[dropcap]G[/dropcap]lobe-trotting newspaper reporter Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker spoke at Southern Methodist University in Dallas on Nov. 20, 1941, but as usual his pro-war message fell on deaf and hostile ears.

For years the award-winning journalist had implored the public to take a hard second look at Adolph Hitler and the threat fascism posed to democracy around the world. But he was drowned out by the greatest American hero of the century, who emphatically insisted that events in Europe did n...