526 CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
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TESTIMONY OF FIRST LT. JOSEPH LOCKARD, SIGNAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY
(The witness was sworn by the Recorder and advised of his rights under Article of War 24.)
1. Colonel WEST. Will you state to the Board your name, rank, organization, and station?
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Lieutenant LOCKARD. Joseph L. Lockard, First Lieutenant, Signal Corps. O1634176, 934th Signal Battalion, Esler Field, Louisiana.
2. General GRUNERT. The Board is trying to get at the facts about what happened before or just prior to and leading up to the attack on Hawaii. We understand, from reports of the Roberts Commission, that you have information that will be of assistance to the Board, particularly as to what happened at the radar station, known, I believe, as Opana; and that you have some information about the information center of the air warning system in Hawaii at that time. In your testimony please be careful to give us what you actually remember of that time, and not colored by what has happened since.
[1015]
Lieutenant Lockard. Yes, sir.
3. General GRUNERT. General Frank will propound the questions.
4. General FRANK. What was your rank on the morning of December 7, 1941?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was a third-class specialist, sir.
5. General FRANK. A private?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Under the old specialist system I had a third-class specialist rating.
6. General FRANK. To what organization did you belong at that time?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. S. C., A. W., H.-Signal Corps, Aircraft Warning, Hawaii, was all the designation we knew at that time.
7. General FRANK. What were your duties on that morning? Did you have any regularly assigned duties?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir. Under the hours we were working at that time, Sundays and holidays called for operation from 4 until 7 o'clock; that is, a. m. I was assigned, and Private Elliott and myself were sent to operate the station for that particular Sunday, those particular hours.
8. General FRANK. How long had you been on duty with that station?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We moved that station from Schofield Barracks and set it up around Thanksgiving time. I cannot give you the exact date.
9. General FRANK. Was it in September or October?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. It was in November. It had formerly [1016] been set up in Schofield, and they were planning a more appropriate coverage with the equipment.
10. General FRANK. Do you remember when those sets arrived from the mainland?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I cannot be exactly definite about that. It was the latter part of July or the first part of August. That is the first I knew.
11. General FRANK. That is the best your memory serves you?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
12. General FRANK. How long had you been there?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I landed there on the 10th of December, 1940.
13. General FRANK. How long had you been on this type of work?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Since we had the equipment.
14. General FRANK. How much training had you had?
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Lieutenant LOCKARD. As far as any school was concerned, we did not have any.
15. General FRANK. How did you get your instruction?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Instruction was by actual work with the equipment.
16. General FRANK. Somebody must have explained it to you.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, there were three or four that knew the equipment, and they trained the rest of the crews in the operation of it.
17. General FRANK. At Schofield Barracks?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
18. General FRANK. When did you start on this work?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. You mean, on operation?
[1017] 19. General FRANK. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Around the first part of August.
20. General FRANK. You had been in training and operating it since August?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
21. General FRANK. The set itself had been set up and in condition to be operated for how long?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. This particular set?
22. General FRANK. Yes; up until the 7th of December.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The one at Opana?
23. General FRANK. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We installed it right around Thanksgiving, in November, and of course it was in operation from then on.
24. General FRANK. Had they had some exercises or maneuvers along the first part of November in which they used this set?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I do not know whether they had maneuvers. I know we were making special tracks.
25. General FRANK. Were you the regular assigned operator of the set or only one of several who operated the set?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, that particular unit had a crew of six.
26. General FRANK. Six operators, or six total?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Total, sir.
27. General FRANK. How many operators?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. They were all operators and everything else too.
28. General FRANK. You were all under training for those jobs?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, at that time we were [1018] getting in some more men from other units whom we were supposed to train to the extent of our knowledge.
29. General FRANK. Was the set operating efficiently?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; it had been said before that it was the best operating set of the seven that we had.
30. General FRANK. How did your communications work from the radar site at Opana to the information center?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. They seemed to work all right, sir.
