A dramatic moment in "The Jackson Twins." 

Confidential File

Ex-POWs Tell of China Reds

I talked with two young men this week about some things they have in common:

Both
served with the U.S. Army in Korea. Both were captured by the enemy.
Both spent long months as prisoners of war under the Communist Chinese.

At one point, in fact, they were in the same POW camp.

But to hear their stories, you'd think they'd been at opposite ends of the earth.

One
of the former prisoners is Jack Gifford of Santa Monica. He's a
graduate history student, specializing in military affairs, at UCLA. He
was honorably discharged after being freed in August, 1953, along with
hundreds of other American GIs, in the voluntary prisoner repatriation program.

The second young man I talked with is Richard Corden,
now of Los Angeles. He's a sheet metal worker and occasionally lectures
to small groups. He was one of the 21 "turncoat" soldiers who declined
repatriation to go, instead, to Red China.

Separately, I put the same questions to the two men. Here are their answers:

QUESTION — Describe for me, generally, the treatment given American prisoners of war by the Chinese.

Gifford: There
wasn't too much of what we'd call brutality. There was some, however.
The worst part of it was the inadequate food and the lack of medical
care.

Corden: The Chinese soldiers were very friendly.
They used a "lenient policy" on all of us. The food wasn't very tasty,
but there was enough of it.

Q — Did you see any brutal treatment at all?

Gifford: The worst I saw was when I first got to camp. I saw them bring in several GIs who'd been bayoneted by the guards.

Corden:
None. They did execute two American soldiers once, but they had
murdered guards while trying to escape. They were given fair trials.

Q — How were you, personally, treated?

Gifford: I
was thrown in jail, or solitary, a few times. Usually on trumped-up
charges. They'd make us sit at attention on sharp pine poles or kneel
on them for an hour at a time. But worst was being tossed into a hole
in the ground in below-zero weather.

Corden: They treated
me very well. Once, a guard forced me to give him a valuable ring I
had. But when his superiors found out he was punished and I got my ring
back.

Q — Did you ever try to escape?

Gifford: Once, eight of us had it all planned. But someone informed on us. That's when I went to solitary.

Corden: Most everyone felt it was ridiculous to try. There was no way to make contact — no underground.

Q –– Did you ever co-operate with the Chinese?

Gifford: No. A few times they warned me to change my ways. Finally they sent me to a "reactionary" camp.

Corden: I read the literature they passed out. I was interested. I helped organize some games, too.

Q — Once you heard about he voluntary repatriation program, was there any question in your mind as to what you'd do?

Gifford: Are you kidding?

Corden: Right away, I decided to stay.

Q –– Why do you think the 21 "turncoats" decided to stay in Red China?

Gifford:
I think most of them were afraid of prosecution for the co-operation
they gave the enemy camp. They knew they'd done wrong — violated oaths
as soldiers.

Corden: In my personal case, curiosity. It
gave me a chance to see a socialist country. I'd say that was the main
reason why most of us stayed.

Q — In POW camp, were the "progressive" prisoners given special favors?

Gifford: Yes, but not too openly. The guards would call them in for "talks" and give them extra rations, food, cigarettes.

Corden: No. I know of no instances of progressive prisoners being given favored treatment.

You pays your money, ladies and gentlemen, and you takes you choice.