A big part of the silence is that circumstances of the sinking is that it would challenge the perception of the Navy and military in general.
It's an amazing feat that the wartime was able to run as well and successfully as it did. That said, there were plenty of idiots, drunks and dysfunction all over the place.
Major Winters of the Band of Brothers fame was originally in the army as an enlisted man. But while in basic training he witnessed an army officer giving a presentation while holding a wrong rifle for an hour. So he realized maybe being an officer would not be so hard after all and applied to be an officer. The rest is history.
It's an amazing feat that the wartime was able to run as well and successfully as it did. That said, there were plenty of idiots, drunks and dysfunction all over the place.