BENTHIEN, John M.│UTTERMARK. Mark L.│ELDRIDGE. Robert H.│BROWN, Edward J.│LEEPER. John W.
ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 3775 1 March 1951
The following information was obtained from recovered American military personnel, who were interrogated upon arrival in JAPAN from KOREA by Central Interrogation Center, TIS. The interrogation was conducted at Tokyo Army Hospital by Capt Gerard.
1. BENTHIEN, John M. Pfc ER 16241059 Co L 9th Inf Regt 2d Div
On 14 February 1951 source’s unit was attacked by Chinese near HOENGSONG, The unit was ordered to withdraw but since source was wounded he lagged behind and was captured. Immediately upon capture his BAR was taken and source was forced to crawl about 50 yds where there were 3 other PW. Here source was searched and his wristwatch, ring, extra socks, gloves, scarf and cigarettes were taken. The same procedure was followed with the other 3 men. All were taken to a village and put under guard in a house with 3 other prisoners. Two more were brought in later. Here a Chinese medic treated and bandaged wounds. Source and the others were kept here for 4 days during which time they received one bowl of rice each and no other food. None of the American prisoners were questioned, however a guard came through the house occasionally to search them again or to appropriate articles of warm clothing.
On the afternoon of 18 February 1951, the 6 men who could walk were taken away. All 3 of the men who remained behind, source included, were wounded. At about 1700, an Arty barrage set fire to the house and sources and his companions crawled out of the house to a nearby gully. No guards were around. At dark the 3 wounded crawled to another house and hid inside. They stayed here for one night and all the next day when they were picked up by Australian troops who were advancing.
2. UTTERMARK. Mark L. Pfc ER 37596739, Co L 9th Inf Regt 2d Div
When Co L was ordered to withdraw from the attacking Chinese on 14 Feb 1951, source and his companion were in a foxhole and did not get the order. They came out of the foxhole at about 0300 and found themselves captured by an English-speaking Chinese Lieutenant. Using fluent English, the Jr. Lt. told the men to “Drop your guns. Don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you. Are you wounded?”. Source and his companion were taken to a small ravine where they were given 2 cans of “C” rations and some rice. Source’s arm was bandaged here. After approximately 4 hours the 2 Americans were taken to a different area where they joined two more American prisoners. At approximately 1600 they moved again, this time to a building which contained approximately 10 or 15 more Americans. All were moved again after a 3 hour wait, to a group of buildings where they joined 50 to 60 more Americans. These men were mostly former members of Co L and Co I, 9th Inf Regt and 2nd Reconnaissance Co of the 2nd Div. In this place, their interrogation began. Each man was called individually into a room. The Chinese interrogation officer (rank, unknown) using fluent English, asked and wrote down - name, and rank. He then told source “You are in Co L, 9th Infantry, isn’t that right?” Source answered, “Yes.”
At this time source’s arm was hurting so badly that the interrogation officer called for a medic who re-bandaged his arm. Source was made to empty his pockets onto the table. Nothing was taken but the interrogation officer asked if some of the letters were from home. Source stated that the interrogation officer seemed anxious to please, yet keep a businesslike attitude. During source’s interrogation he was asked, “Did anyone take anything from you? If they did I’ll get it back. How have you been treated?” Source was given cigarettes that had been taken from non-wounded American prisoners. After being questioned, source was returned to a building with the rest of the PW.
After 2 days of alternately moving and stopping, source and one other wounded American were separated from the others who went on. Source and companion were taken to a building where they joined 8 other wounded Americans. At dusk on 18 Feb 51 this group, after having been given a lecture on the “War-Mongering Truman and MacArthur” was led by the interrogation officer to a pass in the mountains. Here they were given a safe conduct pass to get through the lines and 2 SK civilians led them back to their own lines. Source was picked up by an Australian unit and evacuated.
3. ELDRIDGE. Robert H. Sgt RA 35427842 Co K, 9th Inf Regt 2d Div.
On 12 Feb 1951 near HOENGSONG, Co K hit a roadlock and source was wounded and captured by Chinese along with about 70 others of his unit including 2 officers. All men were relieved of their weapons and ammunition and searched. Only a compass was taken from source. All were marched to a nearby village where source was sent to an aid station. After his wounds were bandaged he was taken to an area where there was a different group (approximately 150) of American and ROK prisoners. The following morning the soldiers were repaired to move trucks and guns off the road and camouflage them, after which a Chinese captain who used written notes and spoke fluent English, addressed the whole group. The substance of his talk was: “What are you doing in Korea? This is the Chinese Volunteer Army and we are friends of the Americans, but we are fighting for the unity of Korea and fighting imperialism. The reason you have to die is your war-mongering President Truman and your great war-monger General MacArthur, and Wall Street. That is why you have to die, but, we are going to take you to China acid give you a weeks schooling on what kind of Communism is in China and when the war is over, you can go back to the United States and tell them what kind of Communism is in China.”
