Joseph Stilwell General Joseph W. Stilwell Award. A reference to Stilwell was made in the 1995 film "Outbreak." During a discussion between Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland, Sutherland makes the remark that, "FDR stopped Stilwell from going into Indochina, he caused the Vietnam War." Stilwell's nickname was 'Vinegar Joe' which was the name used by a British Blues Band formed in 1971 with members Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks providing the vocals. Their third album was called "Six Star General" after Stilwell and has his name printed across the back cover. Streets in Marina, California, Kendall Park, New Jersey and the Presidio
Joseph Stilwell blamed the length of the siege, among other things, on British and Gurkha Chindit forces for not promptly responding to his demands to move north in an attempt to pressure Japanese troops. This was in spite of the fact that the Chindits themselves had suffered grievous casualties in several fierce pitched battles with Japanese troops in the Burmese jungles, along with losses from illness and combat exhaustion. Stilwell also had not kept his British allies clearly informed of his force movements, nor coordinated his offensive plans with those of General Slim. Bereft of further combat replacements for his hard-pressed Marauder