ATIS INTERROGATION NO. 3606 27 February 1951
The following information was obtained from recovered American military personnel, who were interrogated upon arrival in JAPAN from KOREA by General Interrogation Center, TIS. The interrogation was conducted at Tokyo Army Hospital by Capt Gerard.
Source was driving a mess truck in convoy 2 Jan 51 from WONJU to HOENGSONG accompanied by Pfc James LeBLANC of the same unit, when the truck broke down on the road near TANGYANG. The other vehicles went on promising to send a wrecker. At about 2300, NK Guerrillas made a raid on TANGYANG and the 2 men were captured. A group of about 50 NK Guerrillas searched the source and his companion and took hats, shoes, field jacket liners and field jackets. They were given old canvas shoes in return. Their hands were tied and they were marched to a village (name unknown) where they were taken to a Hq in a Korean house.
Source and his companion were interrogated together by a Sr It, Security Forces who told them that his name was MIN JU SAN and that he had graduated from Tokyo University. The general line of questioning was as follows:
What is your name?
Rank?
What Army are you in? American or British?
Where is your unit located?
What State are you from?
What was your occupation before entering service?
Are you now a professional soldier?
What kind of a job does your father have?
These questions were followed by a lecture on communism which followed the line that, President Truman and General MacArthur wanted war in order to make profits, and that Stalin and Henry Wallace are the peoples friends.
Source and fellow PW were searched upon termination of the interrogation and his knife, identification tags and wallet were taken. They were then taken to another building where they were fed hot rice and given a blanket. After approximately 8 days here because of heavy mortar and artillery shelling the NK guerrilla unit was forced to move, taking the Americans with them. They moved for 3 days stopping at villages during the daytime and moving only at night.
At 1800 14 Feb 51, the NK interrogation officer (MIN JU) told source to remain in the Korean house which they occupied at the time and not to leave until 0800 the following morning. He gave source 1800 Won and a note in Korean which he said was a pass to get through the NK lines. The NK’s departed and the following morning source and companion walked south until they met the 5th Cav Regt.
Source was in convoy on the road near HOENGSONG when they came upon a Chinese road block at 1800 12 Feb 51. After the vehicles were abandoned, source was wounded by mortar fragments. He was picked up by 10 Chinese and taken to a nearby Korean house. A Chinese medic bandaged his wounds and he was then searched. His identification bracelet, dog tags and parka were taken. Nothing was taken from his billfold except a picture of his sister.
Source remained in the house all night. On the following morning the Chinese unit was strafed and bombed by UN jets. However the Chinese placed American signal panels around the area and the attack ceased.
At about 1300 a Chinese soldier, thought to be an officer, brought a pamphlet on communism to the source. He was unable to recall the exact contents except that it slandered President Truman and General MacArthur as war mongers and praised Stalin. Source was also shown an O.B. book-let, written in English and listing correctly, according to source, all units of the 2d Division as well as the names of most of the unit commanders. Source was asked to point out his own unit. He was also asked his rank and was told (in poor but understandable English) that if he would join the Chinese Army be could become a Sgt. Questioning was terminated by another air attack which ceased as soon as the signal panels were laid out again.
Source was held one more day but was left behind when the Chinese moved out. He saw 4 more captured Americans being taken north but was unable to speak to them. After his release, source walked south but was stopped and searched several times before he reached the 187th Airborne Regt from where he was evacuated.
For the CO, TIS:
WEELDREYER