31. General FRANK. No difficulty?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir; we had field wire down to the highway where it tied in with one of the cables.
32. General FRANK. Did you have any difficulty with the 270 radar set itself?
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Lieutenant LOCKARD. At that time?
33. General FRANK. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, minor difficulties: yes, sir. It was rather a crude set, and there were certain little things that they probably had not been able to see beforehand which made operation a little difficult at times.
34. General FRANK. You are saying it was a rather crude set?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I did not mean it exactly that way, sir.
35. General FRANK. That is in the light of your having seen much better sets in the meantime, is it not?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
36. General FRANK. At the time you were operating it you thought it was a pretty good set, did you not?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
37. General FRANK. Was it operated by commercial current or [1019] by current from the motor generator?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We had commercial power installed when we first went there. When we first went up there to that site we were operating of LeRoys, but shortly after that we got commercial power.
38. General FRANK. Shortly after what?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Shortly after we were completely set up.
39. General FRANK. On what date were you completely set up?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Around Thanksgiving.
40. General FRANK. On December 7 was the set being operated by commercial current or current from a motor generator?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Commercial current.
41. GENERAL FRANK. Sergeant Elliott was a witness here a few minutes ago, and he stated that they had some trouble with the set the day before. That would be on the 6th of December. He said the oil pump went out on the motor generator.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Oh, yes, sir. I think it was the battery generator, I am not sure. I cannot say for sure, sir, which it was.
42. General FRANK. What I am trying to get at is this: Were you operating with a motor generator or were you using commercial current?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We had to run the generator; we had to keep it in operating condition. We had to run it every day.
43. General FRANK. But it was not in continuous operation, was it?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
[1020]
44. General FRANK. Did you have plenty of spare parts and spare tubes for your radar sets?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir; we did not. Some of the most essential parts were rather scarce on the Island, such as the rectifier tubes and transmitter tubes.
45. General FRANK. Did you ever have to put the set out of commission for lack of spare parts or for lack of tubes?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We did not put it out of commission, sir. We had a rectifier tube go out on us, and we ran it on one rectifier tube, which it will do. You only get about 6 kva out of it, but it did give us some operation until we could get down to Kawela and get a tube.
46. General FRANK. There were spare parts and tubes on the Island, were there not?
530 CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I do not know, sir. All I know is that we did. not have one. There was some sort of an arrangement whereby, if the tubes went out, as they went out the stations that were least important would be shut down and those other stations would use their tubes.
47. General FRANK. Let us get back to another question I asked you. Did you ever have to close down that station or that set because of the lack of spare parts or tubes? Do you remember?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I do not think I can truthfully say one way or the other, sir.
48. General FRANK. You do not remember, that is, ever having been closed down for lack of spare parts or tubes?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
49. General FRANK. Or do you?
[1021]
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I cannot say, sir.
50. General FRANK. You do not remember?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
51. General FRANK. Did you consider the set a dependable set?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. At that time?
52. General FRANK. Yes, of course.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; I thought it was pretty good. I think everybody else did.
53. General FRANK. How high above sea level was the site on which the set was installed?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. 230 feet, sir.
54. General FRANK. Was that high enough to get it above the Kahuku Point radio tower?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Do you mean above the towers themselves?
55. General FRANK. Yes; Was there anything in front of you to blanket the set?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Directly in front?
56. General FRANK. Any place in front of you, that would blanket the set.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, we had back and side echoes, no matter which way the antenna was pointing, and it would produce a dead area approximately, bearing upon the azimuth, from 14 to 22 miles. It would strike the mountains around us and cause this area of deadness.
57. General FRANK. But the Kahuku Point radio towers did not blanket your set, did they?
[1022]
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Not that I can remember sir.
58. General FRANK. Did the location of the set at Opana Point result in any unusual radio phenomena?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. About the only thing that would be unusual about it was our reception. Most of the men were in accord that it probably was the best site they had.
59. General FRANK. Was there any interference from planes taking off from the Kahuku Field?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Not any interference; no, sir.
60. General FRANK. That was right in front of you, was it not?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir; it was not right in front of us. My geography is a little hazy.
61. General FRANK. It was in your line or sight, was it not?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. May I look on the map?
62 General FRANK. Yes.
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Lieutenant Lockard (after referring to map). I cannot recall its presenting us with any problem.
63. General FRANK. You were at the set on the morning of December 7, were you?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
64. General FRANK. When did you go there?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. We went up the night before.
65. General FRANK. Did the set start operating on the morning of December 7th?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir. We started operation.
66. General FRANK. What time?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Around four o'clock.
[Z023]
General FRANK. Who operated the set? Who was at the oscilloscope?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was.
68. General FRANK. From what time until what time?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The whole period.
69. General FRANK. When did you start?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. At what time?
70. General FRANK. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Around four o'clock.
71. General FRANK. What was picked up that morning and at what times, so far as your memory will serve you?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. It was a rather dull morning. There was not much activity.
72. General FRANK. Up until what time? Did you pick up any planes before seven o'clock?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. If we did, sir, it was one or two or a small number.
73. General FRANK. When did you pick up this flight that was coming in from the north?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Around 7:02.
74. General FRANK. What were the circumstances surrounding the situation as it existed? Were you at the oscilloscope, or was Elliott?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was still at the oscilloscope, sir. We were going to close down, but we figured that we might as well play around, because the truck had not come in yet to take us back for chow. So I was just checking the adjustments and was going to let Elliott operate them a while. He had not been in the outfit very long; he was a new man with [1024] us. I was going to let him operate. To me it looked like two main pulses. That is why I thought there was something wrong with the equipment, and I was checking to see if there was anything wrong. Apparently there was not.
75. General FRANK. Proceed and tell us what happened.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, I showed it to Elliott. I fooled around some more trying to determine exactly whether it was something coming in or whether it was a defect in the equipment, and finally decided that it must be a flight of some sort. Since it was the only activity we had had that morning, I decided to plot it. Elliott plotted it.
76. General FRANK. Who did the plotting?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Elliott. We picked it up at 136 miles, and when it got to 132 we called the information center-it was just a few
532 CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
minutes after seven-and there was no one. I knew the switchboard operator there, and I asked if there was anyone around.
77. General FRANK. You called the information center, or did the other man?
[1025]
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir. I was watching the track, and he made the phone call, and the switchboard operator told us there was no one around; so we asked him to look around; and, contrary to regulations, he left the switchboard and looked, and he found someone; but first, we told him about what we had, and he told this individual.
78. General FRANK. Do you know who that was?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir; I had never seen him.
79. General FRANK. You do not know whom he told?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I know his name. I think I know his name.
80. General FRANK. What was it?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Miller. I believe he was a liaison officer.
81. General FRANK. Miller, or Twler?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The best that I can remember, sir, it was Miller.
82. General FRANK. All right.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. This individual-well, the switchboard operator came back and said that, "O. K.-it's all right," something to that effect. I can't tell you the conversation any more, because I haven't too good a memory; and we insisted-I asked-
83. General FRANK. You insisted what?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I asked the switchboard operator if I couldn't speak to this person; which I did; and I gave him all the information that we had-the direction, the mileage, and the apparent size of whatever it was; and that was about the end of it, right there.
[1026]
84. General FRANK. What did he tell you?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well-
85. General GRUNERT. You are not incriminating anybody. Tell us. What did he tell you? Did he say, "Forget it," or that it did not amount to anything, or what?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Something to that effect. I mean, "O. K."
86. General FRANK. Did he tell you to forget it, or what did he say?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, he didn't-he wasn't very committal He just said, "O. K.," or something to that effect-"You needn't"--
87. General FRANK. When you picked it up and had followed it so that it had come from 137 or thereabouts down to a shorter distance from the sight, what did the oscilloscope show? Did it show that it was a single plane, or that it was a large group of planes? What was your interpretation of it?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, it was the largest group I had ever seen on the oscilloscope. It looked, as I said, like a main pulse and that is why I was confused, at first, as to whether it was a flight or not. I had never seen one. It maybe was the exceptional reception in that particular spot, but it still produced the largest echo on the 'scope that I had seen.
88. General FRANK. Did you tell the man, then, at the information center, that it looked like an unusually large number of planes?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
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89. General FRANK. And that didn't seem to excite him in any [1027] way?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
90. General FRANK. What followed from then on? Did you continue?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir, we went as far as we thought was reasonably safe in our argument.
91. General FRANK. What do you mean? In your argument with whom? With the man at the information center?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
92. General FRANK. All right.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Then we continued to follow the flight, and to plot it, till it got within about 22 miles-20 to 22 miles of the Island at which time we lost it in this blacked-out area. Then we proceeded to close down the station and go back to Kawailoa for breakfast. The truck had arrived-or, had not arrived, yet, but there was nothing else working.
93. General FRANK. There were no additional targets in the distance behind that, were there? Do you remember whether or not you attempted to find out if there were any additional planes in the distance?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, we more or less concentrated on this one flight. We looked around a little, but as I recall, I don't believe we noticed anything else. We would have plotted it, I believe, if we had.
94. General FRANK. Do you remember whether you attempted to find out if there were any more coming in?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Oh, we looked around somewhat.
95. General FRANK. Would you know the plot if you saw it? I show you Exhibit 15. Is that the plot of the planes coming [1028] in? that morning? I refer to the one starting at the top, at 7:02. Did you see the plot, that morning, that Private Elliott was making?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I glanced at it, sir; but I didn't give it any particular--
96. General FRANK. Attention?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. --attention; no, sir.
97. General FRANK. And you would not remember whether or not that was the plot, then?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. This plot (indicating)? Well, I know it is the plot.
98. General FRANK. The witness identifies the plot in this Exhibit 15.
When did you find out that there had been an air attack on Pearl Harbor?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. When we got to Kawailoa, sir.
99. General FRANK. Did you connect the air attack on Pearl Harbor with this flight that you had traced in?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Almost immediately. Sergeant Elliott and myself almost simultaneously seemed to connect it with what we had previously picked up.
100. General FRANK. Did you go back to the station?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; immediately. We passed the rest of our crew, going to the station, as we were coming back. They had all their field equipment, and we blew the horn for them to stop,
534 CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
but they paid no attention, they kept right on going; so we thought something was queer, but we had no idea what it was until we got to Kawailoa.
101. General Frank. As soon as you got breakfast, you went [1029] back to Opana?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
102. General FRANK. Was the set operated the rest of the morning?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; it was operated from then on.
103. General FRANK. When did you act as an operator after that? Did you act as an operator any more that morning, or do you not remember?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I went up and operated in my regular shift,
104. General FRANK. When did your shift start, do you remember?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, sir. each group had four hours on, and-let's see-we were divided into three groups, four hours on and eight hours off; but we had four hours on the 'scope, then four hours guard, then we had four hours off.
105. General FRANK. Did you operate that again, that morning?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I didn't operate it in the morning; no, sir.
106. General GRUNERT. Are there any other questions?
107. General RUSSELL. How long were you out there, Lieutenant, after December 7?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I left, the 22nd of February, sir.
108. General RUSSELL. Did you continue in the work with radar, from then on?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Up till about two weeks, three weeks, before I left, we got seventy some men in our camp area, there, which was an old, deserted pineapple plantation. There was Sergeant Hilton--
109. General RUSSELL. That is not of very much interest, [1030] Lieutenant. I just wondered if you stayed on radar from then on until you left.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was; yes.
110. General RUSSELL. Do you remember receiving, out there, thereafter, or prior to the time that you left, any of those permanent radar sets?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The radar permanent, 271?
