General Vinegar Joe Stilwell
China-Burma-India Theater
The United States exerted a great deal of effort in the form of money, supplies, and men to keep China from falling to the Japanese. Burma was the last remaining route between China and the outside world. A long, primitive dirt trail over 700 miles long called the ‘Burma Road’ was the only route in which vital supplies flowed into China to aid them in their fight against Japan. Unfortunately, there were not enough men and supplies available to keep up the defense of Burma nor was there enough willingness to fight among the British and Chinese to hold off the Japanese onslaught.
Armchair Strategists
Washington strategists attempted to determine the best course for the China-Burma-India theater without any due consideration for reality. Chiang Kia-shek was not interested in ‘fighting the Japanese’, he just wanted to ‘survive the war’. He was less concerned with the welfare of his people and much more concerned with his own political status and power base. China had no semblance of a national army. They had bands of men grouped together under various warlords (who more often than not did not get along) and they fought when and where they wished for the most part. The Chinese ‘soldiers’ were scantily trained and very poorly equipped and were far from ready for any sort of ‘combat’ they might encounter.
British Pride
The British wished to preserve their colonial empire (at least in the beginning). They haughtily refused any aid from Chinese divisions in staving off Japanese attacks on their precious colony of Burma. They believed that once the Chinese were in their colony, it would be difficult to make them leave. My, what a change of heart they had when the Japanese Army actually arrived at their doorsteps. When it became painfully clear that Burma could not be held, the British asked for all the men and supplies China could spare. Meanwhile, the British engaged in the longest retreat in their military history, escaping through the worst jungle terrain in the world almost 800 miles to the relative safety of India.
No Quick Fixes
Washington believed they had found a cheap and quick solution to the problems in Burma when they sent General ‘Vinegar Joe’ Stilwell to sort out the mess. Stilwell was supposed to “increase the effectiveness of American assistance in China” and work closely with ol’ Generalissimo (Peanut) to better the skill of the Chinese armies. Unfortunately, Peanut had little desire to work with Stilwell and even less desire to train the Chinese armies for fear that their increased training would decrease his power status. He spent his most of his energy trying to weasel out of any firm troop commitments to aid Stilwell in pushing back the Japanese advance in China and Burma. He wanted American supplies, money, and men, but he did not wish to involve himself or his army divisions in ousting the Japanese from his own country.
Fighting a Losing Battle
Washington did not help matters much either. They were firmly committed to retaking Burma and reopening the ‘Burma Road’ but they could not commit the necessary supplies for such a massive undertaking. Stilwell, meanwhile, was to work with what little he had to get the supply lines open into China. I think Stilwell summed it up best when he said in a letter to his wife, “It looks like Peanut and I are on a raft with one sandwich between us, and the U.S. rescue boat is steaming in the opposite direction.” (Spector 340)
Whatever it Took
He was not a man to give up easily. Stilwell’s determination alone kept supplies flowing into China after Burma was taken. He built a new road through seemingly impassable and uncharted terrain called the Ledo Road. While the new road was of limited use after its completion, it was a step in the right direction. He personally oversaw the training of several Chinese divisions deemed the ‘Y” force and he pushed a hard-core division of American soldiers trained in jungle fighting (5307th Provisional Regiment) until they literally collapsed racked by exhaustion, starvation, and disease, but they retook Myitkyina from the Japanese. Shortly after, the combined American and Chinese forces finally forced the Japanese Army to retreat back across the Chindwin River and (as the war in the Pacific took its toll on the military capabilities of Japan) eventually out of China altogether.
A True Soldier
General ‘Vinegar Joe’ Stilwell did just what he was sent over there to do despite nearly everyone working against him. He stuck to the course and he won. He was a true soldier, through and through. When Stilwell was forced to retreat some 750 miles into India, Washington sent a plane to rescue him. Stilwell put aboard most of his staff and anyone else who wished to go. However, when asked if he was coming onboard, he replied “No thanks, I prefer to walk.” Stilwell and around 114 people set out to reach India and, amazingly, all of them made it. He never abandoned his men in the face of danger and he walked, worked, slept, and even ate right alongside them. He rarely wore his three stars and he was not afraid to get dirty. He stood up for what he saw as right and he did not back down.
Ronald Spector noted that General Stilwell died in 1946 trying to walk off an incurable cancer.
Spector, Ronald. Eagle Against the Sun. New York: Vintage Books, 1985.
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