crypted messages, rather than martial prow-
ess, but it decapitated the head of a phenome-
nally determined opponent.
No sooner had the United States tri-
umphed militarily in World War II than its
mettle was tested again during the Cold War
against the fiendish ideology of communism.
In June 1950, the maniacal dictator Kim Il
Sung attacked South Korea, sweeping aside
all opposition. America was once more unpre-
pared for war, but its forces nonetheless
quickly turned the tide. Then the brilliance of
General Douglas MacArthur was undone by
his own arrogance, and in December 1950
waves of Chinese infantry under General
Peng Dehuai pushed the UN forces back.
Overhead, Russian-built and -flown MiG-15 jet
fighters battled daily with the U.S. Air Force,
and one pilot, Yevgenij Pepelyaev, became the
war’s leading ace. For the first time in its his-
tory, America’s military was forced to accept
a draw.
Within a decade, America was embroiled in
another war on the Asian mainland, this time
in the divided country of Vietnam. Regardless
of the fantastic firepower available to U.S.
forces, the communist guerrilla armies of Vo
Nguyen Giap simply absorbed their losses
and outlasted their impatient adversaries. At
sea, the Cold War also assumed new and more
chilling dimensions as the Russian navy, tradi-
tionally a shallow water force, spread itself
over the oceans at the behest of Admiral
Sergei Gorshkov. But democracy prevailed
over tyranny, and the United States eventually
emerged as the sole surviving superpower.
Nobody learned this faster—or harder—than
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the
1991 Gulf War. So, despite the loss of limited
wars in Korea and Vietnam, the United States
remains one of the greatest military powers in
all of human history. The biography of Amer-
ica’s enemies affords numerous and useful
historical lessons. But more important, it
proffers lasting testimony to our country’s re-
silience, tenacity, and success.
In the largely male world of military vic-
tory and defeat, women should certainly not
be neglected. Only a handful of women be-
came true enemies of the United States, but
their efforts in the overall scheme of Ameri-
can military history are unique and worthy of
discussion. Margaret Arnold possessed
steely resolve and an appetite for danger.
Had her more-famous husband succeeded in
his scheme to turn over West Point to the
British, it may have affected the final out-
come of the Revolutionary War. Frederika
Riedesel was another trooper who willingly
endured all the travails of campaigning and
captivity to be with her husband. During the
Civil War, Belle Boyd was a successful fe-
male intelligence agent whose career be-
came celebrated by both sides. And the
Dowager Empress Cixi was only the second
woman in history to rule China, but she
proved herself a masterful—if ruthless—
practitioner of Machiavellian politics. For
this reason alone, and not simply her defeat
in the Boxer Rebellion of 1890, she merits
greater attention. Finally, the ill-fated Iva
Toguri, aka Tokyo Rose, was more a victim
of circumstance than a bona fide menace,
but she is nonetheless part of the cultural
legacy of World War II, and became a legal
cause célèbre afterward.
It is hoped that America’s Military Adver-
sarieswill call national attention to the nu-
merous and talented enemies that America
has struggled with and, in most cases, van-
quished. May it serve to enhance appreciation
of the freedom we enjoy, as well as the eternal
vigilance we pay to preserve it.
The author would like to acknowledge
Henry Sakaida, Brendan Morrissey, Brian
Leigh Dunnigan, Peter Harrington, Bill Smy,
and Christopher T. George for their assistance
in locating portraits.PREFACE ANDACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xii