111. General RUSSELL. The 271s?.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I know they were putting one at-I am not quite certain, sir. They were taking them out, taking the equipment out of the vans, and making permanent installations out of them. They had that pretty well accomplished when I left Opana.
112. General RUSSELL. 271s? Did you operate a 271 before you left, out there?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
113. General RUSSELL. Have you remained in radar work until now?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
114. General RUSSELL. You quit radar work when you left the Island?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. It amounts to that, sir.
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115. General RUSSELL. Some time prior to December 7, you testified as far back as August, these mobile sets had been set up and had been operated at different points on the Island?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
116. General RUSSELL. You had been on duty with them constantly, or considerably?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir
[1031]
117. General RUSSELL. You had tracked flights of planes previously?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir
118. General RUSSELL. Had you been on duty, on Sunday mornings prior to December 7, 1941?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I may have been, sir. There was no-I can't say definitely.
119. General RUSSELL. You cannot remember that? Now, had you been on duty prior to December 7, 1941, between 4 and 7 a. m., on any morning?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I don't believe so, sir
120. General RUSSELL. Do you think that this is the only morning that you had ever been on between 4 and 7 o'clock?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. As nearly as I can recall
121. General RUSSELL. You had been on, on other mornings, after 7 o'clock in the morning?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; we started out at 7 in the morning on weekdays.
122. General RUSSELL. Did you pick up a lot of targets on these other mornings, after 7 o'clock?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir; we usually had quite a bit of activity.
123. General RUSSELL. What was that activity, do you know?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The purpose of it?
124. General RUSSELL. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Well, there was a patrol that used to fly.
125. General RUSSELL. A patrol?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The CLIPPER we used to track all the [1032] time.
126. General RUSSELL. YOU followed the patrols and CLIPPERS Now, what else?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The practicing aircraft, which may fly to another island, or around the immediate vicinity.
127. General RUSSELL. HOW far out would you follow these patrols?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Until we lost them, sir
128. General RUSSELL. HOW far would that be?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. It varied anywhere from 60 to 110, 120 miles depending upon their altitude over the water.
129. General RUSSELL. Were these mobile sets set up with cover and camouflage?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No sir. The had started sandbagging them. They didn't start that, though, until after the war started.
130 General RUSSELL. On this particular morning, Lieutenant, did you pick up any patrol aircraft at all, on the morning of December 7?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Not that I could identify as such. There may have been.
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131. General RUSSELL. Did you pick up any flight, from 4 o'clock that morning until you came off at 7:42 or 7:43, whenever you did come off?
132. General FRANK. That was going away from the Island?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. That was going away? Not that I can remember.
133. General RUSSELL. As nearly as you recall, the only flight that you picked up, on this morning, was this one flight that [1033] you have described to us?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. The question was asked, before, and as near as I can remember, there may have been one or two flights.
134. General GRUNERT. If there were, they were recorded, were they? Were they plotted and sent in to the information center?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
135. General GRUNERT. And they should be of record there, if those records have been kept?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. Yes, sir.
136. General RUSSELL. But you have no independent recollection?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I can't remember, sir.
137. General RUSSELL. I have one more question. Lieutenant, you were at that time a noncommissioned officer, were you?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. On the 7th, sir?
138. General RUSSELL. Yes.
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was not a noncommissioned officer, sir. I was in charge of my particular shift. I had a "third-class, specialist."
139. General RUSSELL. You knew nothing about the imminence of war, and you had not been directed to be on the lookout for Japanese or other hostile planes in that vicinity?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. No, sir.
140. General RUSSELL. In other words, you were not "in the know"?
Lieutenant LOCKARD. I was not "in the know."
141. General GRUNERT. All right. Are there any other questions? Thank you very much. We appreciate your coming up here to help us out.
[1034] (The witness was excused, with the usual admonition.)
142. General GRUNERT. The Board will take up other work, now, until the witness comes, at 2 o'clock.
(Thereupon, at 11:18 o'clock a. m., a recess was taken until 2 o'clock p. m.)