US Naval Officer and Cryptanalysis. Joe Rochefort spent three years prior to World War II (1929-1932) posted to the US Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, along with Lt. Edwin T. Layton. Joe was there with his wife and nine-year-old son Joe Jr. Joe Sr. and Lt. Layton were in Japan to play anthropologist and learn the language and customs of the Japanese people. While in Tokyo, his wife, Elma Fay, gave birth to a daughter, Janet Fay, their second child. He was most famous for leading the team of intelligence analysts at Station Hypo, Pearl Harbor, that broke the Japanese Naval code JN-25 before the Battle of Midway. This intelligence information gave Admiral Chester Nimitz the chance to surprise and defeat a superior enemy force and save Midway Island from capture. This Naval Battle was flawed by performance issues on both sides, was pivotal to the outcome of the war, and dealt a blow to the Japanese war machine from which it never recovered. (WWII, Pacific Theater of Operation) Rochefort was eventually awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and then the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. President REAGAN presented the medals to Joe's daughter Janet Rochefort-Elerding. In the year 2000, Joe Rochefort was inducted into the National Security Agency's Hall of Fame. In the movie "Midway," Rochefort was portrayed by Hal Holbrook.
US Naval Officer and Cryptanalysis. Joe Rochefort spent three years prior to World War II (1929-1932) posted to the US Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, along with Lt. Edwin T. Layton. Joe was there with his wife and nine-year-old son Joe Jr. Joe Sr. and Lt. Layton were in Japan to play anthropologist and learn the language and customs of the Japanese people. While in Tokyo, his wife, Elma Fay, gave birth to a daughter, Janet Fay, their second child. He was most famous for leading the team of intelligence analysts at Station Hypo, Pearl Harbor, that broke the Japanese Naval code JN-25 before the Battle of Midway. This intelligence information gave Admiral Chester Nimitz the chance to surprise and defeat a superior enemy force and save Midway Island from capture. This Naval Battle was flawed by performance issues on both sides, was pivotal to the outcome of the war, and dealt a blow to the Japanese war machine from which it never recovered. (WWII, Pacific Theater of Operation) Rochefort was eventually awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and then the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. President REAGAN presented the medals to Joe's daughter Janet Rochefort-Elerding. In the year 2000, Joe Rochefort was inducted into the National Security Agency's Hall of Fame. In the movie "Midway," Rochefort was portrayed by Hal Holbrook.
Bio by: LAWRENCE HEIDLEBAUGH
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