Interesting Clint that you gave me such an excellent segue! As I read the posts I was thinking of Homer Lea. The October 2004 issue of Military History Magazine has an article about him by Simon Rees.

The article begins:

"On December 7, 1941, Japan unleashed the might of its seaborne air arm on the unsuspecting U.S. Pacific Fleet docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.Within 24 hours Japanese air raids had crippled American airfields and naval bases in the Philippines. On December 10, Japanese infantry stormed ashore at Luzon. The United States, which Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto had portentously described as a ‘sleeping giant,” had finally been awakened to war.

Millions of Americans were shocked by their sudden, bloody entry into World War II. But there were some, including the commander of American forces in the Philippine, Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who had long expected it. They had read a little-known book, The Valor of Ignorance, first published in 1909. Despite its having been written 32 years beforehand, the small volume carried an amazingly accurate warning of Japan’s surprise attack and its follow-up moves. In fact, the work seemed so prescient that members of MacArthur’s staff later went on to label its American author, who had acquired his own share of experience fighting in the Far East, a clairvoyant.

And yet, when The Valor of Ignorance was first published, mainstream military thinkers and planners had not only rejected the work, they had actively derided it. The book had also predicted the fall of Manchuria, Hong Kong, Indochina, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and parts of the West Coat – and to most Western officers, the whole idea was absurd. The Japanese officer class, however, did not think so. They had bought the book from the outset and, having studied it avidly, put its deadly lessons into practice in 1941.

Who was this 20th century Cassandra whose advice and warnings had been dismissed by his countrymen but recognized by his enemies? Born in 1876, Homer Lea was never considered normal by his contemporaries. A hunchback, he weighed less than 100 pounds and stood a diminutive 4 feet 11 inches. Nevertheless, even from an early age he was filled with a burning desire to become a military colossus. He managed to get an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., but was soon dismissed because of his frail health. “Little Scrunchneck,” as his classmates affectionately called him, then settled for study at Stanford University before again declaring his intention to jioin the U.S. Army. He was turned down. Frustrated but undaunted by these setbacks, Lea, like several military adventurers before him turned his attention eastward to China….”

Homer Lea: Author of The Valor of Ignorance » HistoryNet

http://www.homerleasite.com/Site/Welcome.html

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."