The Wilmington morning star., 1946-10-13
GENERAL STIL WELL
CLAIMED BY DEATH
Continued from Page One)

lnear his nome IN OdIIIlel, Sd1Il. A>'
Idate for the rite was announced.
Death was attributed to adeno
carcinoma (caner) of the liver
. (which was discovered during thu
treatment of an amoebic absces'
Of the liver.
The wiry general had an opera
ton Oct. 8 for a liver ailmens be
! lieved contracted In the Burma
liungles. His condition became
Vertical Oct. 9, and he grew pro
Excessively weaker.
Death came at 12:48 p. m. a
-L,etterman General hospital on the
grounds of his Sixth Army head
quarters here.
Stilwell rarely o decorations,
but the army gave him on his
death bed the nj he had said ne
most coveted.
It was the combat infantryman's
badge. which is awarded only tol
extended fighting at the from
against the enemy.
The leathery commander, WHIT
had repeatedly exposed himself IN
combat. had told his soldiers the
medal was n of the Army's high
est honors. Stilwel1 received 1t
Yesterday. He already had the
DISTINGUISHED Service Cross, The
DISTINGUISHED Service Medal with
Cluster and Legion of Merit.
The hard-bitten fighter, char
acterized by candor and known 10
his troops as Vinegar Joe" and
Uncle Joe," said after the Jap
anese drove his combined Allied
forces out of Burma in 1912:
Il claim we got a hell of a beat
ling"
The beating was inflicted with
Stilwell in the front lines. He was
at the end of what General George
|C. Marshall termed 1.-The thlnnest
supply line Of all"
Stilwell served as chief OF staff
to Generalissimo Chang Kal-Shek,
directing Chinese offensive S
against the japanese until October,
1914. when major disagreements
between Chang and the American
general became apparent. The
principal contention was over the
uses to which the Chinese were
putting American war ECU pment.
Then the War department recall
ed the battling veteran of China
and placed him in the Penta3on
building in Washington as COM
mander of the U. S. Army ground
forces.
His desk failed to hold him long.
Stilwell was touring Pacific battle
fronts when 1t. Gen. Simon 3.
Buckner, Jr., was killed in action.
Succeeding Buckner as comman-
der Of the Tenth army June 81,
1915. Stilwell rove his forces TO
quick completion Of the Okinawa
campaign.
On August 81, 1915, he accepted
the surrender of the Ryukyus is
lands from the japanese.
He told his troops in a fourth OF
July speech that he wasn't going
to "get off a lot of balcney about
your heroic deeds and glorious vic
tories. This has been a tough fight
melody but the men who fought
it can possibly realize how tough"
Returning to the United States
on deactivation of the Tenth Army
StilWell became commander Of the
,r%eactivated Sixth Army Feb. %,
1915. His command consolidated
army forces in the western part
Of the nation and succeeded the
wartime western defense COM
mand.
The generals knowledge of China
stemmed from long tours Of duty
in the orient, beginning in 1920,
when he went to Peiping as a
language student.
When he was named Chiang's
chief of staff in 1912, the Chinese
army organ said the appointment
was worth 100, 900 new troops ad-
ded to China's forces.
StilWells life and talents were
given to soldering. He was born
at Palatka, Fla, in 1888, and was
graduated in 1904 from the U. S.
military academy at West Point,
where he established a record as
an athlete.
He fought through major en-
gagements in France during the
First World war and received the
Distinguished Service medal. His
son, 1t. Col. Joseph W. Stilwell,
Jr., pinned the Distinguished Serv-
ice Cross on his famous father in
a surprise ceremony in Chungking
during World War II.
The generals widow is the
former Winifred Alison Smith of
Syracuse, N. Y. The surviving
members of the family include his
sons, Col. Stilwell, liaison officer
to the Canadian army at Edmon-
ton, Alberta, and Benjamin w.,
student at Stanford university;
three daughters, Mrs. E. F. East
erorook of Fort Benning, Ca;
MRS. William E. Cox of San Fran
cisco and Miss Alison Stilwell of
San francisco; a brother, John, Of
lArdenWold, N. Y. and a ~sister