Joseph Stilwell Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe". Distrust of his Allies and a lack of resources meant Stilwell was continually forced to improvise. He famously differed as to strategy, ground troops versus air power, with his subordinate, Claire Chennault, who had the ear of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. General George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, acknowledged he had given Stilwell "one of the most difficult" assignments of
Joseph Stilwell the Presidio of San Francisco. The 6th Army had been reorganized as an administrative command in charge of Army units in the western United States. In May 1946, Stilwell and his former subordinate Frank Merrill led two Marine platoons in suppressing the prison uprising known as the Battle of Alcatraz. Joseph Stilwell died after surgery for stomach cancer on October 12, 1946, at the Presidio of San Francisco, while still on active duty. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the Pacific Ocean, and a cenotaph was placed at the West Point Cemetery. Among his military decorations are