The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 116: Unable to Disagree (3)
Five days later, on February 2, the Communist Party put this incident on the world's propaganda platform to protest the "bloody incident of brutal massacre of a large number of our personnel."The United Nations Army of course rejected this accusation, but the Communist Party continued to condemn this "massacre".Eighth Army Commander General James Van Fleet replaced the camp commander with Brigadier General Francis Dodd, but the riots and incidents continued, with prisoners signing petitions in blood and tattooing anti-American slogans on their bodies.These episodes lend little semblance of credence to the Communist Party's claim that UN forces used violence to prevent captives from choosing to return home.

Meanwhile, in mid-April, an unexpected development signaled the possibility of a breakdown in the stalemate in the negotiations.Asked to estimate how many prisoners of war might be handed over after screening, UN negotiators told the Communist Party that the number was expected to be around 4.This figure is obviously greater than the Communist Party's expectations.The enemy suggested resuming screening to prepare a "last list" of prisoners of war to be returned, and further discussions would ensue.

To the dismay of the communists (and the astonishment of the UN forces, according to all evidence), only 106 of the 376 POWs and civilian internees questioned were willing to return.The other 31 million people on Geoje Island either refused to be screened or could not talk to them because the communist army controlled the prisoner-of-war camps.In this way, the United Nations Army informed the Communist Party that only about 231 prisoners of war were going to return.

The news stunned the Communist negotiators, who had to make great efforts to keep their composure.The next day, April 4, the Communist Party said the figure of 20 was "totally impossible" and they broke off the talks.

The Truman administration decided to make another compromise effort.For weeks, there had been heated debate between General Ridgway and State Department and Defense officials over the manner in which he would present the "final package" directly to General Nam Il, the leader of the Communist negotiating team.A simultaneous public radio address by President Truman would have shown world opinion that the United Nations Army was prepared to make concessions, and that peace was at hand if the Communist Party really wanted peace.Talks were broken off after a dispute over prisoners of war prompted Truman to move on to a "final solution" on a modified basis. (This "plan" goes through so many layers that it's unnecessary to list them here.)
On April 4, Admiral Joy challenged the adversaries to "join us in finding a mutually acceptable compromise solution."The United States offered a concession: there would be "no restrictions on the repair and rebuilding of airports".In exchange, it asked the Communist Party to agree to the U.S. position on the formation of a Commission of Neutral Nations to oversee the peace and the exchange of prisoners of war (that is, the Soviet Union would not be a member of the Commission). "As you know," said Joy, "our position on prisoners of war is to exchange 28...of ours for about 1.21 of yours."

To Joy's surprise, the proposal from the United States seemed to sink into the sea.The Communists briefly adjourned, then General Nam Il stated, "We do not see how your proposal . . . really contributes to a comprehensive settlement of all remaining issues." Unchangeable", so Nanil proposed to adjourn indefinitely.

The interruption of the talks did not deter Joy, who knew that Nam Il could not make policy decisions without consulting his superiors in Beijing and Pyongyang. When the Communists returned to the conference table on May 5, Nam Il gave a tirade strongly denouncing the UN Army proposal, then concluded with what he called an important concession: the Communists would drop their hitherto insistence on the Soviet Union as a "neutral nation" commission Members of this.But he also had his own conditions, which he called a "reasonable compromise" on the issue of prisoners of war.In fact, there is no such thing at all.Nanil demanded the return of 2 prisoners of war, insisting that no Chinese soldiers should remain under the control of the United Nations forces.His "concession" was that the Communist Party would not have to interrogate the 13.2 former South Korean soldiers who had been forced to join the Communist Army.Joy replied that the UN Army's program was "an integrated whole" and that individual factors were beyond the scope of the discussion.In doing so, he formally rejected the Communist Party's proposal.

The significance of this action by the Communists is that they are now prepared to tie the entire armistice to one thing, namely, the forcible repatriation of prisoners of war.To avoid taking the responsibility of stopping the talks, Joy agreed to return within a few days to further discuss the Communist proposal, following consultations with Washington.But President Truman was not about to make any new concessions.In a lengthy public statement, he said the U.N. Army had made a sincere effort for peace and that the offer to the Communist Party was fair.Regarding the issue of prisoners of war, Truman's words were firm: "We will not let the human beings be massacred or enslaved in exchange for an armistice."

