John Ashmead

Who was John Ashmead?

John Ashmead,was an American novelist, Naval Intelligence officer, and professor of English. His writings include The Mountain and the Feather about his experiences in the Pacific in World War II as a United States naval intelligence officer and translator. He received a commendation for obtaining information that helped Navy fliers shoot down the plane of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had masterminded the 1941 surprise attack on the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, HI, which brought the United States into the fighting. He co-authored The Songs of Robert Burns in 1988 with Professor John Davison. His PhD thesis was The Idea of Japan 1853-1895: Japan as Described by American and Other Travellers from the West. * Ashmead was a graduate of Navy Japanese language program at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Berkeley. His work as a translator for Naval Intelligence aided in the assassination of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.He was a professor of English at Haverford College from 1948 to 1988. At Haverford, he pioneered the use of computers in education and research.