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ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO 2846　13 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 at Tokyo Army Hospital by Lt. FUSCO.

Source was captured on 11 December 1950 at a road block near SINGYE by North Koreans who rifles him of his valuables. He was taken to a battalion CP where his wallet AGO card and one of his dog tags were taken and where he was interrogated through an interpreter for over an hour. He was impressed by the lack of knowledge concerning the American army exhibited by the North Koreans. They insisted that the Source was a Battalion Commander because he was wearing a gold bar. They could not believed that silver outranked gold. The interrogator also declared that the North Korean Army had destroyed the First Cavalry Division at TAEGU and at UNSAN.

The occupation of the Source and that of his father seemed to be of considerable interest. When he stated that he had been a carpenter, the North Koreans were very pleased saying, “You are a worker, we do not want to hurt you, you are one of us. We only want to kill the rich, war-mongering imperialists.”

With that, they assured the Source that he was not going to be killed, instead they were going to send him to a PW camp where he would be “educated” and then released.

He was then taken to another CP where he was interrogated along the same lines for about 15 minutes. HE was brought to a Division Headquarters on 17 December and interrogated twice for a period of 30 - 45 minutes each. The North Koreans wanted to know about the strength and disposition of UN planes, ships, divisions, and troops. The reason for the withdrawal of UN forces to the south was of great interest. Because they were not satisfied with the answers of the Source, they said,

“Stop lying! Save your life!”

The same day he was taken to a Corps Headquarters and interrogated again. The general theme of this questioning was the reason Source and other Americans came to KOREA to fight. Throughout the interview many derogatory statements were made concerning President TRUMAN, General MacARTHUR and Syngman RHEE. The North Koreans declared that they would take care of RHEE but that the released American prisoners of war from KOREA should go back and kill General MacARTHUR and President TRUMAN.

On 18 December 1950, Source was again questioned, this time by Major HAN (see ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO 2697). This fluent English speaking North Korean impressed the Source as being well travelled and as having led a “fancy life” although he was insufferably conceited and a confirmed egotist. In addition to going over what had already been asked, he wanted to know about the Japanese army and the number of Japanese soldiers fighting in KOREA. He also wanted to know where the American Negro troops were located and how many there were. He could not understand why Henry WALLAGE was not in office. He too stated that as long as the Source was a worker he would be set free.

After a wait of 3 days, Major HAN announced that he had convinced his superior officers to liberate not only the Source but the other 8 Americans who were being held at the same place. They were taken to YONCHON where they were given a pass to go through the Chinese lines and a verbal message to all the American troops in KOREA and the people in the UNITED STATES that “We will free all the workers”.

Source was captured at the same time as Lt BRADSHAW, was subjected to the same number and type of interrogations and was released with him. Source’s information corroborates the points covered in the report on the lieutenant.

For the CO, TIS: