Robert L. Eichelberger was a lieutenant-general in the United States Army who commanded the Eighth United States Army in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War Two. After the end of the war he remained in Japan as part of the occupying army for three years. He retired at the end of this stint in 1948. Our Jungle Road to Tokyo was published in 1950. He lived the rest of his life in Asheville, North Carolina, and passed away in 1961.