포로신문
보/고/서

ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 3869　7 February 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 361st Station Hospital by Lt FUSCO.

The seven (7) men names above were all members of the group selected to attend the Communist Indoctrination School that took place between 12 January and 7 February 1951. In addition to corroborating what has already been reported (Reference ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NUMBERS 3602 and 3655), they have been able to provide some new information. Included in this group are Cpl LONGORIA and Pvt MURPHY who were chosen squad leaders at the school and therefore had more contact with the Chinese instructors than the others. Some of the others, because of their different racial strains like Sgt ESPIRITU, a Filipino; Cpl ESTELA, a Puerto Rican; Pfc WRIGHT, an American Indian; and (again) Cpl LONGORIA, a Mexican were selected because they were given special attention by the British International News Correspondent, MICHAEL SHAPIRO when he visited the school.

The men seemed to agree that the officer in charge of the school, “Mr KU”, was not a true Communist. He seemed to avoid as much as possible the use of the term, “communist”. In his lectures the term was very seldom used as compared with the number of times it appeared in the lectures of the other instructors. In his conversations with various prisoners at the school, he made the statement that not all Chinese can be considered communists. He claimed that he had nothing to do with the Communists until April 1949 when SHANGHAI fell. “Mr KU” said he was at a university at the time. He and others like him were told to volunteer. Those who did not volunteer were beaten up and then forced to join the Communist Army. “MR KU” impressed the men with his intelligence, as shown by his knowledge of foreign affairs and English and American literature. One of the men, who believed he had a good background of literature, came out second best in a discussion concerning literature with “Mr KU” who showed he knew more than the American. When asked if Communism benefited CHINA, “Mr KU” indicated his belief that it did. He declared that there were fewer broadlines, more jobs for the people, and industry and agriculture were thriving since the defeat of CHIANG KAI SHEK.

“Mr KU” endeared himself to certain members of the group by not only permitting a burial service to be performed when Cpl McHENRY died, but actually requesting that it be done. He seemed to feel responsible for the death of Cpl McHENRY and expressed his regrets again when he was taking leave of the men who were being released. “Mr KU” never objected to the men reading their bibles like the other instructors did. There was a high percentage of ardent Catholics among the prisoners.

In his opening lecture “Mr KU” stated that the objective of the school was not to change the feelings of the prisoners toward the UNITED STATES but to change their mind concerning conditions in the FAR EAST, especially CHINA.

The lectures which nearly always lasted the full two hours each day between 0900 to 1100 hours were usually very well prepared. Questions by the prisoners were not encouraged during this session. The instructors were able to put their points across. One of the men stated that people ignorant of the true facts could very easily be impressed by the lectures. He further stated that many times doubts about certain points that were brought up existed in the prisoners’ minds. These doubts were usually taken care of by the more informed in the group like Lt DOWNIE after the lectures.

During the lectures, two squad rooms were used. Sliding doors were pushed aside and the two rooms then became the one lecture hall. When it came time for the discussions the sliding doors were moved back and the discussions were held in each of the three squad rooms.

In addition to “Mr KU” and the two other instructors named CHOU HUAN FENG and HWANG GWEE SENG (Ref ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO 3655) there was a fourth instructor. This man never divulged his name. Whenever he was asked what his name was he became flustered and nervous and replied that they should just call him “Lieutenant”. He often said to the prisoners that the North Koreans hated the Americans and called them gangsters. This instructor was thoroughly disliked not only for his disagreeableness and sloppy appearance but also because he was a “Collector” of American money. He had samples of American coins and bills from one cent to a twenty dollar bill. He was not too interested in Military Payment Certificates. He knew what the men possessed after their shakedown inspection and then he made a point of obtaining their American coins and bills. Many of the prisoners were relieved of even single bills which they had kept for sentimental reasons. This instructor was described as follows:

Age: 20-22 years

Height: 5’7”

Weight: 135 lb

Build: Slim

Glasses: Never worn

Hair: Long, sloppy

Rank: Lieutenant

Languages: English (fair), Chinese

Source remembered subjects not previously reported. These included:

“Why did American big businessmen pay CHINA less for the same type of goods that they paid more for in other countries?”

“What is the best way to terminate the Korean War?”

“Why are the Americans protecting CHIANG KAI SHEK?”

“Is the Chinese Army that is fighting in KOREA a volunteer army?”

“Why were the proposals of General WU (head of the PEIPING delegation to the UN) not accepted?”

After the lectures, the questions brought up were answered during the discussion period from 1300 to 1500 hours daily. The squad leader acted as chairman. He in turn selected one member of the squad as secretary to write down opinions expressed by the members. Three sheets of paper and one pencil was allowed each squad per day. These written opinions were then either given to the squad leader or to the instructor. There was no set rule as to who would receive them. Occasionally squad leaders were called upon to give their oral impressions of opinions expressed by members of the squad. Some of the subjects that came in for more than the usual share of attention were:

“What did you think of KOREA before coming here?”

“What do you think of KOREA after arriving?”

“What do you think of the Chinese Volunteer Forces?”

“What is the best way to terminate the Korean War?”

The answer that was required for this last question was the withdrawal of the UN troops from KOREA and the withdrawal of the 7th Fleet from TAIWAN.

While attending this Communist Indoctrination School each of the prisoners was called out for interrogation on two separate occasions. One interrogation was conducted by “the PUSHER”, HWANG GWEE SENG. This man claimed it was his own idea. The men were interrogated separately for between 30-45 minutes. None of the answers were written down. The following were some of the questions asked:

“What do you think of the Communist Party?”

“What do you think about US aggression in KOREA?”

“Will you be discharged when you arrive in the US?”

“What do you intend to do in the US?”

“How much will your individual income be?”

“How many in your family?”

A second interrogation was conducted by “Mr KU”. This was considered the official one. Each man was interrogated separately and his answers were recorded in a notebook. No printed form was used. Most of the interrogations by “KU” were conducted 2 to 3 days before the school ended. He took down the following information:

Name

Rank

Serial Number

Occupation prior to joining Army

Schooling

Marital status

Home state

Size of family

Number of brothers and sisters

On three different occasions the prisoners were encouraged to write letters home. The first time was a the very beginning of school. Cpl ESTELA decided he would like to send a letter home to his mother. One of the instructors informed him that he could write home provided he include certain statements. (At the request of the interrogator, Cpl ESTELA wrote from memory the letter sent to his mother.) The statements underlined were those he was coached to write by the Chinese. The letter follows:

“Dear Mom,

This letter is to let you know that I am well and there is nothing for you to worry about. I was captured the 1st of January by the Chinese Volunteers and now am in a village somewhere in KOREA. The Chinese people and the people of CHINA’s Volunteer Forces are a decent, intelligent and very nice people. I’m glad that I was captured by them and nobody else. There are many other GI’s here with me and we are all treated very well by the Chinese soldiers. They tell use that we will be released and sent back home very soon and I believe by next month. I would like to write you this in Spanish but Wilfred will translate it for you. I want you to understand that there is nothing to worry about and please let the other know it too. ……. I wish I could write to you more but I haven’t the space or paper so I must close. I want you to have all the candy and ice cream and cake you can get for when I get home, for that’s what we miss here so doggone much.

Well mamita, with a big hug and kiss,

Your son,

Enrique”

Cpl ESTELA wrote only one letter. He decided that he would not write any more because he did not kike being told what to write. Cpl LONGORIA and Pvt MURPHY also wrote letters at this time along the same lines.

The second time the men were asked to write letters was when a Chinese officer, who had never been seen before, accompanied by two Chinese news correspondents, came to take newsreel pictures. They offered to mail the letters written if the men would permit themselves to be photographed while writing. Cpl LONGORIA and Pvt MURPHY were photographed writing letters. They were told what to write and when they objected to some of the statements that the Chinese officer wanted them to include, were told to do as they were ordered. Some of the statements they were forced to make were:

1. The American soldiers should be sent home because they are fighting for war-mongers.

2. People in the US should object to sending troops to KOREA.

3. People in the US should write their congressmen to withdraw the American troops from KOREA.

4. Treatment of prisoners by the Chinese Volunteer Forces is excellent.

Upon completion of the letters, close-ups were taken of both sides of the sheet of paper containing writing and from different angles. The letter was folded but was not sealed in an envelope. The Chinese officer promised to mail the letters in CHINA, either in PEIPING or HONGKONG.

The third time the men were encouraged to write letters home was when the British International News Correspondent, MICHAEL SHAPIRO arrived. Some of the men did write, hoping the letters would be sent to the States. SHAPIRO said the letters would be sent from PEIPING or HONCHONG via INDIA to the UNITED STATES. He did not wait for all the letters to be written and asked those who had not finished to turn them in to “Mr KU”.

MICHAEL SHAPIRO who was a correspondent for a LONDON Newspaper was described as an elderly man with sharp facial features as follows:

Age: 40-50 years

Height: 5’6” - 5’8”

Weight: 135 - 145 lb

Hair: Reddish grey, thin to balding on top

Glasses: None

Nose: Thin, pointed

Chin: Pointed, sharp

Language: Chinese (fluent)

He was by his own admission half-Irish. When supposedly taking notes on what the prisoners were saying in answer to questions he asked, he “doodled”. Those who observed him closely said that he was a constant “doodler”.

The remarks he made to members of the group showed him to be very anti-American in his sentiments. He approached Pfc WRIGHT, asked what nationality his parents were and when told by WRIGHT that they were American Indians said,

“Do you like the American people?”

When WRIGHT said he did, the correspondent became angry and said,

“Don’t you know the background of your own people? How did your ancestors feel when the American people killed them, took their land away from them and then put them on small reservations.”

Pfc WRIGHT, who by nature spoke very little, said nothing.

SHAPIRO then turned to Cpl LONGORIA and when he discovered that he was of Mexican parentage, asked,

“Why are you fighting for the Americans?”

LONGORIA replied,

“My father was in the American Army for 37 years and I expect to stay in the army for at least 30 years.”

SHAPIRO was not making much headway with the members of the group. He then spoke to Sgt ESPIRITU and after finding out that he was FILIPINO, asked:

“How do the FILIPHINOS like America?”

ESPIRITU quickly responded.

“They like America because America gave them their freedom.”

The News Correspondent at this point lashed out with a tirade against the United States and declared that the US controlled the UN. He wanted to know why the Americans were afraid of communism. One man answered that the American way of life was far superior to that of the communists. SHAPIRO retorted.

“Do you call the American way of life this ruining of Korean property and this killing of Korean old folks and children?”

SHAPIRO then went out on the porch to talk to the Australians who were at the school. He talked to them for about 20 minutes. He finally departed after spending about 1½ hours at the school. He had succeeded in making all the men thoroughly dislike him.

For the Commanding Officer, TIS: