Walter Campbell Short (March 30, 1880 – September 3, 1949) was a lieutenant general (temporary rank) and major general of the United States Army and the U.S. military commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

During the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne operations of the 1st Army Corps, he efficiently directed the instruction and training of machine-gun units at every available opportunity during rest periods.

Later, as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-5, 3d Army, he manifested the same assiduous devotion to duty in organizing schools, conducting necessary inspections, and carrying out the intensive training process.

On February 28, 1942, he retired from the Army and then headed the traffic department at a Ford Motor Company plant in Dallas, Texas.

The report charged that Short and Kimmel did not take seriously enough an earlier war warning and did not prepare for an air attack at Pearl Harbor.

Knox wrote: "If war eventuates with Japan, it is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the naval base at Pearl Harbor."

It concluded with recommendations for the revision of joint defense plans with special emphasis on the coordination of Army and Navy operations against surprise aircraft raids.

[6] Stimson replied February 7, 1941, that a copy of the letter was being forwarded to Short, with direction to him to cooperate with the local naval authorities in making the suggested measures effective.

[7] Admiral William Harrison Standley, who served as a member of the Roberts Commission, later disavowed the report, maintaining that "these two officers were martyred" and "if they had been brought to trial, both would have been cleared of the charge.

"They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE), contending they had been made scapegoats by the Pentagon.

Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor.