Talk:Andrew J. May

Was he ever temporarilly disbarred?
I noticed the article mentions he was convicted and served time before being pardoned. Was he disbarred following his conviction, then reinstated? If so, add that information to the article and add the article to Category:Disbarred American lawyers, which includes lawyers who were temporarilly disbarred. Dugwiki 17:57, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

So Called May Incident
Can anyone quote a PRIMARY source where Congressman May "said the Jap depth charges ... are not set deep enough" (Quote from Clay Blair, Vol 1, pg 397). I find it hard to believe that ANY American newspaper would print such a thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gstitz (talk • contribs) 03:18, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

During my research into Andrew J. May, I have found no reference to the "May Incident" ither through correspondence, or oral interview with family members. Family members who speak openly regarding the Garson Trial, when asked, have never heard of a so called "May Incident". In fact, I have been unable to locate any evidence that Congressman May ever even visited the Pacific theatre.

There has also been no evidence found that suggests Roosevelt ever had anything but appreciation and proffesional respect for Congressman May and his efforts during the war.

Currently efforts are being made to identify and copile information from Congressman Mays personal correspondence. Sjwraith 23:02, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

A book by Mike Ostlund (available on Google Books) suggests that the Japanese were experimenting with deeper depth charges prior to June 1943, though he still says the incident took place (not a primary source, I know). Google News doesn't have anything in the papers from 1943, though AJM's name is possibly one of the least conducive for online research and only a limited number of papers are available. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DirkLangeveld (talk • contribs) 03:46, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

The House Committee on Military Affairs is in the NYT ten times in June of 1943, but none of those stories mentions submarines. There are no stories in the NYT all of June and July that discuss submarine depth. I don't have a copy of Blair in front of me, does he cite a source? Rees11 (talk) 00:30, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I found Blair, he doesn't cite a source, but the origin of this story according to Michno is Lockwood, Through Hell and Deep Water. I'll look that up. It was published in 1956, but May's NYT obit from 1959 doesn't mention the Incident, which makes me think it didn't happen. Rees11 (talk) 00:38, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I spent some time at the library this morning. Of the half dozen sources I checked, all can be traced back to Blair. My library's copy of Lockwood is missing so I can't check that, but since everyone cites Blair I have to think that's the first printed reference.

Blair doesn't give his source for the story, but he does have a bibliography, and lists Lockwood's personal papers in it. As he quotes from letters that Lockwood wrote, I think these papers are his source.

Lockwood's papers are on deposit at the Library of Congress, and otherwise unpublished, so I have no way to check them. But Blair is a respected historian and I don't think he made up this story. So we have to assume Lockwood believed the story, but didn't have enough proof to go public.

My theory is that Lockwood saw something in the Honolulu newspaper and jumped to the conclusion that there had been a leak. Other than checking Lockwood's papers, the obvious next step is to take an expense account trip to Honolulu and check the files of the local newspapers for June 1943.

Friedman provides evidence that the Japanese were not aware of US sub depth capabilities during the war, but apparently didn't look into it any further.

I will suggest the article be changed to give more weight to Friedman's debunking and less to Blair's story. But I'm afraid we may never know the truth.

One more thing. Blair says nothing about FDR. I'm going to remove that part if no one objects. Rees11 (talk) 17:35, 19 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't think the Lanning book covers any new angle. Lanning most likely used Blair as a source—he's been accused of performing little of his own research. If he parroted Blair then we should delete his book as reference.
 * About Honolulu newspapers, how many were there in June 1943? On this page I count eight:
 * Honolulu Star-Bulletin
 * Honolulu Advertiser
 * Honolulu Herald (aka Honolulu Hochi)
 * Hawaii Sentinel
 * Hawaii Times (English and Japanese language)
 * Ka Hoku O Hawaii (Hawaiian language)
 * Koko Head Tribune
 * Hawaii Chinese Journal (Chinese language)
 * Lots of digging to do! Binksternet (talk) 18:44, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'm taking Lanning out. Binksternet (talk) 16:15, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

"Uncle Charlie" Lockwood was fiercely protective of his submariners. If he'd had any proof that May betrayed them, the Congressman would have been hung from the nearest yardarm. Maybe May did visit Pearl, then something was printed in the paper (what?) and Lockwood concluded that May, already in trouble with the law, was involved.

A nice little junket to Hawaii awaits the author who can convince his publisher to follow up. Rees11 (talk) 19:37, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Here is the catalog record for the Lockwood papers. You would have to go to Washington to view them.

mm 70048694

7000 items in 25 containers! Rees11 (talk) 15:24, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I have cut back the section so it just repeats what Blair says. Rees11 (talk) 14:21, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is another source for anyone who wants to research this. Clay Blair's papers are at the University of Wyoming. 86 boxes. He took extensive notes, so this should let us know how he came to the conclusion that May leaked the info. Inventory of the Clay Blair Papers Rees11 (talk) 14:49, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Senator Andrew May's personal papers are held by the University of Kentucky special collections dept. Box 40, folder 4 contains newspaper clipping from June 1943. Other boxes and folders may reveal relevant information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bflynn (talk • contribs) 13:29, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Admiral Byrd's Role
Admiral Byrd was not the commander of the US fleet during World War II. 67.176.11.190 (talk) 22:27, 28 May 2023 (UTC)