Radar warning of Pearl Harbor attack
For several weeks, Intercept Center staff had been on high alert because military intelligence had not been able to locate the Imperial Japanese Navy's whereabouts.
[1] When McDonald indicated that the plotters had left, Elliott warned that a large number of planes were en route to Hawaii from the north 3 points east.
[2] After checking the time on the center's clock, McDonald saw a USAAC Lieutenant, Kermit Tyler sitting at the plotting table.
More frantic than his colleague Elliot, Lockard warned that a large number of aircraft were headed quickly towards Oahu, covering the entire scope.
[2] Lockard and Elliot tracked the planes on the radar oscilloscope from 07:02 until the signal was lost at 07:40 AM due to background interference from the permanent echo created by the surrounding mountains.
Associate Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts told McDonald his warning to Tyler was more urgent and historic than the famed "Message to Garcia".
Tetley, Commanding Officer of the 580th Aircraft Warning Company Signal Corps, lauded McDonald's efforts to notify Tyler, noting that had Tyler informed the Fighter Wing, it may have been able to get airborne in sufficient time to intercept and reduce the impact of the attack, saving lives, fleet, aircraft and equipment.
[10] Lockard was the subject of a 1 February 1942 Associated Press article revealing to the American public the identity of the U.S. soldier who "detected Japanese planes approaching Pearl Harbor while he was practicing at the listening device the morning of Dec. 7 only to have his warning disregarded.
"[11] In August 1942, the Naval Board of Inquiry found that Tyler had been assigned to the Intercept Center with little or no training, no supervision and no staff with which to work.
[12] Lockard was promoted to Staff Sergeant and awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, he then attended Officer Candidate School was commissioned as a Second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
[13] McDonald served in the central Pacific theater including assignments on Kanton, Makin, Kwajalein, Guadalcanal, New Guinea and Saipan.
Rep. John Larsen, East Hartford Mayor Melody Currey and Major General Thaddeus J. Martin attended the ceremony.
[15] Tyler continued to serve in the military, eventually retiring as a United States Air Force Lieutenant colonel in 1961.
[16] The radar warning has been featured in numerous books and motion pictures including Walter Lord's Day of Infamy, Gordon Prange and Donald M. Goldstein's At Dawn We Slept, Tora!
