Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
China Maintains Respect, and a Museum, for a U.S. General
Old Vinegar Joe Stillwell.CHONGQING, China Early in his tenure as commander of the United States World War II mission in China, Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell expressed a grudging fondness for the damp, ramshackle capital deep in the countrys southwest that would be his base for the next several years.
Chungking isnt half bad when the sun shines, the plain-spoken general wrote in his diary, using the spelling of the period. But his tolerance for the underserviced, refugee-laden town perched high above the Yangtze River did not last.
A year later, he composed a five-stanza poem that went, in part:
The garbage is rich, as it rots in the ditch, / And the honey-carts scatter pollution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/world/asia/chongqing-joseph-stilwell-museum.html?_r=0
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 1318 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
China Maintains Respect, and a Museum, for a U.S. General (Original Post)
bemildred
Feb 2016
OP
unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)1. Did you ever read "The Stillwell Papers"?
Vinegar Joe Stillwell was an interesting man.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)2. I read Tuchmann on Stillwell, long ago, while adolescent.
Didn't take up History again until I retired.
The Magistrate took the time to talk about him some here too. I like the curmudgeonly respect that he showed as opposed to the usual smarmy racism.
Baobab
(4,667 posts)3. Thank you, I will definitely check him out. I also have a lot of respect for Peng Dehui
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_Dehuai
He was the commander of the Chinese forces during the Korean War era and he was the only one of the original Chinese leadership who had actually grown up poor.
He stood up to Mao during the Great Leap Forward disaster, which killed at least 30 million Chinese (probably many many more, it was literally one of the worst disasters in human history and utterly avaoidable) and paid for his candor with his life.
He was the commander of the Chinese forces during the Korean War era and he was the only one of the original Chinese leadership who had actually grown up poor.
He stood up to Mao during the Great Leap Forward disaster, which killed at least 30 million Chinese (probably many many more, it was literally one of the worst disasters in human history and utterly avaoidable) and paid for his candor with his life.