stands away from them and the enemy at all times and before them ' His main striking force is his fast fleet his hard hitting fleet where he expects to meet the defense fight- ing them trying to overcome them and holding his transports and supply ships up which make up the invasion force and supporting force back out of the action It would be foolish if he sent his transports with his main battle force and slow them down to ten knots There is nothing mysterious in that at all I can t understand why anybody should-state that was mysterious Neither the Japanese nor the United States Navy fight in that way - No navy ever engaged in any expedition in other words has been doing that not from this year but from long before the Romans and the Greeks and before the Phoenicans They had navies They did it the same way DECLASSIFIED Authoritym l 2g 2 '6 299 22 The story I published part of my con tribution to this story was the section that deals with the probable force that the Japanese had I there That is all that I had to do with the story at any time I think that the editor of the paper has told I had nothing to do with giving it to the Naval Intelligence or anybody else I have listed in this story my section my section of the story the striking force of four aircraft carriers They had only five re- member at that time and I put the four biggest that they had down because that is their main fighting force Then I put two battleships of the Kirishima class They are bombardment weapons to handle any cruiser that came in close and the force while they are attaching to be used to help reduce the defenses after they have won control of the air The Japanese had old battleships with their fleet in the Coral Sea and they also had old battleships of this type because they were then going to bombard Port Moresby we think a Q y DECLASSIFIED Authorityml 2 I6 300 0 s3- 25 There is nothing wonderful about that Then I got those two cruisers of the Tone class They are the only two in the world that we know of that are like that They were built for this pertioulsr purpose and have been used in the fighting in theFer East Then I put a dozen destroyers I got four capital ships that is carriers and two battleships that is six ships You went two destroyers With esch carrier one to trail along last and pick up the planes that fall in their landing fall over the stern and one to pile ahead for ships that miss on the take off You put one on each side that is four carriers tee battleships a dozen destroyers They probably had tsioe that many The destroyers are only secondary stuff I I In the supporting force I got one sir- oraft carrierji There couldn't be any more be cause they only had one I got the smallest one they have there That is all five That is the Ryuzyo Then again I got two more battleships 1301 DECLASSIFIED 7 Authoritym p 2g 2 16' 0 24 two more Kirishimas I got four Mogamis The four Mogamis are cruisers that the Navy has listed as ships likely to he met with They are a par- ticular type of ship that are built for a purpose this kind of purpose They have used them lavish- ly since they have joined in this war I got a light cruiser as a scout that comes between the support force and the main force between the support force and the invasion force to run at high speed and carry messages They doriot use their radio at sea They maintain radio silence any time they put to sea Only speak to one another by visual signal Either a plane or ship will move frOm one and find out about another until they get Within signal distance until they can use their lamp to give messages because if they used their radio they can be heard Now the occupation force We have got four cruisers The Chakas hyoho Chitore and Choda Now those ships like many other Japanese ships are ships that are talked about around and about for a long time Nobody has ever seen them Nobody knows what they are Nobody knows what they consist of The names came hp in discussions I DECLASSIFIED 7 Anthoritybu gp 2g 2 i 6 an 0 w 25 asked if anybody knew how to spell them Nobody did for sure I tried to find out if anybody knew What they were Nobody seemed to know They thought they were a special cruiser that had been secretly built for this Job You will find the Myoko listed in James listed as a ten thousand ton cruiser in Jane's fighting ships The discussions that went around the ship was that this Myoko has a new one The Old ene was lost This Was a new one that had been given the same name That is not unusual in -navies They thought they were about the same class 8 000 tone I could have just'as easy put down ten thousand as 8 500 tons and been right with Janes Two armored transports of the Kunikisma Maru class That is anything that ends in Mara means a one time merchant ship When you find that the Navy has used this merchant ship it is converted to naval use They are like the British and other nations with these big passenger liners that have been converted in war time They build mounts on them in addition Where they can use s03 DECLASSIFIED AuthorityMa iu PK 26 them as an armed merchant vessel I do not mean the vessels which carry guns for submarines They are armored luxury ships things that Britain and Germany have done The Jervis Bey that was sunk two years ago was a notable one She was only an ordinary freighter They had about six guns aboard her She was protecting a convoy She was seen fighting a German battleship the Deutsoh- land That is another name I don't know 5 As we approached the Coast the men on board the ship We heard on the radio that DeWitt General DeWitt was having blackouts on the Coast They were talking about have a Japanese invasion of the West Coast in the United States They he gan to turn off their radio over there at nine o clock and in general they were having a nice time trying to scare the people of the United States that lived on the West Coast that they were going to be attached by the Japanese Everybody on the ship and myself in eluded regarded that as an insult to the United States Navy I don'thnow Where they thought the Navy was that the Japanese could get past Pearl Harbor and reach the West Coast of the United DECLASSIFIED Authoritybu p 2% 6 304 to 27 States That was the stuff a lot of publicity was done by the War Office in Washington and by General DeWitt who is in charge sf the West Coast defenses All of the suggestion was that at any moment the Japanese were going to-be there to attack the West Coast It was an insult to the United States Navy to think they couldn't keep the Japanese out Naturally on the ship there was quite a considerable amount of discussion of that I joined and I told them my idea if anything was going to happen at all if the Japanese fleet was at sea as the news from the West Coast said the Japanese fleet must be at sea if it is going to attach the West Coast That is what General DeWitt was saying Mr Stimson in Washington D C says they must be at sea some time because it will take any navy twenty one days to come from Tokio to the West Coast They have to speed at the speed of the slowest ship and fuel up at sea as they go If that was not telling the Japs that they knew the fleet was at sea I don t Know what it was I wasn't doing it Mr Stimson in Washa ington was doing that and General DeWitt on the DECLASSIFIED A th 1mmWest Coast of the United States was doing that We were afraid on the ship that with this phoney scare going on when we arrived in California instead of being able to get around we would arrive and find everything tied up blackouts and everything else going on And the men of the -Navy were naturally very annoyed about this situa tion The people of the country thought they couldn't defend it We discussed the Japanese what they might do what they would have to fight with became I had written an article in ehich I had stated they would some time be after the Hawaiian group some time soon I entered the discussions There was nothing secret about them because nobody that sat in those cabins knew any more than I did We dis cussed the make-up of the Japanese fleet I wanted to get a copy of Jane's I never had one I asked Lieutenant Commander Coleman who was the gunnery officer aboard the Barnett if he had a copy He finally got just the section out of the book which deals with the Japanese Navy only an old book and loaned couple of days and 306 DECLASSIFIED Authority a 29 discussed the ships there On the day that we arrived in the port we came in on the night of the 2nd I was told as we came in the harbor it was too late -We couldn t get the men ashore that night So I figured we would be on the ship until the next morning I made no preparations to go ashore I was up in my cabin finishing up some sori As I only had one pair of pants to wear ashore I was wearing a pair of shorts A Marine came in and told me that Commander Seligman to report to him in a half an hour on the pier I had a sick man in the cabin Lieutenu ant Commander Terry He had been sick and re- lieved from duty all the time across on this ship When the Marine told me that I had to hurriedly pack going through the papers I might have in my drawer finding the notesthat I was finished with and tearing them up and threw them in the waste paper basket There were ten stories in all I had material from which I had Written it from one of these pieces of scrap and there was the names of some Japanese ships written in pencil and scratched out and re written in and scratched out as if some- body had been holding a discussion on the Japanese Me i DECLASSIFIED Authoritymh gD 2g 2 307 GHQ 50 Navy After they had finishedfit was no im portance a piece of paper It was on an or- dinary scratch pad something like the very one in my drawer when I made my own Writing on loose leaf Somebody had been doodling on it out there and a picture which I took to be the Lexing on with planes diving on her and so forth and had written all other stuff on it What interested me was finding what papers I was using In ex- amining each one what I saw amongst the Japanese ships the names of three ships I didn t know how to spell the Choda and the Chakas I made a hasty note of that Underneath them was this Kunihisma Maru I made a note of that and threw it away There was nothing secret about_that scrap of paper They do not leave secret signals lying about amongst something else A secret signal is not left on a scrap and a leaflet to be doodled on I didn't think that piece of paper was important I still don t think it was important When I got ashore as I told you I asked how I Could get my story to Washington because I knew anything I wrote about that trip had to be DECLASSIFIED Authority MED I 6 308 on the radio also from the news commentators were I J Bl censored I was just as interested in getting it to the censor as anybody else For the timer being I was the heeyer of the secret and that secret was the Lexington had been sunk To my mind that was important I would not even tell my editor in spite of two or three times he asked me what had happened I just told him I couldn t tell him He would find out in due course He asked me he said