Now that the Communists have drawn a line, they intend to stick to it and rely on world opinion to force further concessions from the UN Army.Their main weapon was the underground cadres of the Geoje Island prisoner-of-war camps, which had almost instant communication with the Communist high command in Pyongyang.It is no secret to the U.S. military that these cadres are used to causing trouble.For example, in late April, intelligence officers got word that the Communists had a plan to take General Dodd, the commander of Geoje Island, and take him hostage to force further concessions from the UN forces.The emergence of this plan coincided with the rejection by the Communists of the United Nations Army's proposal for a prisoner exchange.One of the most incredible episodes of the war is about to unfold.

General Dodd fell into the hands of the Communists despite warnings from intelligence agencies that the POWs were planning to capture him. On May 5, he agreed to meet with the leaders of Camp 7, which was known to be under militant control.Dodd and an aide, Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur Raven, stood outside the open door, listening to the usual complaints about food, clothing, and medical care.They ignored or failed to notice that about 76 POWs were walking back to their barracks after emptying toilet waste buckets, the so-called "dung bucket details".The group suddenly rushed to Dodd and Raven, grabbed the general and took him into a prisoner of war camp.Raven struggled to hold on to a goalpost, and held on until reinforcements arrived, thus avoiding capture.But the communist POWs now have their number one captive.

As it happened, the episode happened on the same day that Lieutenant General Mark Clark arrived in Japan to succeed General Ridgway as Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces.

Thus, the responsibility for US action in the next few days rests with Ridgway (who was the Supreme Commander until he actually left the Far East), Clark (who doesn't quite believe in the chances of resolving the issue immediately, but he has no say in Ridgway's actions) It was shared with General James Van Fleet, commander of the Eighth Army and Dodd's immediate boss.Each general had his own vision of how to deal with the crisis, and the result was mutual discontent.

Clark's instinctive response was "let them detain the stupid son of a bitch, Dodd, and drive in and raze the place".He said in his memoirs: "Don't negotiate with prisoners of war, especially fanatical Communist prisoners of war. Even though they are captured, they still think they are combatants." Ridgway felt the same way.As a soldier, Dodd had accepted the risk of death when he devoted himself to his profession. "In war," said Ridgway, "the life of a general is no more precious than that of a soldier.  … If to save the life of an officer we abandon the cause for which our soldiers died, we To commit treason against the soldiers who entrust their lives to us."

But Van Fleet had other ideas.He immediately flew to Geoje Island and listened to the initial demands of the prisoners (from Dodd).They wanted to recognize the POW Union as a spokesman for the POWs and demanded that telephone and jeep communications be established between the several POW camps.As soon as Van Fleet arrived at Geoje Island, Ridgway immediately asked him to change his approach.He ordered a battalion of tanks to rush to the island immediately: "If the Reds refuse to carry out our demands, or delay, I am determined to shoot and will not hold back."

In response to Ridgway's orders, Van Vleet held his troops, first because the tanks were late, and secondly because of what Ridgway called "other reasons that I don't quite know" (this is based on his own memoirs. Readers should understand that the three generals were very concerned about the There are different opinions on how to deal with the Geoje Island incident).Dodd sent a letter (to his successor, Brigadier General Charles Coulson) laying out lengthy allegations of killing and wounding prisoners of war by UN Army guards.The statement written by the Communist Party also includes the so-called Dowd's admission of "guilty" for these actions by the camp authorities.

Coulson had ordered his troops and tanks to prepare to enter the camp at 5:10 am on May 10, but the Communists interrupted these operations by sending a list demanding that the United States confess to countless crimes.The gist of these demands, in a hastily and rough translation, is:
Immediately stop your military practices of brutality, humiliation, torture, forced blood writing, threats, imprisonment, mass murder, shooting and machine gunning, use of poison gas and bacteriological weapons, atomic bomb experiments on prisoners of war.

