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Murphy (John Damian) papers
79095  
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Collection Details
 
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  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content of Collection

  • Title: John Damian Murphy papers
    Date (inclusive): 1943-1949
    Collection Number: 79095
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 14 manuscript boxes (5.6 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Consists of court proceedings, investigative reports, regulations, orders, memoranda, printed matter, and photographs relating to trials held on Guam, 1946-1949, of Japanese military personnel for war crimes.
    Creator: Murphy, John Damian, 1896-
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

    Use

    For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1979

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], John Damian Murphy Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Biographical Note

    1896 August 19 Born, Newton, Kansas
    1915-1918 Student, University of Kansas
    1918 Enlisted as apprentice seaman, United States Naval Reserve
    1922-1923 Student, Torpedo School, United States Navy, Newport, Rhode Island
    1927-1930 Associated with George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C.
    1929 JD, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
    1932-1933 Executive officer, USS Mindanao, Asiatic station
    1933-1936 U.S. Army Chemical Warfare School
    1938-1939 Commander, USS Sicard
    1939-1942 Chief of division, Office of Judge Advocate General (Navy)
    1942-1944 Commander, USS Alcor, fleet repair and flagship
    1945 Planning officer, 7th Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet
      Legal officer, U.S. Pacific Fleet staff
      Graduated from Joint Army-Navy Staff College, Washington, D.C.
    1946 Naval aide, Justice Frank Murphy, special U.S. representative to the Philippine Republic
    1946-1949 Director, War Crimes, U.S. Pacific Fleet
    1955 Bachelor of science, American University, Washington, D.C.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The papers of John Damian Murphy consist of court proceedings, investigative reports, regulations, orders, memoranda, printed matter, and photographs, relating to trials held on Guam, 1946-1949, of Japanese military personnel for war crimes.
    Trials of accused Japanese war criminals were held on Guam and Kwajalein by the War Crimes Branch of the Pacific Fleet, U.S. Navy, from 1945 through 1949. They were held under the auspices of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), which oversaw war crimes trials in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region until 1951.
    Major accused war criminals were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, also known as the Tokyo Trial. Other war crimes trials for alleged minor war criminals were held in the countries and territories invaded and occupied by the Japanese. The U.S. Navy had jurisdiction over some of these trials.
    Admiral John D. Murphy, a lawyer who had risen through the ranks from enlisted man, served as War Crimes Director. Naval trials were conducted by the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Navy) under the Navy Division of the War Crimes Office. The War Crimes Office was a central agency in the War Department to coordinate with the Departments of State, War, and the Navy.
    Investigations into alleged war crimes were conducted by U.S. Navy personnel. The courts were known as military commissions, and consisted of five to seven U.S. military officers. The accused were tried for minor war crimes, such as murder and ill-treatment of prisoners, and included personnel of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army. The accused were afforded defense counsel, both Allied and Japanese. Rules of evidence were relaxed. Summaries of trials were regularly submitted to the Japanese government via SCAP memoranda.
    Related material at the Hoover Institution includes records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. The National Archives in College Park, Maryland, holds official records of the U.S. agencies involved in these war crimes trials
    The John D. Murphy papers were acquired in 1979.
    Source: Welch, Jeanie M., "Without a Hangman, Without a Rope: Navy War Crimes Trials after World War II," International Journal of Naval History 1 (April 2002). Available from the International Journal of Naval History. 

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan
    Officers
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities
    War crime trials -- Guam
    United States. Navy