Naval History and Heritage Command

Finding aid (Word)

Biographical Note

Lloyd J. Graybar attended Middlebury College, and later earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University. He jointed Eastern Kentucky University in 1966 as Professor of History, authoring a biography of Albert Shaw, Albert Shaw of the Review of Reviews, An Intellectual Biography, and a number of articles on military history. Dr. Graybar retired from Eastern Kentucky University in 2000.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains materials gathered by Lloyd Graybar while researching his article “American Pacific Strategy After Pearl Harbor: The Relief of Wake Island.” The article studies the aborted effort to relieve Wake Island in December 1941 during the two weeks following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and appeared in the Fall 1980 issue of the National Archives’ publication, Prologue. A significant portion of the collection consists of letters from Navy veterans in response to Graybar’s questionnaire about the mission of Task Force 14, which was assigned to relieve the Wake Island garrison. Also included are personal correspondence from naval officers present at the incident, copies of news articles and other publications relating to the Wake Island relief, and information on U.S. Navy ships involved in the effort.

The collection is organized in three series. Series I, Wake Island Letters, is comprised of correspondence or personal narrations of Navy officers involved in the relief effort or who had knowledge of Task Force 14. Also included are letters from persons to whom the author wrote for answers to specific questions about the Wake Island incident. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the correspondent.

Series II, Research Material, contains a range of documents Graybar used as source material for his research. Among the materials found in this series are copies of book chapters and journal articles pertaining to the Wake Island; newspaper articles from 1941; and deck logs from USS Mugford and USS Henley, which were supporting Task Force 14 as anti-submarine screen; and documents on USS Saratoga, including personal correspondence, news articles, and the ship's newsletter. This series is arranged alphabetically by article title.

The final series, Publications, consists of a copy of the edited original manuscript by the author with footnoted sources and the final version, as it appeared in Prologue.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Papers of Lloyd J. Graybar, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.

Subject Headings (LCSH)

Wake Island, Battle of, 1941.
World War, 1939-1945--Naval Operations, American.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives, American.
Saratoga (Aircraft Carrier : CV-3)
Mugford (Destroyer : DD-389)
Henley (Destroyer : DD-391)
Historians--United States--Archives.
Veterans--United States--Correspondence.