Rhode Island First Day of Issue Covers
Distinguished Americans Series - General Joseph Stilwell
Issued August 24, 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island
for the American Philatelic Society's StampShow 2000
Scott #3420 Designed by Mark Summers

Therome Laser Cachet showing P-40E Warhawk flown by the Flying Tigers

General Joseph Warren Stilwell was born in Palatka, Florida on March 19, 1883. He commanded both the United States and Chinese Nationalist forces fighting against the Japanese in the Far Eastern Theatre.

General Stilwell graduated West Point Military Academy in 1904. He served in the Philippines during World War I and later served as an instructor at West Point. He served in Tianjin, China from 1926 to 1929 and as the Military Attaché  in Beijing from 1935 to 1939. 

At the outbreak of World War II, General Chiang Kai-shek appointed General Stilwell to be his Chief of Staff and he was placed in command of the Chinese 5th and 6th armies in Burma. In 1942 he was defeated by numerically superior Japanese forces and retreated to India on foot with what was left of his troops after an agonizing 140 mile trip through dense jungle. 

"Vinegar Joe" Stilwell continued to serve as the Commanding General of all U.S. forces in China, Burma and India throughout the war and early in 1945 the Ledo Road, a supply route linked with the Burma Road was renamed the Stilwell Road in is honor. 

General Stilwell was appointed as the commander of the U.S. 10th Army in 1945 and in August, he received the surrender of the 100,000 Japanese troops in the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa). In March 1946 General Stilwell assumed command of the 6th Army headquartered in San Francisco, California, which command he held until his death on October 12, 1946.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica