Copyright 1995 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
April 28, 1995, Friday, CONSTITUTION EDITION
SECTION: NATIONAL NEWS, Pg. 3C
LENGTH: 766 words
HEADLINE: NATION IN BRIEF; Family tries to clear admiral blamed for Pearl Harbor
BYLINE: From our news services
BODY:
More than 50 years after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the family of an admiral who took blame for the disaster appeared before Pentagon officials Thursday to urge that his name be cleared. Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was charged in 1942 with dereliction of duty and forced to retire for not adequately preparing his command for the devastating raid on Dec. 7, 1941, that brought the United States into World War II.
For years his family, joined by senior Navy officials and several historians, have contended that Kimmel was made a scapegoat for blunders committed in Washington, including the failure to provide Kimmel with vital information about the impending attack.
"Why does the country he loved so much continue to deny him his rightful place in history?" grandson Manning M. Kimmel IV, who owns a radio station in Rock Hill, S.C., asked at the gathering Thursday in the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing room. RELIGION
PAPAL MASS IN PARK? Pope John Paul II is expected to celebrate Mass in New York's Central Park during his visit to the United States in October, a church newspaper reported. Catholic New York, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, said the event will be Oct. 7 on the park's Great Lawn, an open space that can hold hundreds of thousands of people. COURTS
UNLIKELY SUPPORTER: A Pennsylvania death row inmate got some unsolicited support from the mother of the man he murdered. Aldona DeVetsco asked state and federal courts to halt Tuesday night's execution of Keith Zettlemoyer, who murdered her son, Charles, in 1980. She issued the plea despite Zettlemoyer's recent request to be left alone to die in Pennsylvania's first execution since 1962. DeVetsco, who lives in suburban Cleveland, wrote in an affidavit that she believes Zettlemoyer "was a very disturbed person at the time of the offense and at the time of trial." ANIMALS
ENDANGERED TURTLE: The federal government is cracking down on Texas and Louisiana shrimp fleets after 73 endangered sea turtles were found dead on Texas beaches this month, including three apparently mutilated by human hands. Officials fear a deadly repeat of last year, when a record 526 endangered turtles washed up on Texas beaches, including 105 last April. Since Sunday, 17 dead turtles have been found on Texas beaches, including a Kemp's Ridley with a slit throat and two leatherbacks with flippers nearly severed by what appeared to be a sharp blade, officials said Thursday. The turtles appeared to have been cut deliberately, possibly after becoming trapped in nets, officials said. CRIME
UNABOMBER PROBE: FBI agents scoured machine shops in San Francisco for clues in the Unabomber case, trying to determine whether the bomber used any of the shops to make explosives, a federal investigator said. The investigator - a Unabomb task force member - spoke on condition on anonymity and would not say why agents suspect that the Unabomber may have used one of the shops. The San Francisco FBI has temporarily reassigned 100 agents to work on the task force that is poring over old and new clues in the 17-year-old case. FBI Director Louis Freeh has agreed to put an additional 50 agents on the case.
HIGH DEATH RATE: Indiana regulators suspended a hospital nurse who was on duty during 130 of 147 deaths in an intensive care unit in less than two years. Orville Lynn Majors was suspended from Vermillion County Hospital in Clinton because he was a "clear and immediate danger to public health and safety," said Indiana State Board of Nursing member George Patton Jr.
TEENS ACCUSED IN KILLING: Two Idaho teenagers who walked away from juvenile custody were charged with killing a Forest Service worker. Authorities said it appeared to be a case of robbery, not anti-government violence. David Jack Wheeler, 49, an engineer from Baker City, Ore., was shot Wednesday while working alone about 15 miles north of Weiser in the Payette National Forest in Idaho. Ronald Stiner, 16, and Eric S. Brown, who turns 18 today, were held without bond after appearing before a magistrate on charges of first-degree murder and possession of a stolen vehicle.
GUNS, ROSES, HEROIN: Steven Adler has been charged with heroin possession, six years after he was tossed out of Guns N' Roses for using drugs. The former drummer for the rock band was arrested in Los Angeles on Wednesday and charged with one count each of heroin possession, being under the influence of heroin and possession of a syringe.