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CNN Live Sunday

Johnson's Silver Star a Historical Debate

Aired July 08, 2001 - 17:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take a long time looking at the 36th president of the United States before his presidency began.

If you look up Lyndon Baines Johnson in the Compton's Encyclopedia, you will read that the day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Johnson became the first member of Congress to enter active duty in World War II as a lieutenant commander in the Navy. He was a Naval aviator. And you'll read that General Douglas MacArthur decorated him with the Silver Star for gallantry in action on a flight over enemy territory.

And that's all true, as far as it goes, but as is often the case with the history we are taught in school, the real story is not so clear cut, and as it turns out, not nearly so flattering to the past president. CNN producer Jim Barnett and military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre researched events surrounding the awarding of that Silver Star. Here is the story they have to tell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most of his life as a politician Lyndon Johnson proudly wore a pin that symbolized this Silver Star, identifying him as a hero of World War II.

The small lapel pin can be seen in the famous photograph of Johnson taking the oath of office aboard Air Force One, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of 1963.

For three decades, on occasions both mundane and momentous, the small red, white and blue badge of courage was often visible on Johnson's suit coat.

ROBERT CARO, HISTORIAN: He wore the silver star in his lapel all his life up to and through the presidency. When he was campaigning in Texas and he wanted draw people's attention to it, he would actually do this with the lapel -- this was in his 1948 election campaign -- to show that he had won the Silver Star.

MCINTYRE: Texas newspaper clippings from the time reflect Johnson's account that he was under fire. "Thrilling experiences recounted before local friends," shouted the Brenham (ph) Banner Press on July 28, 1942. Whether Johnson truly rated the Army's third highest combat award, seen on his official portrait, is a question his biographers have long debated.

CARO: The most you can say about Lyndon Johnson and his Silver Star, is that surely one of the most undeserved Silver Stars in history because if you accept everything that he said, he would still in action for no more than 13 minutes and only as an observer. Men who flew many missions, brave men, never got a Silver Star.

MCINTYRE: In an effort to clarify the historical record, CNN has re-examined previously published documents about LBJ's wartime service and conducted fresh interviews with eyewitnesses still alive. While not conclusive, the available evidence raises questions not only about whether the Silver Star was undeserved, but also whether it was awarded based on a battle report that was inaccurate and incomplete.

December 7, 1941, Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized the nation. Lyndon Johnson, a lanky congressman from Texas, became the first member of Congress to enter active duty.

ROBERT DALLEK, HISTORIAN: The minute World War II began, he was very a very ambitious politician and he understood if he was going to run for some higher office down the road, he needed to have some kind of military service. So he volunteered and became a naval officer.

So he's in Washington and he goes to see Roosevelt and convinces him to send him on a inspection tour of the Southwest Pacific.

MCINTYRE: These rare home movies from a camera Congressman Johnson carried on tour showed the young protege of Franklin Roosevelt in Australia, where he met Douglas MacArthur, who allowed him to go on a single bombing mission as an observer.

It was that one combat mission on June 9, 1942, a bombing run in which 11 American B-26 similar to these attacked a Japanese base in Lae, New Guinea, for which Johnson was awarded his Silver Star.

The source for most historical accounts of what happened that day, is a book entitled "The Mission," published in 1964 after Johnson became president. The authors, Martin Caidin and Edward Hymoff, both dead now, painted a vivid picture based on the crew's first hand account of the B-26 bomber, hobbled by a failed generator, limped back to base, fending off Japanese fighters, using crippled guns and evasive maneuvers.

In the book, Johnson is described as cool as ice and laughing in the face of a withering attack in the face of the Japanese.

"Bullets were singing through the plane all about us," the authors quote Waist gunner Lillis Walker (ph) as saying, "We were being hit by those cannon shells and he was just calm and watching everything."

CARO: The thing about the mission that convinces me it was an attack is that five members of the crew are quoted saying that it attacked. And they never denied the quotes. They had plenty of opportunity to do so. So what we have is five people on the same plane saying the same thing.

MCINTYRE: It was a gripping account of courage under fire, except, according to the sole surviving crew member, it's pure fiction.

STAFF SGT. BOB MARSHALL, U.S. ARMY (RET.): No way. Them stories was made up and put in there by, I think in my mind, by the author of the book. Because we never seen as zero, was never attacked. Nothing.

MCINTYRE: Robert Marshall was a 19-year-old gunner on Johnson's plane. He's portrayed by the mission's authors as overcoming the loss of electrical power by using brute strength to aim his guns against attacking Japanese zeros.

MARSHALL: No, never happened. That was something I would never forget if I had to do that. But we never got attacked. I had no reason to swing my guns. That's built-up stories.

MCINTYRE: Marshall remembers meeting the young Navy officer who flew along on his plane that day, but didn't know who he was at the time, and didn't learn until year later that Johnson was given the Silver Star for the flight.

He says for years he quietly disputed the published account in private conversations, even occasionally in public. But almost no one paid attention.

MARSHALL: If that so-called observer to LBJ that day flew with us, he got it, the whole crew should have got it. And that's the third highest award you can the get.

QUESTION: Is it important for a story like this to get straightened out for history sake?

BARRETT TILLMAN, AVIATION HISTORIAN: I think it is, not only for history's sake but for the sake of the men who actually you flew the combat missions and received not one shred of credit or recognition.

MCINTYRE: Tillman is a historian and aviation rider who has long contended that Johnson's plane turned back well before it could have engaged the enemy.

TILLMAN: Johnson, I think to his credit, was willing to put himself in harm's way for whatever reason but 80 miles southwest of the target, his aircraft developed generator trouble and was forced to turn back.

MCINTYRE: Tillman, along with researcher Henry Secada, first published that version of events in 1993, and have updated that argument in an article in a recent issue of "Naval History" Magazine.

TILLMAN: The citation as written for the Silver Star was completely erroneous. MCINTYRE: The criteria for the Silver Star established by law in 1932 state: It is for "gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States." And specifies that "the required gallantry must have been performed with marked distinction."

Johnson's Silver Star citation says, "as our planes neared the target area they were intercepted by eight hostile fighters."

While implying that Johnson's plane is among them, the citation doesn't say Johnson's B-26 came under fire. The citation reads in part: "The plane in which Lieutenant Commander Johnson was an observer developed mechanical trouble and was forced to turn back alone, presenting a favorable target to the enemy fighter. He evidenced marked coolness in spite of the hazard involved. His gallant action enabled him to obtain and return with valuable information."

TILLMAN: He may well have brought back valuable information to Washington, D.C. but it was not, definitely not, in the context of direct combat.

MCINTYRE: Johnson was given the Silver Star by General Douglas MacArthur, who also awarded a Distinguished Service Cross -- an even higher award -- posthumously to another member of Johnson's inspection team.

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Stevens died in the one B-26 that was shot down that day. In a twist of fate, it was that B-26 Johnson originally boarded but after a bathroom break Johnson got on another plane, nicknamed The Heckling Hare.

According to flight records, on June 9, 1942, bombers took off at 8:51 for the two hour and twenty minute round trip to Lae, New Guinea. The attack was set for about 10:00 in the morning.

QUESTION: Given what we know about when Johnson's plane took off when it came back, what can we tell about how close it got?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time distance equation can be seen on this chart of Eastern New Guinea leaves no doubt as to what happened, even without the testimony of the people who flew the mission. Based on the known cruising speed of a B-26 and the time involved, the mathematics shakeout to a point just about 80 statute miles south of the target area -- that would be roughly here -- at which point, the Heckling Hare turned around, jettisoned its bombs in order to lighten load, and returned to the port.

When we come back the account in LBJ's diary, a letter he apparently never sent and what a radio operator in another B-26 saw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: During his public life Johnson rarely kept a diary but he did during his Pacific tour, his own handwritten account of what happened is on display here at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas.

(voice-over): The diary entry for June 9 could be interpreted as indicating Johnson's plane was attacked after it turned back. The scrawled pencil notes say: Generator went out. Crew begged to go on. For next 30 minutes, we flew on one generator. Due to drop bombs at 10:10. At 9:55 we turned. At 9:58 zeros intercepted. Andy leader got three and probably another. B-25 got two more and fighters got four. Total, nine zeros.

MCINTYRE: Long time Johnson aide Harry Middleton is the director of the LBJ Library, where CNN was referred after several requests to talk to the Johnson family. Middleton puts a lot of stock in Johnson's accounts.

HARRY MIDDLETON, DIRECTOR, LBJ LIBRARY: Obviously, it is close to the best source of information you can get, a lot depends upon what was in the person's mind as he was writing about his activities, but sure, it's primary material.

MCINTYRE: But the diary, like the citation, is ambiguous and open to interpretation. What appears to be an account of what happened to Johnson's plane, again, might simply refer to what happened on the other ten planes that completed the bombing run.

That's what historian Tillman argues, that the timing didn't add up.

QUESTION: When Johnson's plane was returning to the port at 10:08, where were the rest of the planes?

TILLMAN: The rest of the planes were just clearing the target area. Their time over target with within a few minutes of the 10:08 period, at which time the Heckling here landed back at port.

QUESTION: So there is no way Johnson could have seen the zeros attacking the formation and had bullets flying around the plane?

TILLMAN: No earthly way.

MCINTYRE: There is at least one other eyewitness still alive. Al Tyree was a radio operator on another B-26 that day. Now 80 and retired in California, he insists Johnson's plane turned around long before the rest of planes encountered enemy fire.

QUESTION: So you saw....

STAFF SGT. ROBERT TYREE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Oh, yes.

QUESTION: Were you under fire at that point.

TYREE: No. None of us were. We weren't under fire until we got close up to Lae Air Base, the Japanese air base.

QUESTION: How certain are you that the plane Johnson was on didn't come under fire?

TYREE: I'm sure. It couldn't. Because we didn't get hit either until right before we dropped our bombs.

QUESTION: You are absolutely sure of that?

TYREE: I'm absolutely sure.

MCINTYRE: While Tyree would have no way to know what happened to Johnson's plane after it turned back there's other evidence.

The Army's after action report records all the damage after the June 9 bombing. Damage to the planes is listed down to the last bullet hole, but the list doesn't included plane 1488, the B-26 Johnson was on.

In fact, Johnson's plane is recorded at landing at 10:08 a.m. with engine trouble, two minutes before the other B-26s are scheduled to be dropping their bombs on Lae, according to the diary.

But records can be incomplete or contain mistakes. For instance, a manifest prepared after the attack lists Johnson's rank as commander, rather than lieutenant commander.

And it shows above his name, Sgt. Newhouse, a man who was replaced on the crew that day by Bob Marshall, at least that's how Marshall remembers it.

MARSHALL: I'm telling the truth. No built up stories. I'm not selling a book or a story. I'm 100 percent right in my mind and a lot of other guys' minds.

MCINTYRE: There are more than 45 million pages of documents here in the archives of the LBJ Library. They fill five floors, but as complete as they are, they don't definitively answer the question of whether Johnson's combat experience is a myth. That's something we will remain a matter of debate among historians.

(voice-over): One of those records is a letter dated just over a month later -- July 15, 1942 -- in which Johnson writes to the adjutant general of the War Department, suggesting he didn't deserve the Silver Star. It reads in part: "I should not and could not accept a citation of recognition for the little part I played." He concludes: "I cannot in good conscience accept the decoration."

But the letter is unsigned and there is no evidence it was ever sent.

CARO: I always felt the Silver Star should have been turned back, that he should have sent the letter rejecting it because he didn't deserve it.

MCINTYRE: Johnson never endorsed the 1964 book, "The Mission." He wrote the authors a brief thank you note saying: "As soon as i have a few moments, I intend to begin reading it."

But he never disputed the account of his bravery either, and we would on occasion make reference to his combat experience, as did he in this 1963 recording of a phone conversation with then-Speaker of the House John McCormick.

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, DECEMBER 20, 1963: I know foreign aid is unpopular, but I didn't want to go to the Pacific in '41 after Pearl Harbor, but I did. I didn't want to let those Japs shoot at me as a zero but I did."

MCINTYRE: Was Johnson living a lie? It depends on who renders the judgment.

MIDDLETON: I don't think it's out of the question he might have embellished on this story and used for political purposes for when he was campaigning, but I never heard him talk about it at all.

MCINTYRE: For the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of "Means of Accent", Robert Caro, the eyewitness accounts published in "The Mission" outweigh the circumstantial evidence that suggest Johnson's plane may not have come under fire.

CARO: The weight of the evidence at this moment is that the plane was attacked by zeros and that he was cool under fire.

MCINTYRE: Historian Robert Dallek, who has also written several books on Johnson, says the evidence, while conflicting, buttresses his argument that the Silver Star was more about politics than bravery.

DALLEK: What I concluded was, there was an agreement, a deal, made between LBJ and General MacArthur. And the deal was that Johnson would get the medal that somebody later said was the least deserved and most talked about medal in American military history, and MacArthur in return made a pledge from Johnson that he would lobby the president FDR to provide greater resources for the Southwest Pacific theater.

MCINTYRE: History, it has been said, is argument without end. It is impossible to reconstruct with absolutely certainty what happened some 60 years ago. Memories can be wrong and records don't tell the whole story.

Still,Caro thinks if Johnson told the truth, he didn't tell the whole truth.

CARO: I would say it's a tissue of exaggerations. He said that he flew on many missions, not one mission. He said that the crewmen -- the other members of the Air Force group, were so admiring of him they called him Raider Johnson -- neither of these things are true.

MCINTYRE: Bob Marshall considers it a point of honor to tell the truth the best he knows it.

MARSHALL: My wife always tells me, Bob, why don't you forget the past? That's gone. I said, Betty, when you are in a position like we was in those days, it's going to be there forever and I would like the truth be out about it, because I was there; I was in a position to see everything. If it happened, I would know it.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FRAZIER: That report, once again, from CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Producer Jim Barnett.

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