Joseph Stilwell the parents of five children, including Brigadier General Joseph, Jr., (West Point 1933) served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Stilwell later taught at West Point, and attended the Infantry Advanced Course and the Command and General Staff College. During World War I, he was the U.S. Fourth Corps intelligence officer and helped plan the St. Mihiel offensive. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in France. Stilwell is often remembered by his sobriquet, "Vinegar Joe", which he acquired while a commander at Fort Benning, Georgia. Stilwell often gave harsh critiques of performance in field exercises,
Joseph Stilwell faced with the loss of a critical area... with possible catastrophic consequences". Roosevelt ended his ultimatum to Chiang with the threat to end all American aid unless Chiang "at once" placed Stilwell "in unrestricted command of all your forces." General Chennault later claimed that Stilwell had deliberately ordered Sino-American forces out of Guilin as a way of creating a crisis that would force Chiang to give up command of his armies to Stilwell. Stilwell's diary supports Chennault's claim as Stilwell wrote that if a crisis emerged that was "just sufficient to get rid of the Peanut without entirely wrecking the