Have you got any news about the attack on Dutch Harbor And I said It is in the newspaper new I said got-some idea of the attack on Dutch Harbor Don't go overboard on it If there is an attack it is not going tobern Dutch Harbor I was scared at the time of two things One that my paper would get the wrong steer that Dntoh Harbor was the point of interest and play that story up that was being handed ont It was nothing else but a hit and run raid They never dropped a dozen bombs on Dutch Harbor The news at the time made out there was a terrific attack on there The stuff I was hearing DECLASSIFIED Authoritymm 1 IA 309 0 i talking about the battle taking place out on the Pacific as a Japanese retaliation because We had bombed Tokb Believe me ladies and gentlemen the axis don't believe in speedy retaliation They do not risk ships or men just for to make a headline I was incensed to think here we are fighting and this kind of stuff was being handed around to the peeple Out there the men are fightn ing for their existence They are not playing After I had arranged to get my message to Mr Maloney that I had some ideas on the subject I am making a memo and send it to him I was at the time busy I made a memo and put it in my pocket It well it is not important I have told him on the phone not to go overboard on it moved back in the office in a couple of days I forgot all about it I had some difficulty locating my wife because for the first time in my life the Western Union made a mistake They told me she was in San Francisco She had been out of the home maybe for three months I tried to send word to her The Western Union told me nobody of that name lived there They found out the next morning she did live DECLASSIFIED I Authoritybn gD 3 1 55 there The name was not on the door They had only looked on the door instead of ringing the hell I have confidence in the Western Union That is the first time they made a mistake To me it was an important mistake I Just wanted to let Her know I was home She had no word from me either I finally got rid of my stories to the Navy Censor there in San Diego I went up to Lee Angelee My wife and I got a plane and come up here and arrived at Chicago here eight o clock on June 5th I reported into the office and was im- mediately put to Work Then they said You got time If you don't think the story is going to be released for some time write your story and take as much space as you like IWhen we write any story We have to take into consideration how much space the paper will give us whether they will give us a thousand words orfive thousand words is it happened they gave me fifty thousand words to write this They said You got a good story Write everything you know about it I worked all night I have been up all 311 I AuthorityMB QD l 54 Vnight in the plans It was not a sleeper it was a sit up from Loe Angeles to here I worked all day Friday Friday night and Saturday Some time during Saturday night a despatch from Ad miral Nimitz came in saying that we had a wonder ful victory in the Pacific It was tremendous ness He said that the battle is not over All returns have hot been received We know now that the battle was over 48 hours before he wrote this despatch The battle was over becaose we never saw I a Japanese ship from the night of June 4th to June 6th He said the battle was not over It was over Maybe he didn t know History says it was over on the night of_the 4th We never saw a Japanese ship after that time I All returns have not yet been received It is with full confidence however that for this phase of the action the following enemy losses are claimed Two or three carriers and all their air- craft destroyed in addition to one or two carriers badly damaged and most of their aircraft lost Three battleships damaged at least one badly DECLASSIFIED Four cruisers damaged two heavily Three transports damaged It is possible that some of these Wounded ships will not be able to reach their bases That is the communique that Admiral Nimitz issued on the story that was going the rounds of the newspapers and radio commentators in the days it was being fought as being a Japanese hit and run raid as a retaliation of the attack on Tokiou The fact they had transports was proof they came to invade You don't bring transports just for recreation of the Navy s crew I thought immediately of the material I had made out for Mr _Haloney in which I had streSSed the fact that you do not measure a Navy s strength any more by battleshibs It was aircraft carriers I had stated on a rough idea of my own I never had Janes help mefgame that the Japanese fleet would consist of The A P story came in at the same time It was hrinted at the same time and it says amongst other things that the United States fleet inter cepted the enemy at more than a thousand miles from their objective it means to locate the position 312 DECLASSIFIED Authoritybu gD16'Z 7 a 56 for the ambush You can't ambush anybody unless you are waiting for them do not intercept them a thousand miles from where they want to go Iunless you know they are coming I would like to see somebody convince the Japanese that the United States Navy didn't know they were coming You can t move ships about An Admiral can t find out that the Japanese are coming and have his fleet a thou sand miles away They can't average more than fifteen or sixteen miles an hour steaming and fueling to get to Wherever they want to go That top speed of thirty knots does not mean they can run day after day and night after night No ship in the world can do it It took them years to de velop the big ships for the Atlantic - When I arrived back here as I said I got to work on these stories I was very tired but this news from Admiral Nimitz and from the was the best news I had for weeks I went up to see Mr baloney who was at that time in his desk in the local room bringing out the paper By the way I was working in a room segregated in the building from anybody else because nobody was 313 to know what I was writing What I was doing That I DECLASSIEIED 2 I 5 I 0 57 was still to be kept secret news It had not been released I said to Mr Maloney This is a terrific thing We won a tremendous victory here We hgve beaten the entire Japanese fleet what they have got left It is the biggest fight It is bigger than Jutland I don't know anything about it what you do with the story You can play it up as big asyou like It is the biggest victory in years We have won it I eede up your memorandum when I was in San Diego to show you the strength of the Japanese fleet I still got it in my pocket I had forgotten about it until now It fits in with this thing like nobody e business It's a beauty said All right He said Do your stuff on What you think of the Japanese fleet consisted of And I went inside Took Janes Fighting Ships with me and set out to build up the Japanese fleet as I got here He celled hr Wayne Thomis I think or some way they got together to write the story Mr Thomis asked me How do ou think 314 3 DECLASSIFIED AuthorityMBEgD 26 2 l6 315 58 that we knew that the Japanese were coming _ I said That is a very simple thing When I was in Pearl Harbor I had an interview with Admiral Withers who commands the United States Submarine Fleet in the Pacific In this interview he esplained thatsome submarines go out and attack ships but others go out and never fire a torpedo Their job is to sit anannd out side of the enemy's naval bases and harbors and watch the shipping lanes and to report the move ments of every ship they see They radio this in They are put together in the Naval Intelligence and when a man is getting reports from all over the Pacific he can follow the enemy ship movements everywhere they go They watch also the ship lanes and harbors That is Submarine Intelligence I wrote a story on that to the censor and he passed it There is nothing secret-about that We knew it So did the Japanese and so did the Germans And I suppose so did_the British and Italians If they don't they are stupid That is true of sub marines They have another purpose other than attacking ships Well he said Do you mean that they I 316 DECLASSIFIED 2 lg 59 rwould have a picture of everything that happened And I said Sure they would said It shows that wonderful service we have got that they know what the other guy is doing 7 'The lead story was written as I say by Mr Thomis I started to pick out the ships He came back to help me with these He was wait ing on me We hurried those things through They disappeared out into the editorial local room When goes through thismaohinery it goes to the editor and as I thought at the time for sure to the cel _sor I had no idea that you could publish any in formation about anything without going to the cen sor And I was back in my head office _ Therefore any reaponsibility I thought for a censor is on my office I said to Admiral Wilson the same thing He said didn't I think that anything at all I wrote should have to go to the naval censor And I said Yes I said Whenever I was drawing up any thing I had to get it in there He said How about this story 31 DECLASSIFIED AuthorityMI D i seems to agree with me when I was there because - 40 I said Look Admiral two things when I am not bound by my signature to put that in be cause that was not gained by observation while I was in the fleet I still thought that story would be covered by the censor Naturally I said When you accredited me to the United States Fleet you never accredited Stanley Johnston If I came to you as an indivi- dual and said I want to be attached to the United States Fleet as a correspondent you would not take my application He said No That is true You accredited the Chicago Tribune He said That is right I said Therefore anything that I can know my managing editor can know in the same way with any of your junior officers can report to you anything that they have because I am a very very junior officer I He agreed with me that was right as far as I was concerned So any responsibility for censorship or anything else does not evolve on me and the Navy 318 DECLASSIFIED Authority 2 a 41 on the two occasions when I would be there they did not seem to have any personal fight with me _Admiral Wilson and Admiral Wilkinson always shook hands with me Believe me in the way Naval officers are brought up at Anapolie they don t have to shake hands with you if they don't like you So preonally I don't think the Navy -- they know my end of the explanation and I don t think that the Navy are mad at me They should not be I I went on with my work that night I knew no more about it I'eorked until about five o clock in the morning I was very tired I was going out of the building with Mr Wayne Thomis picked a paper up in the hall and the story was there printed on the front page and then I said I said the way that was very quick to get it to the censor and back again and have it in print And this time I Said They must work all night dean there in Washington He said don t know Whether it had to be censored or not Juetahout the enemy ships That is the first suggestion I got one way or the ether about the censorship