People's Liberation Army welcomes 'Uncle Joe'

• Source: The Global Times
• [20:01 May 17 2009]
• Comments

By Yin Hang

General Joseph Stilwell (1883-1946). (Photo: CFP)

For 70-year-old Joseph Stilwell and 68-year-old John Easterbrook, their trip to China was not only a trip for visiting their old friends, but also a trip for reconnecting the friendship between their family and the Chinese people.

Three years ago, as grandson of the famous four-star US Army General Joseph Warren Stilwell, Joseph Stilwell met with General Guo Boxiong, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission in Washington D.C. when he was on an official visit to the US in July 2006. His family was invited by General Guo to visit China.

“It was very kind of vice-chairman Guo Boxiong to meet and provide us with a precious opportunity to come to China,” Joseph Stilwell reportedly told Global People magazine. He thanked him for the chance to reconnect his family with the Chinese people.

Three years later, as special guests of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Joseph Stilwell and John Easterbrook and their families were invited to visit China and attend the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy in Qingdao where General Liang Guanglie, the State Councilor and Defense Minister, said, “the Chinese people will be forever grateful to their good old friend General Stilwell, who contributed greatly to the anti-fascist war of China.”

In April 2009, as expected, they paid a visit to the land their grandfather always loved and fought for.

General Joseph Warren Stilwell, who first came to China in November 1911, fell in love with China. Nine years later, he came back to China and studied Chinese at North China Union Language School in Beijing.

Before the outbreak of the war against Japanese invasion, he became familiar with Chinese history and formed a good relationship with the Chinese people, which made him an ideal candidate for leading the US troops in this part of the world.

In March 1942, General Stillwell came to China for the fifth time as the China-Burma-India Theater US Forces Commander. During his years in China and India, he helped train the Chinese Expeditionary Army.

His personality and his respect for the Chinese people gained him popularity in the rank-and-file.

“Uncle Joe”, his widespread nickname, was earned through his leadership style: care for the “average Zhou”, short on ceremonies.