A five-day commemorative journey retracing the historic Stilwell Road started on Thursday in Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, honoring the history of wartime cooperation between China and the United States, and the enduring friendship of their people.
The journey started at the Chongqing Stilwell Museum, once the wartime residence of U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, who played a crucial role in the China-U.S. alliance during the war.
The event marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the opening of the Stilwell Road in 1944.
A launch ceremony was held at the Chongqing Stilwell Museum, and attended by members of the Stilwell family and guests, who witnessed the unveiling of a statue of General Stilwell, the donation of historical archives, and the launch of new publications, all celebrating the friendship and cooperation that continues to this day.
Stilwell’s descendants are among those to drive the Stilwell Road to honor the memory of General Stilwell.
"We absolutely enjoyed planting the tree when we were here two years ago. Seeds of friendship that my great-grandfather planted with the Chinese people so many years ago -- almost a hundred years ago -- and it is truly an honor for us to be able to continue that legacy. Well, my sister and I brought our kids: her three kids and my two kids here two years ago, and four of them were able to come back this year. And really, it's an opportunity for us to show them the love that the Chinese people have for our great-grandfather -- their great-great-grandfather -- and to hopefully plant more seeds of friendship with them and more people in China," said Susan Mai Easterbrook Cole, General Joseph Stilwell’s great-granddaughter.
Linking the northeastern Indian town of Ledo and Yunnan's provincial capital Kunming via Tengchong, the 1,726-kilometer-long Stilwell Road was a lifeline for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with more than 50,000 tonnes of supplies transported along it to battlefields in China during the war.
During his 42-year military service, Stilwell made five visits to China and lived in the country for 12 years. While serving in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, he provided support to the Chinese people in their resistance against Japanese aggression.
The Stilwell Road represents wartime cooperation and the enduring friendship between the Chinese and American people, said Manuel Dume, the founder and CEO of the Stilwell Academy.
"I think everything that we can do to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States is totally something positive. And what more of a positive time in our history than the CBI -- the China-Burma-India Theater of the war back then? That was a time in our history where China and the United States were together," said Dume.
Five-day journey tracing Stilwell Road kicks off