Up to that DECLASSIFIED iuhe s Tk - Redford fls at 11 50 2 6 a a moment I though it was sent out had to go to the censor on the night of the day it was pub lished I was back at work on Sunday afternoon 31 9 DECLASSIFIED for follows Ruhe at 11 50 am 8 18 42 Witness Ath' 1 Joh to u rouosll 1_ ns On a Sunday night that is the night of the lday this was published I was back at work on Sunday afternoon and on Sunday night at 9 00 o'clock Mr Maxeell who is the assistant editor sent for me It was Mr Maloney s day off on Sunday he wasn't there He said Look Johnston there is some trouble in Washington about the story that was published today about the Japanese fleet I said What is the trouble He said don't know He said But I Just have instructions for you to he in Washington tomorrow morning at 9 00 o'clock to so to the Navy office and tell thee whatever there is to be told about it Well at 9 00 o'clock I rang the airlines here and the best I could do was a seat on a plane that was leaving at 10 00 o'clock for New York they couldn't guarantee to get me through from there So I told them it was urgent business and that I would leave immediately for the airfield and would they hold the plane until I got there You know you don't always get there in an hour from town I got there about a quarter past ten They did hold the plane up and I got to New York in the Authority Wm L dl DECLASSHHED 7 plane I missed a connection with the train in New York because I think we were late in arriving or something but anyhow I wasn't able to get to Washing ton until 10 00 o'clock in the morning I went over to the Navy office At the Navy office they took me straight in to seat the Admirals and they asked me about the story Up to the time that they told me the story 1 I-didn't know what the objection was Nobody else had told me So I told them the story as I could remember it I was asleep on my feet because this was the fifth day that I had been running around -- the sixth day with no more sleep than I caught for an hour at a time And Admiral Willson who is Chief of Staff through Admiral King said Mr Johnston you are very tired I can see that Why don't you go home and get a sleep and some back and see me again I said Thank you very much I will That is what I did While I was at home I got a ring from Mr Henning and he said that The Admirals seemed to think it is a little farfetohed that you might have doped those ships out with some DECLASSIFIED errors in spelling I said am going down to see them any how and I did and this time I saw Admiral alone and I will stand by whatever Admiral Willson says I have got confidence in him And among the things I mentioned I said Look Admiral There are only four ships in there and I will tell you_how I got their names and where I got them and I told him about finding this piece of paper among my stuff on my desk which I had made a note of the names from I said didn't mention it before because I didn't think it was important I don't know if it is important now or not But I said that is how I got the names of those ships So he said All right now This matter is out of our hands entirely He said will send this information on This has no longer got anything to do with us It is up to the White House it will make the decision We then talked about the War in the Pacific generally The Admiral told me about his sons in the Navy We talked about the Navy boys generally He as an Admiral has been out of touch niththe boys that are 3221 DECLASSIFIED Authority NEED 26 1 I6 I 0 see doing the fighting for a little time but he is entirely with them His great interest is how the boys are getting along 7 I Then when I was leaving he came to the door and shook hands with me again When I went down the next time he was unable to be present and Admiral Wilkinson was there and Admiral Wilkinson gave me a message from Admiral Willson to say that the Admiral was sorry he oculd not be along but if I wanted to see him he would he in his office afterwards would I come down there and see him And when I was leaving then Admiral Wilkinson shook hands with me and I said think Admiral Willson will be at lunch new It was ten past one He said Yes I em afraid he is out with Admiral King II said will not some back after lunch I will go back to Chicago if you don't need He said We don't need you any more I said Right o I will go back to Chicago and I left Now I became a citizen of the United States in the last year There was no profit motive in my becoming a citizen of the United States and as an Authority Maj '6 DECLASSIFIED idgtt Australian I could com to the United States at will and stay here as long as I liked and work here I wasn t fleeing from any government that was Oppres- sing me I have worked for United States institutions for years I like the United States form of government The Constitution of Australia as a matter of fact is founded on the Constitution of the United States There are one or two differences Australia has one thing which I do not approve of and that is that Australia is invisibly attached to England and there- fore Australians have to they get the benefit of and pay the price for any of the weaknesses of Great Britain They also get the benefits of being members of the Empire But there are one or two things that do not Sit very on me One of them is that I could never understand in Britain why half the pepulation of that country have such a hard job to make their living That is why the peeple come over to America and to Australia and to other countries There are certain questions about the Empire about imperialiSm which I do not approve of That does not mean that Britain is wrong it does not mean that she is right It Just means that it does not fit in iig i DECLASSIEIED Authority - with me The American idea of democracy fits in with me better This country has firms American firms that have employed me I represented them overseas in responsible positions ' I elected to become a citizen of this country here after she went to War My citizen- ship papers are dated the 15th of December That is eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor I just wanted you to see that I know that some people want citizenship because it shows them a profit or because it shows them an escape from some thing I didn't I elected to become a citizen of the United States here because this was the country that suited my ideas where everybody here has got a chance regardless of shat school he went to and regardless of who his father was and I knew my responsibilities at the time I took it up Now when I got back here I had for the first time since I joined the newspaper business a Number One success I had the best story of a war that has been written I wasn't a fool I knew it I knew that from now on the sledding would be easy There was nothing else that I needed to get me placed I would no longer be a small neWSpaper man fighting DECLASSIFIED Authoritym i i 32 135 for his opinion I knew that I had reached a point where I would be able'to walk about and write my stories and get my stuff and there would he no further fighting I want to ask you a question do you think that in that situation and that was my position the night this story was written that I would have written anything or published anything that would break my neck after I had Just got up the ladder And do you think I am a fool that I wouldn't know that If I was giving information to the enemy that it wouldn't and also that I shouldn't In the time that I was with the Navy I got very fond of it Pausing And I felt that I was excuse me I felt that I was part of the Navy I had seen these men getting killed they were not complaining they were doing their Job and they were glad to do it I had heped that when these stories were finished that the Navy would accept me I had promised the boys that I would come back with them not as a newspaper man but as one of themselves I have a son twenty years of age The last word I had from my mother was that he had gone with the Australian Army to the war front He is probably some- DECLASSIFIED Authoritym n lg 16' I 9 see where up there now where they are fighting If you think that I would do anything that would hurt the men in the United States Nevy or my son there is nothing that I can do about it if I am indicted in this case here I know I haven't done anything n there has been no intent and they tell me there has to be intent And if there is anything I have done and I am indicted on this it will wreck me forever I know that in eourt it will be found out it must but that doesn't help me Meanwhile my son will hear it everybody else will hear it It is not only myself it is the boys of the Navy themselves that I heve been with I don t want to if I have done anything wrong I should be penalized for it but I think there is euoh a thing as intent That's all I want to say Thank you THE FosenAn Mr Johnston you will kindly remain on the outside there for perhaps some further queetien ing from the Jury Don't leave until after we shall call you again Thank you I THE WITNESS Thank you MR MILLER Thank you Witness retires from the Grand Jury room DECLASSIFIED Ath'anDZ li I on 6 gees I THE FOREMAN We have heard the testimony of Mr Johnston I might suggest that we not allow ourselves to be moved away from nor toward any Opinion Suppose we allow ourselves to be governed by our own common sense and Judgment and from the evidence as presented on both'sides considering of course the statement as presented by Mr Johnston As a Juror we don't want to be partial one way or the other but this is Just my Opinion and I think you will agree with me if we render what we con- sider a Just decision whether it be for or against I think there will be no complaint MR MILLER After all Mr Chairman you do not sit here as a petty Jury and as you all know all of the evidence has not been presented in as great detail as it might on a trial You are not sitting here in judg ment The purpose of the Grand Jury is to determine whether or not there has been a violation ofthe statute Do you want to bring Mr Maloney in THE FOREMAN I think if you will perhaps excuse yourself for Just a minute and give us an opportunity to consider MR MILLER All right sir 3 8Q DECLASSIFIED Authoritybu 16 I a Whereupon Mr Miller and the Reporter retired from the Grand Jury room to which they were later recalled together with ur Maloney THE FOREMAN Do you think that what you have to say will consume more than half an hour We want to adjourn for lunch MR MALONEY No Barring cross examination and questions by the Jury I think I can finish up by 12 50 maybe before that I don't know I don't know what quee tione will be asked THE FOREMAN we are not going to ask you any ques tions just now J A L Y called as a witness by the Grand Jury having been first duly sworn by the Foreman to testify the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth was examined and testified _as follows EXAMINATION BY MR MILLER You are Mr J Loy Meloney Managing Editor of The Chicago Tribune A Yes sir                     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