You might not know him by name, but you've probably heard his story.

Hiroo Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Japanese Army. Rather than face reality and surrender when Allied forces overtook his garrison on Lubang Island in the Philippines in early 1945, he headed for the hills.

And there Onoda stayed for 29 years. Convinced that World War II was still being fought, he dismissed overwhelming evidence to the contrary as clever enemy propaganda.

Which brings us to, of all people, Michael Heath.

The executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine announced last week that he's spearheading yet another referendum drive in his never-ending war on homosexuality. But this time, even Heath sounds a little like, well, Hiroo Onoda.

"At this point, this is just me talking," Heath wrote late last month to his supporters on the league's Web site. "I need to hear from you. I need your show of support to be persuaded that I should even recommend this to my board."

How many actually replied "Charge!" is, as usual, known only to Heath. But nevertheless, the battle is on: Heath's proposed "Act to Protect Marriage and Promote Equality," now under review by Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, takes aim at everything from same-sex marriage to civil unions, from civil-rights teams in Maine high schools to the hard-fought inclusion of sexual orientation under the Maine Human Rights Act.

Now there's no doubt that Heath, like Hiroo Onoda, is a passionate man. But also like Onoda, he's lost sight of a world fast passing him by.

The simple truth is that all but the die-hards have moved on from this decades-old fight. By the simple passage of time, Mainers have learned that Heath's shopworn scare tactics -- the school civil-rights teams, he says, are "communist lite" recruiters for the gay, lesbian and transgendered cause -- have about as much impact as a grenade with its firing pin rusted firmly in place.

Still, Heath exhorts his erstwhile supporters: "We have been licking our wounds long enough. We must launch a referendum to stop Maine from endorsing the special legal right to sexual promiscuity."

A referendum, of course, cannot be launched without enough signatures -- in this case, Heath will need 55,087 Mainers to sign on to his latest offensive.

In other words, we can end this skirmish before it even starts by simply refusing to sign Heath's petition. If the petition circulator asks why, just place a friendly hand on his shoulder and say, "It's over. Didn't anyone tell you?"

Beyond that, we can only hope that Heath himself will move on. If he spent half the time battling legalized gambling or domestic violence that he does tilting at homosexuals, Maine might actually benefit from its self-appointed savior.

Hiroo Onoda, who for 29 years ignored pleas from even his family to give it up, finally came out of the jungle in 1984 after his former commanding officer journeyed all the way to Lubang Island and told him that the war was long over.

But alas, with all due respect to the league's board, Heath answers to no man. Thus we pray for some sign from the heavens, something that might persuade St. Michael, once and for all, to stand down.

Anyone have an olive branch?

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:

bnemitz@pressherald.com