Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943). commander in chief of the Japanese navy. and one of the great military geniuses of World War II, grew up hating the United States. His father had told him bedtime stories about "the barbarians who came in their black ships" in the 1800's, "broke the doors of Japan, threatened the Son of Heaven,and trampled the ancient customs."
To learn his enemy's weaknesses Yamamoto traveled to the United States in the 1920's and studied at Harvard University. He quickly gained a healthy respect for the vast potential of American industrial and military might. He became convinced that fighting a conventional war with the United States and its allies would be a catastrophic mistake for Japan. For that reason when called upon to serve he came up with the idea for the attack on Pearl Harbor, seeing it as the the only way to eliminate the American naval threat.
On April 18, 1943, U.S. radio operators intercepted a secret message pinpointing the exact location of Yomamoto's personal plane. This was a stroke of luck for the Americans. Viewing Yamamoto as one of Japan's best military assets, they had wanted to eliminate him for some time but had never been able to find him. Ordered that they "must at all costs reach and destroy Yamamoto and his staff." sixteen U.S. planes attacked the admiral the next morning. In a matter of minutes, the Americans completed their mission, robbing the Japanese of their most brilliant strategist. Japanese navel commander Isoroku Yamamoto suggested the attack on Pearl Harbor. Two years later, American pilots avenged the deed: they shot Yamamoto's plane out of the sky.