https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2535-5594
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Abstract
During the Korean War, it has been claimed that the Chinese People's Volunteer (CPV) army “brainwashed” the American prisoners of war (POWs) into automatons. Recently declassified Chinese documents shed new light on a racial perspective in this story. Although the CPV activated an ambitious communist indoctrination program for the POWs in early 1951, the anticipated ideological struggle did not take place. By June 1951, the Chinese commissars overseeing American POWs discovered that these Americans were not the “proletariat brothers” deceived by the Wall Street financial capitalists. Rather, many of them rallied around Ku Klux Klan organizations to disrupt camp order and to resist the Chinese indoctrination. After mid-1951, the CPV essentially abandoned the goal of ideological conversion and prioritized controlling the POWs through none ideological means of alienation, self-punishment, and self-policing.
Notes
1 Weijing Guo, Shijie Diyideng Zhanfuying-Lianheguojun Zhanfu Zai Chaoxian (First-Rate POW Camp in the World-UNC POWs in Korea) (Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe, 2010).
2 “Intelligence Document File Publications (‘950000’ File), 1947–1962, 950054: ATIS Interrogation Report (ATIS),” 1951, Box 350, KT 3065, RG 319/631/34/19/3, NARA at College Park; Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Zhengzhi Gongzuo Lishi Ziliao Xuanbian [Selected Documents of the People’s Liberation Army Political Work] (ZGLZX) (Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Chubanshe, 2002), 11: 435.
3 “Zong Zhengzhibu Guanyu Yijiu Wuyinian Chaoxian Zhanchang Dijun Gongzuo Qingkuang Jianbao [A General Political Department Report for Enemy Work in Korea in 1951],” March 19, 1952. ZGLZX, vol. 12: 39–43.
4 Edward Hunter, Brain-Washing in Red China: The Calculated Destruction of Men’s Minds, 1st ed. (Vanguard Press, 1951), 10–11.
5 Arthur Krock, “In the Nation: Allen W. Dulles Describes ‘Warfare for the Brain,’” The New York Times, April 16, 1953.
6 For example, see Elizabeth Lutes Hillman, Defending America: Military Culture and the Cold War Court-Martial, 1st ed. (Princeton University Press, 2005); Raymond B. Lech, Broken Soldiers, 1st ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000); Charles S. Young, Name, Rank, and Serial Number: Exploiting Korean War POWs at Home and Abroad, 1st ed. (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2014).
7 “Zai Zhongguo Renmin Zhiyuanjun Shiyishang Ganbu Dongyuan Dahui Shangde Jianghua” [Speeches at the Divisional Cadres’ Meeting], October 14, 1950, Dehuai Peng, Peng Dehuai Junshi Wenxuan (Selected Military Writings of Peng Dehuai) (Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 1988), 320–27.
8 Zhenxia Bian, Chaoxian Zhanzheng Zhongde Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi (American and British POWs in Korea War), 2nd ed. (Beijing: Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe, 2004), 78.
9 Clarence Adams, An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), 59.
10 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
11 Kangmei Yuanchao Dijun Gongzuo Jingyan Huibian [Selected Documents of the CPV’s Enemy Work During the Korean War] (DGJH), Zongzheng Neibuban, 1959, 6.
12 Interrogation of Lloyd W. Pate, August 30, 1953. “Korean Conflict POW, MIA, and Detainee Intelligence Files, 1944–1976 (POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files),” n.d., Box 203, James Gallagher Dossier, RG 319/450/34/17/1, NARA at College Park.
13 Interrogation of Lloyd Pate, August 30, 1953. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 203, James Gallagher Dossier.
14 Adams, An American Dream, 50.
15 Adams, An American Dream, 50; Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
16 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
17 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
18 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
19 Adams, An American Dream, 53–54.
20 Phase II Interrogation of Thomas Bayes, October 21, 1953. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 33, Thomas Bayes Dossier.
21 “Records of the Investigative Records Repository: Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers - Impersonal File, 1939–1980 (Investigative Records: Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers),” December 1953, Box 2, “Final Report,” 232, RG 319/270/84/20/2, National Archives at College Park.
22 Ye, Qinli Lianheguo, 22.
23 “Wajie Dijun De Jidian Tihui [Some Experiences on Disintegrating Enemy Forces],” December 1953. DGJH, 126–30.
24 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 100.
25 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 101.
26 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 102.
27 The American journalist Frank Noel also had a brief description for this incident in his interrogation. See “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 2, “Final Report,” 233.
28 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 80.
29 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 79.
30 DGJH, 6; Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 82.
31 Bian, Yingmei Zhanfu Jishi, 82.
32 DGJH, 6.
33 James Thompson, True Colors: 1004 Days as a Prisoner of War (Port Washington, NY: Ashley Books, 1989), 28.
34 “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 158, Harold Dunn Dossier, Appendix A.
35 “Zong Zhengzhibu Digongbu Guanyu Kangmei Yuanchao Duidi Xuanchuan Gongzuo De Juti Zongjie [A General Summary for the Propaganda Work during the Korean War by the Enemy Work Section],” August 1954. ZGLZX, vol. 12: 907–935.