Immediately stop the illegal and groundless so-called repatriation of North Korean People's Army and Chinese People's Volunteer Army prisoners of war.

Immediately cease the forcible (screening) of thousands of North Korean People's Army and Chinese People's Volunteer Army prisoners of war who are held in slavery by force.

According to Ridgway, these demands are for UNC to "plead guilty to every insane, baseless accusation that Radio Red has been making against us" and that the repatriation policy "will also be immediately dead on UNC negotiators at Panmunjom belly".Unfortunately, Ridgway was not there.Coulson worked the 10 a.m. deadline into the evening, then signed a reply, acknowledging the Communist Party's charges:

... I admit that there was bloodshed.During these incidents, many prisoners of war were killed and wounded by UN forces.I can assure you that in the future prisoners of war can count on being treated humanely in this camp in accordance with the norms of international law.I will do everything possible within my mandate to prevent further violence and bloodshed.If such incidents happen again in the future, I would like to take full responsibility.

Over the next 24 hours, the Communist Party continued to argue for further guilty pleas.They later released Dodd on the night of May 5, after more than four days in custody.The next day, General Clark accused the "confession" of "pure blackmail" and said any concessions made by Coulson and Dodd "should be construed accordingly."

In his statement to the press, Dodd said, "The demands made by the prisoners were trivial, and the concessions made by the camp authorities were insignificant."Van Fleet's statement is also very similar.

Clark sees it differently, and takes it seriously.Phrases such as "I can assure you that prisoners of war will be treated humanely in the future" indicate that there was abuse in the past, and the promise of "no more forced screening" is an acknowledgment of something unwarranted.Although the press was kept out of Geoje Island during the incident, the Communists were quick to publish the UN Army's "confession," which their negotiators used to taunt the UN Army negotiators in Panmunjom.

Although a committee of the Eighth Army had exonerated Dodd and Coulson of any fault, Clark called another investigative conference and recommended that both generals be demoted to the rank of colonel.The War Department approved the recommendation, effectively ending Dodd's and Coulson's military careers.

The UN troops then set out to break the communist hold on the camps, crush their so-called leadership, and evacuate the prisoners to smaller, safer barracks.Geoje's new commander, Brigadier General Hayden Bortner, who has served in Asia for more than a decade, knows the need for firm but gradual discipline.He relied on written orders (as evidenced by official stamps) rather than verbal orders.As a first experiment, he ordered Chinese prisoners of war to remove Communist flags and statues of Stalin from their barracks, giving them a deadline of noon the next day.The Chinese did not comply, so infantry and two tanks entered the prisoner-of-war camp on time at noon, demolished the statues and flags, and withdrew within five minutes.This decisive action is aimed at showing the Chinese that Bortner means what he says.

When the new commander prepared to move Communist prisoners of war to new barracks, he also issued a written order with a time limit.Word came from the Chinese that they would not relocate voluntarily.Bortner declined to discuss the issue. "Prisoners are not negotiable," he declared.He sent paratroopers and half a dozen tanks into the camp and methodically smashed up the resistance.His troops used concussion grenades and tear gas.The battle lasted for two and a half hours, with prisoners throwing "Molotov cocktails" (gasoline-filled bottles, fuzed with cloth strips), spears (killed an American), and stones; 31 The prisoners of war died.When the unrest subsided and the communist "spokesperson" was dragged out of the barracks sitting on the ground, the prisoners of war marched into their new camp.United Nations forces found a staggering stockpile of weapons: 3 spears, 000 "Molotov cocktails," 1 knives, untold numbers of clubs, axes, wire whips and hammers.They also dug up the bodies of 000 prisoners of war who had been killed.

A few days later, under tight security measures, Botner talked with several "representatives" of prisoners of war and informed them of the camp regulations he planned to implement.A young prisoner of war who had previously claimed to be the "leader" "yelled wildly at me, and I calmly and politely told him to shut up (Botner is fluent in Chinese). He didn't listen, so I ordered the guards to Take him to a solitary confinement cell, where he spends the rest of his captivity."

The Geoje Island Incident ended here.

(End of this chapter)