Description:

Chester Nimitz
San Francisco, CA, March 5, 1964
Nimitz Recalls: "My first task was to restore the morale of personnel…at Pearl Harbor"
ALS
Fine content letter signed "C. W. Nimitz", two pages, 8" x 10.5", San Francisco, California, March 5, 1964. On his personal letterhead to a student, Emile J. Gex, Jr., in Picayune, Mississippi. Together with the holograph transmittal cover and in fine condition.

In part: "…When I took over the command of the badly damaged Pacific Fleet on 31 Dec 1941—it was obvious that my first task was to restore the morale of the personnel—principally staff officers—who were at Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941—during the attack. I arrived at Pearl on Christmas morning—25 Dec 1941—and spent the period from my arrival until 31 Dec 1941 in touring and inspecting defense positions with my apposite number, Lt General Delos Emmons—U.S. Army. Our task at the start was to instill a feeling of confidence in the services personnel—that all was not lost and that the disaster could have been much worse. In this we were successful. We were not [underlined] harassed locally by enemy forces—and there was absolutely no sabotage. Not only was there no harassment from civilians at home—but on the contrary—we received the strongest possible moral & material support from the government and people of the United States. I personally felt that God had been good to us. Had our fleet been at sea when the Japs came—we would have been inferior in fleet speed—which meant there could be no gun actions—and we were without carriers—against the six Japanese carriers. We would have lost our ships in deep water—and—more importantly—we would have lost great numbers of trained men—who were needed to man new ships nearing completeness…".

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Sunday, December 7, 1941. The following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would deliver his famous "Day of Infamy" speech before Congress, calling for a formal declaration of war against Japan. Before this point, the United States had remained largely neutral throughout the duration of World War II; however the events of December 7th deeply impact the American view of the war effort, reflected both in propaganda and in the later forced relocation of Japanese-American citizens to internment camps along the coast of the Pacific.

On December 17, 1941, Roosevelt selected Chester W. Nimitz from among 28 flag officers, all of whom were senior to him, to take over command at Pearl Harbor. He departed Washington for Hawaii and was sworn on the top of the submarine "Grayling." That same day he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.

Nimitz was known as being a sensitive and thoughtful leader, beloved by his men. Upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, he immediately set to restoring morale to the shattered Pacific Fleet and men, then built an aggressive team and boldly made the right moves in the Battle of Midway that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific in favor of the U.S. (Museum of the Pacific Fleet).

Nimitz famously said: "It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so it will not be fought on U.S. soil." In this spirit, and with the command of both sea and land forces, Nimitz directed battles in the years following Pearl Harbor such as those in Solomons and Marshalls. The legendary victories of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were also fought under his command. In December 1944, he would be promoted to the Navy's highest rank of fleet admiral.

Nimitz's land partner in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor was Delos C. Emmons (1889-1965), a lieutenant general who served military governor of Hawaii after Pearl Harbor until 1943. Emmons is remembered as tactically replaced US bank notes with ones overprinted with "Hawaii," as well as building up the Army Air Force Headquarters and forces in anticipation of the Battle of Midway.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 10.5"
  • Medium: ALS

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