36 “Zong Zhengzhibu Digongbu Guanyu Kangmei Yuanchao Duidi Xuanchuan Gongzuo De Juti Zongjie [A General Summary for the Propaganda Work during the Korean War by the Enemy Work Section],” August 1954. ZGLZX, vol. 12: 916.
37 “Zong Zhengzhibu Digongbu Guanyu Kangmei Yuanchao Duidi Xuanchuan Gongzuo De Juti Zongjie [A General Summary for the Propaganda Work during the Korean War by the Enemy Work Section],” August 1954. ZGLZX, vol. 12: 916.
38 Adams, An American Dream, 54.
39 Interrogation of Norman Crawford on July 21, 1955. “Korean Conflict POW, MIA, and Detainee Intelligence Files, 1944–1976 (POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files),” n.d., Box 692, Clarence Adams Dossier, RG 319/650/900/67/1, NARA at College Park.
40 Interrogation of Frederick N. Muldrow on July 7, 1955. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 692, Clarence Adams Dossier.
41 Interrogation of Amos McClure on July 11, 1955. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 692, Clarence Adams Dossier.
42 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 328.
43 Interrogation of Roscoe Perry on June 30, 1955. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 777, William White Dossier.
44 Interrogation of Frank James on July 3, 1955. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 777, William White Dossier.
45 FBI agent Nicholas Obuhanich report from Buffalo, New York on November 29, 1956. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 778, William White Dossier.
46 Interview of Lawrence H. McShan on August 23, 1956. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 778, William White Dossier.
47 Interview of Lawrence H. McShan on August 23, 1956. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 778, William White Dossier.
48 Thompson, True Colors, 80.
49 Guo, Diyideng Zhanfuying, 51.
50 For the details of the camp regulation, see Ministry of Defence, Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Korea (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1955); Ping Du, Du Ping Huiyilu (Memoir of Du Ping) (Beijing: Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Chubanshe, 2008), 382.
51 Lloyd W. Pate, Reactionary! Sgt. Lloyd W. Pate’s Story as Told to B. J. Cutler (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956), 108.
52 “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 30, Calude Batchelor Dossier.
53 Phase II Interrogation, “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 25, William Banghart Dossier.
54 Pate, Reactionary! Sgt. Lloyd W. Pate’s Story, 97.
55 Pate, Reactionary! Sgt. Lloyd W. Pate’s Story, 108–9.
56 Pate, Reactionary! Sgt. Lloyd W. Pate’s Story, 82–83.
57 “Zong Zhengzhibu Guanyu Yijiu Wuyinian Chaoxian Zhanchang Dijun Gongzuo Qingkuang Jianbao [A General Political Department Report for Enemy Work in Korea in 1951],” March 19, 1952. ZGLZX, vol. 12: 41.
58 Interrogation of Jefferson Erwin, April 4, 1955. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 169, Jefferson Erwin Dossier.
59 Phase III interrogation of Harry Fleming, September 8, 1953. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 185, Harry Fleming Dossier.
60 Phase II interrogation summary, April 1954. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 169, Jefferson Erwin Dossier.
61 Thompson, True Colors, 128.
62 Albert D. Biderman, March to Calumny: The Story of American POWs in the Korean War (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963), 50.
63 Julius Segal, “Factors Related to the Collaboration and Resistance Behavior of US Army POWs in Korea” (The George Washington University Operating under contract with the Department of the Army, 1956), 22–23.
64 Thomas Harrison, “Why Did Some GIs Turn Communist?,” Collier’s, November 27, 1953, 25.
65 FBI interview with Rogers Herndon on October 17, 1956, “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 778, William White Dossier.
66 Interrogation of Lawrence H. McShan on August 23, 1956. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” Box 778, William White Dossier.
67 Phase II interrogation of Paul Liles. “POW, MIA, and Intelligence Files,” n.d., Box 331, Paul Liles Dossier.
68 “Fuluying Qiuji Yundonghui De Qingkuang [Report on the Camp Olympics in the Fall],” February 1953. DGJH, 218–20.
69 “Fuluying Qiuji Yundonghui De Qingkuang [Report on the Camp Olympics in the Fall],” February 1953. DGJH, 218–20.
70 “Zenyang Zuohao Dui Fulu De Xingzheng Guanli Gongzuo [How to Improve the Administrative Works for POWs],” May 5, 1953. DGJH, 221–24.
71 “Fuluying Qiuji Yundonghui De Qingkuang [Report on the Camp Olympics in the Fall],” February 1953. DGJH, 218–20.
72 Segal, “Factors Related to the Collaboration and Resistance Behavior of US Army POWs in Korea,” 7–8.
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Wu Qu
Wu Qu is currently an Adjunct Professorial Lecturer at the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies, American University. He received a doctoral degree from the Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia in 2023. His research interest includes Cold War in Asia, modern Chinese politics, and Japanese empire.