ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 3074 30 January 1951
The following information was obtained from recovered American military personnel, who were interrogated upon arrival in JAPAN from KOREA by Central Interrogation Center, ATIS. Interrogation was conducted by Lt FUSCO.
These two men were captured, held prisoner and released at the same time as Sgt VIVIAN S. McALTSTER, ER-37819189 (Ref ATIS Interrogation Report No 2897). They were captured by North Korean forces on 7 January and released on 10 January.
On their way to what later proved to be a CP, the prisoners were stopped and searched. Cigarettes, matches, mess knives, hand grenades, ammunition and canteens were taken from them. They were then led to a CP located about 1 mile from where they were captured. The CP was located in a native house. They were taken into a room about 12 feet square which contained 10 or 11 officers, one of whom was definitely in charge. There were no chairs or tables. The OIC was sitting on floor. He told the prisoners to do likewise.
The man in charge was a Caucasian Officer who, by his own admission, claimed to be a General. He was wearing the insignia of a two star general of the Tank Corps and the dress uniform of a Soviet General Officer as shown in The Soviet Army (DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PAMPHLET NO 30-2, dated July 1949). Both American prisoners were positive in their identification of the uniform including the ornamented cap and insignia worn. Because the officer was not wearing his blouse, no awards or decorations were in evidence. The fact that all the other officers in the CP, in addition to those who occasionally came in, treated this Caucasian officer with considerable respect led the Americans to believe that he entered a powerful influence. For about three hours, they were spoken to by this extremely talkative and egotistical officer. Father than an interrogation, the interview was called "friendly conversation" by the source with the General doing most of the talking. Because of this, source could give a fairly detailed description of the Caucasian officer as follows:
Age: 32-35
Height: 5'8" - 5'9"
Weight: 145 - 150 1bs
Hair: Black
Eyebrows: Black
Hairline: Receding
Forehead: High
Eyes: Brown
Cheek Bones: High
Chin: Pointed
Nose: Long, Pointed
Glasses: None (even when reading)
Walk: Good military bearing
Scars: None visible
Appearance: Youthful, Pompous
Foreign Languages Spoken: Russian, Korean, Spanish, English.
Sore of the statements and actions by the General Officer helped to describe him and his background further. He called himself NIKOLAI GIRMAN HEN. He even pointed out his name for source. In show how well versed he was in the four languages, he counted up to ten in each. He stated that he had a mother and father who were both living but he said that he had "no wife" and "no home". He claimed to have attended and graduated "LEADERSHIP SCHOOL" in MOSCOF from 1941-1944. He stated that the men in the room were all his staff officers including 3 adjutants. He claimed to be a division commander with responsibilities and duties greater than an ordinary division commander. To illustrate he drew a rough sketch as follows:
The General did not elaborate further on his chart. When asked by the source where his tanks were, he replied that American airplanes had destroyed them but that he was expecting more soon. He then said that many Korean homes were destroyed by American airplanes and because of that, any officers captured would be held for ransom to pay for these destroyed homes. He said that it will take many, many American dollars". He then made the statement, "My division captured General Dean. General Dean will be put on an American ship to go home after the ransom is paid by the Americans. Including General DEAN, we have 5 Division Commanders being held in CHINA for ransom". When source asked where General DEAN was held in CHINA, General KIKOLAI changed the subject.
He then started to brag about the victories of the Korean and Chinese armies standing that SEOUL was captured on Jan 4th, INCHON on Jan 5th SUWON on Jan 6th. He said that they would continue to press forward until the American forces were thrown out of KOREA, If the Americans try to make a stand anywhere in the western and central section of South KOREA, the Korean Army with the help of 3 million Chinese Communists would encircle and annihilate them. There would be an amphibious landing at the southwestern tip of the peninsula by the Chinese who would when push up in a northeastern direction. The Chinese Armies would come down along the west and east coast with the Korean Army coming down the center. The Chinese forces that landed and those that came down the east coast would link up, thereby cutting off the American forces who would be trapped without a suitable evacuation port. However, if the Americans (General NIKOLAI never used UN forces) just keep withdrawing towards PUSAN and get out of KOREA they will be left alone. But if the Americans put up a fight the Communist Forces would bomb in succession PUSAN, JAPAN, the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK. No mention was made of the PHILIPPINE ISLANDS or ALASKA.
General NIKOLAI next proceeded to mention famous American movie stars and to hum American songs in order to show his captors that he was well acquainted with the United States even though he said he had never been there. Source remarked that General NIKOLAI gave a very foolish and ridiculous impression when he hummed the tune "RAMONA" and talked about the "child actress," Shirley Temple. Source stated that the General was about 8 years behind the times with both his popular Hollywood stars and his popular songs.
During this three hour session with the General, he managed to ask a few questions. They were the same for each of the prisoners. The questions asked were:
1. Is your mother and father living?
2. Do you have any sisters or brothers?
3. Are you married?
4. What was your civilian occupation?
No other questions were asked. In fact, he was now even interested in the names of the prisoners or the units to which they belonged. Source believed that he was primarily interested in bragging about himself, the North Korean and Chinese forces and in showing how well he could handle the English language. As long as the prisoners paid attention t him and were alert he was willing to go on talking but when they started to lie back and to relax, he had them taken from the room.
No notes had been taken. Other than a map of KOREA which the General used to show what the intentions of the Korean and Chinese Communist Armies were, no visual aids were see. In fact, the General borrowed the fountain pen of one of the prisoners' to draw the sketch of the men who were responsible to him. The General asked the owner if he could keep the pen. The prisoner who already had his cigarette lighter taken from him by the General, refused.
The three Americans were then taken to an adjoining room where they were completely shaken down. The articles taken from them included pens, wristwatches, wallets, rings, address books, gloves and the extra pair of sox they were carrying. These articles were taken to the room from where the prisoners had just come. Source stated that it was obvious that this shake down was ordered by the General because when some of the articles were returned, only those of value including the fountain pens had been kept.
Since Sgt McALISTER was badly wounded in the mouth and required medical attention, it was decided to send them to a village where medical facilities were available. After a 3 hour walk they came to the village and were taken to a hut where medical treatment was given. There was a North Korean officer in charge who spoke very broken English. He questioned the three American for about 3 minutes. He asked the following questions of each while all were in the same room:
1. Are your mother and father alive?
2. Do you have any sisters or brothers?
3. Did you kill any Koreans?
One of the statements this North Korean officer used seemed to have made an impression on the prisoners. He said:
"It's better to tell the truth and live than to lie and die."
All three were again moved to another hut in this village. They were then subjected to another questioning. They considered this to be the closest to a real organized interrogation. This was the third time they were questioned on 7 January, the day of their capture. They were all told to sit down on the floor. The interrogator who spoke English well was a non-commissioned officer and he sat down on the floor with them. They were all sitting around a charcoal "hibachi" which was the only piece of furniture in the room. The interrogator was equipped with a pencil and paper and wrote down all the answers. Before interrogating he shook the prisoners down talking all dogtags and papers which could be used for identification. He copied the information he wanted on a piece of plain paper. No forms were used ■■r were any seen. The information wanted was:
1. Name, rank, serial number.
2. Division to which attached.
3. Civilian occupation.
4. Were parents living?
5. Number of brothers and sisters? Younger or older?
No other information was requested. The interrogator than proceeded to explain the terms of the ■…■A Convention concerning the handling of prisoners of war. He told the Americans that if they were released and sent back to the American Army, they were to return home. If they do not go home and if they are captured again, they will be killed. When the Americans asked what the Koreans intended to do with them, they were told that they would be taken to SEOUL within 5 days and when the war was over, prisoners of both sides would be exchanged. The North Korean assured the prisoners that the war would surely be over in 3 months.
The Americans were held prisoner for 2 days in this but and later were moved t a native house that was no more than 1/2 mile from the place of capture. On the night of 9 January a messenger came with verbal orders to release the prisoners. The interpreter made out a pass in Korean, printed a letter in English for the Americans to take back and released them. The message in English which bore co heading or signature was along these lines.
"Tell all your friends to stop fighting in KOREA. Go home to AMERICA. Your mothers and fathers are very unhappy that you are away from home.
Korean soldiers do not want to fight Americans."
For the CO, ATIS:
AURELL