The Chinese captain had some forms which were printed in English and Chinese (or Korean). He passed them out and asked that the blanks he filled in. There were spaces for name, rank, job before entering the Army, job in the Army, years of high school, and years of college. After he had filled in his form, source was taken into a house and the same captain asked these questions:
“Which unit was the last to arrive in Korea and how long has it been here?”
“How many units do you have here?”
“Why did you come here?”
“How long have you been here?”
“What have the Americans done with all the very young and the very old South Korean male civilians?”
“Did they take them to Japan?”
“Were you in Japan or did you come here straight from the United States?”
The Chinese officer then stated, “I am going to take all of you man approximately 15 miles from here to a school.”
After being questioned source was taken to a house with 26 ROK and 1 other American, all wounded. The remainder of the men were taken North. Source stated that the interrogation officer told him that he had as PW, 2 to 3,000 ROK PW from the 8th ROK Div as well as the KMAG personnel of that Division.
On the evening of 14 Feb 51, source and his fellow PW were told that there was no more rice and that they were to cake their own way to WONJU. On the way, they were picked up by NK guerrillas and taken to a building where they took all of the source’s warm clothing leaving only trousers, shirt and shoes. Here they were questioned again. Source remembered only that he was again asked “What have you Americans done with all the young and old male civilians of South Korea?” An artillery barrage falling around the house that was used as a prison forced the guards away and source and one companion escaped. A jeep from the 187th RCT picked them up and evacuated them.
4. BROWN, Edward J. Pfc Co L 9th Inf Regt 2d Div
At approximately 0500 14 Feb 51, source’s unit which was surrounded by Chinese was ordered to withdraw if possible. Source was wounded and captured with 14 others. All were immediately relieved of weapons and equipment which was divided among the captors. Some Chinese even fought over ownership of the U.S. carbines. The U.S. .45 cal Sub Machine Gun M-3 were simply thrown away. The Americans were taken to a house in a nearby village and a Chinese medic took care of the wounded.
At about 1630 source and 2 other wounded, (Lt. Payne and a SK interpreter) were taken to another house, where they stayed for two days. During this 2 day period source saw approximately 60 captured Americans marched past this house heading north. Source was questioned here by a Chinese officer who spoke fluent English. He was asked only name, rank, serial number and unit. Source was moved again on 18 Feb to another house in the same village leaving his 2 companions behind. He asked and received permission to return to the former house to get a blanket and when he returned source found both Lt. Payne (Co L 9th Inf) and the SK interpreter shot through the heart.
On 19 Feb source was told to remain in the house for 3 hours. At the end of this period be found that the Chinese had pulled out, so he started walking south. Source was picked up by Australians and evacuated.
5. LEEPER. John W. Sgt RA 57206617 Co L 9th Inf Regt
On 14 Feb 51, Co L was ordered to retreat. Source was wounded by mortar fragments and since he was unable to keep up, was captured by Chinese, relieved of his carbine and ammunition and taken to a village. Later source was taken to a small ravine by 2 Chinese who searched him and took cigarette lighter, watch, billfold, eyeglasses and red signal panel. No clothing was taken. After being searched, source was taken to a house nearby where a Chinese officer went through everything that had been taken. Source’s eyeglasses and 12,000 SK Won were returned to him. At this time, 5 other Americans were brought in and subjected to the same treatment, after which all were taken to a small cave in the hills. At dark all were taken to another house and questioned by a Chinese officer who used poor but understandable English. Substance of interrogation was as follows:
“Have any of your personal possessions been taken from you and not returned?”
“What is your name, rank, and serial number?”
“What is your unit?”
After source’s group (5 men) were interrogated, 25 or 30 more Americans were brought in and questioned. The entire group was then moved to another village where they stayed 2 days. Source stated that whenever the Chinese saw an airplane they simply squatted by the side of the road and usually were not detected, since the planes passed right on. At the end of the second day, source’s group which had been increased to about 60 by this time, were lined up in the street and were spoken to by a Chinese officer. He told them: “Don’t be afraid. We are fighting for a cause that is right but we have no quarrel with you men. You will be moved about 20 miles to a safe area in the rear.” After the lecture, all were marched to a village about 20 miles away. The wounded were given medical treatment and their wounds bandaged. At approximately 1800 17 Feb 51, source was taken to another house where there were 10 other wounded Americans. All were told that “Since you are wounded and we have no medical supplies we are going to let you go. Go back to your own country. Tell everyone how well you were treated.” The Americans were given a pass, were assigned 3 South Korean civilian guides and started south. They were picked up and evacuated by an Australian unit.
