Stilwell and Bethune

Comparing these two people together seems a bit out of line. I also have no intention of querying historical materials to compare the two in detail, but I just volatilize my thoughts casually, and I think it seems to be quite interesting.

Both were foreigners, one American and one Canadian. One is a soldier and the other is a doctor. Both men came to China during World War II to help China in the War of Resistance Against Japan. The difference was that Stilwell helped the Kuomintang Expeditionary Force, and Bethune helped the Communist Eighth Route Army.

The status of the two people should have been said to be a bit of a disparity.

Stilwell is a general, graduated from the West Point Military Academy, participated in two world wars, and was already a retired three-star lieutenant general in his sixties when he came to China, which should be said to be a success in the United States. In 1942, he was appointed by President Roosevelt to China, and successively served as the chief of staff of the Allied Chinese Theater, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Military in the China-Burma-India Theater, the deputy commander of the Southeast Asian Allied Forces Command, the commander of the Chinese Army in India, and the head of the US aid to China, and was later promoted to a four-star general. However, in our country, there are probably not many people who can know this name, and those who know its specific deeds are even more hairy.

Bethune was a thoracic surgeon from Canada, originally a small person with no name, who came to China in 1938 to participate in the anti-Japanese resistance and died of illness in 1939. In the year and a half he has been working in China, even if he has worked hard, that is, he has saved some wounded people, it should be said that his actual role and contribution are very limited. However, after his death, because of an article by Mao Zedong, "In Memory of Bethune", he became famous. Mao Zedong praised Bethune: a noble man, a pure man, a moral person, a person detached from low-level interests, a person who benefits the people. These five evaluations are not for one person, that is, for five people, for tens of millions of people, and everyone will willingly die, although tens of millions of people I will go. Later, the text was selected into language textbooks and influenced generations of Chinese people. Bethune's name and deeds are also known and praised by more than a billion Chinese, comparable to Lei Feng. It can be said that it is extremely mournful!

Why is there such a big difference between the two? Take a closer look and you'll see.

Stilwell was a soldier with a straight personality, quite different from Chiang Kai-shek's political and military views, and in the name of the allied anti-Japanese forces, he had some impact on Chiang's authority, coupled with the tendency to sympathize with the Yan'an Communist Party's anti-Japanese resistance, touched the old Chiang Kai-shek's death pit, was not tolerated by Chiang Kai-shek, and was almost driven back to the United States. After returning to the United States in 1944, he became the commander of the U.S. Army Ground Forces and the commander of the 10th Army, and participated in the Battle of Okinawa. In 1945, he attended the signing ceremony of Japan's surrender on the battleship "Missouri" and presided over the surrender ceremony of Ryukyu Island. He suffered stomach cancer in 1946 and metastasized to the liver, where he died at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco.

From these accounts, it can be seen that Stilwell was a staunch anti-Japanese figure who made great contributions, directly or indirectly, to the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. However, such a heroic figure was not tolerated by Chiang Kai-shek's water and fire, and his meritorious achievements were all erased in China at that time. Even before returning to China after Japan's surrender in 1945, he asked his old superior, General Marshall, to visit his old friends in Beiping, but Chiang Kai-shek refused. If you allow the early death of his illness to imagine, in addition to the damage to his physical health caused by the harsh conditions of the war, the anger of the mood may also be an unavoidable reason. Stilwell can be said to be indignant and desperate.

However, the Communist Party is still objective and fair to him. After Stilwell's death, Zhou Enlai commented, "Chinese people will always remember General Stilwell's name in their hearts." In 1991, the Stilwell Memorial Hall was established on the former site of Chongqing. On September 2, 2015, Stilwell was awarded the Medal for the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Chinese.

Justice is in the hearts of the people. The nominal difference between Stilwell and Bethune's life and death is not only a reflection of their own happiness and misfortune, but also a hidden reflection of the inevitable law of history: more help for the way, less help for the wrongdoer. Why did the Communist Party represented by Mao Zedong win the world, and why did the Kuomintang represented by Chiang Kai-shek lose the world? It is also the personal cause of Shi Bai's personal encounter!