Richard Giles Stilwell (24 February 1917 – 25 December 1991) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

who served as Commander

United States Forces Korea The United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a Unified Combatant Command#Subordinate Unified Command, sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK was initially established in 1957, and e ...

from 1973 to 1976, and acting Commander of the U.S. Army Pacific from September to December 1974. He was not closely related to General

Joseph W. Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (19 March 1883 – 12 October 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India theater during World War II. Stilwell was appointed as Chief of Staff for Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuominta ...

Early life and education

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, in 1917, Stilwell attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

before graduating from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1938 with a commission into the Corps of Engineers. He subsequently attended the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

Career

During World War II, Stilwell participated in the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

, and briefly served under General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...

immediately after the war during the occupation of Europe. From there he was a special military advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Rome before serving in the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Stilwell commanded the 15th Infantry Regiment, and was a senior advisor to the I Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Corps. As a Brigadier general, Stilwell was Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. while General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army f ...

was Superintendent during the early 1960s. Stilwell served as commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Thailand (MACTHAI) from 1965 to 1967. From there he commanded the 1st Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, from 1967 to 1968. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Westmoreland appointed Stilwell as his chief of staff. He served as deputy commanding general,

III Marine Amphibious Force III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and d ...

in South Vietnam during 1968 and then as commander of XXIV Corps from 1968 to 1969. On his return to the US he served as deputy chief of staff for US military operations at the Pentagon under Army Chief of Staff Westmoreland from 1969 to 1972. Stilwell later served as the commanding general of the

Sixth United States Army Sixth Army is a Theater Army (United States), theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in ...

, at the Presidio from 1972 to 1973, followed by commander-in-chief of the United Nations Command in Korea. Stilwell oversaw

Operation Paul Bunyan The Korean axe murder incident (), also known domestically as the Panmunjom axe atrocity incident (), was the killing of two United Nations Command officers, Captain Arthur Bonifas and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett, by North Korean soldiers on ...

to remove a tree in the DMZ. His major awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. Among his foreign decorations was the Soviet Order of the Patriotic War First Class which he received while serving as Assistant Chief of Staff G-3, XXII Corps.

Later life and death

After retiring from the Army, Stilwell served as U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 1981 to 1985.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stilwell, Richard G. 1917 births 1991 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star Military personnel from Buffalo, New York United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni Commanders, United States Forces Korea