General Stilwell was not pleased after hearing that the Ledo-Burma Road had been renamed in his honor at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek.  Stilwell believed it gave no credit to the soldiers who fought and died to make it a reality.

  Stilwell was one of the few early supporters of the building of a road through Burma.  More than by-passing the Japanese land blockade of China, he knew he would need it in order to move troops through the Burmese jungle to the fighting fronts.  His belief in the need for a road was shared by President Roosevelt, and the road building project was given high priority early on in World War II.

  The need for a road was not shared by all.  Winston Churchill was one of those who believed it a waste of time, men and material.  About its use as a supply line, he predicted that if completed at all, it would not be until the need for it had passed.  His prediction proved mostly accurate as U.S. successes in the Pacific helped to hasten the Japanese retreat from Burma.  The Japanese surrendered less than three months after the road was officially opened.

 Engineers building the road were joined by others constructing a pipeline that originated at the docks of Calcutta.  Past Ledo, it generally paralleled the route of the Stilwell Road and carried fuel for convoy trucks along the road and planes operating from forward bases in China.

  While the road was being built, it served as a combat road enabling Merrill's Marauders and Chinese Army forces better access through the jungle.  Air strips built alongside the road helped to alleviate the need to drop everything by air.  Medical evacuations were hastened by the use of the air strips.  Following the capture of Myitkyina, its important air field, largest in north Burma, was used by Hump flights and allowed safer, more southerly routes for flights Over the Hump.

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