 From Korea to Germany, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, all over the world, the United States Army is on the alert to defend our country, you, the American people, against aggression. This is the big picture, an official television report to the nation from the United States Army. Now to show you part of the big picture, here is Sergeant Stewart Queen. Today on the big picture, the Department of the Army presents a documented report of the crimes and atrocities committed against American and other United Nations prisoners of war by their communist captors. You will hear the facts from repatriated prisoners of war from Major General William F. Dean and from the former Supreme Commander of the United Nations forces in the Far East, General Mark W. Clark. To interview these men and to reveal these facts on the big picture, here is the noted network commentator and war correspondent, Bill Downs. The facts you are about to hear are shocking. The films you are about to see are not pleasant. Some of them are revealed for the first time. But what you will see and what you will hear is the stark truth that every American should know. Those films were not shot on a Hollywood lot for a horror picture. They are official Army films. They are only a tiny fraction of the evidence of communist atrocities. And we could not begin to enumerate the number of the kind of terrible crimes committed by the communists against both military and civilian prisoners. But we are going to tell you about some of those crimes and we are going to show you some of their brutal results, not to shock you, but to reveal the true nature of the enemy, to give you an idea of the ruthless communist mind of what would happen to civilization under communist rule. Bear in mind that these atrocities have taken place not in the dark ages of barbarism, but in 1950 and 51 and 52. Look closely. We know it isn't a pretty sight, but if you remember what you see today, you will never again relax your vigilance. These are captured prisoners of war, many of them Americans, hands tied behind their backs, heads bashed in, some of them used for ban at practice. Yes, this is the pattern of communist control, of communist brutality, of horror piled on horror. Let us give credit where credit is due. The communist forces in Korea have been able to outmatch any fiendish nightmare the most imaginative creator of horror fiction could conceive. In their fury, they herded thousands of helpless civilians from their homes, clubbed them and beat them or ban out of them to death and dump their bodies into abandoned mines or wells. And this is an American soldier, one of the lucky prisoners of war who managed to survive. He is looking at the bodies of men who were captured with him, but who were not so fortunate. He may be recalling the terrible days of the death march which for inhumanity reached and surpassed the infamous death march on Batam. One of the survivors of that Korean death march is now recuperating at the Army's Walter Reed General Hospital here in Washington. We went to see a corporal from the 24th division. One of the survivors of that Korean death march is recuperating here in Washington at the Army's Walter Reed Hospital. I'd like you to meet Corporal Don Schmincker of Baltimore, Maryland. How are you feeling, Don? Fine, sir. Better than a couple of months ago? Better than what I did before. Well, good. How long were you a prisoner? 37 months and 14 days. And how many hours? I don't know exactly. Well, how many of you do you figure finish this march? Well, I say about 500. Out of the 700 that started originally? Which figures out as you said? It figures it bulls down now there's only about 285 left today because in the 150 we went to a schoolhouse, a Korean schoolhouse. It was pretty cold and he had shacks, a few shacks and had like some in each shack. But every day we said we got high, 16 men a day. Well, this was your treatment and when you got to the prison camp? And we got in the channel twice a day. We got a rice ball about this size in the morning. No, burning rice either. There was two. They never had that. So we got miller, miller to maize, a corn, crack corn balls. And you had about, and about 50 gallons of water through about two heads of cabbage or one hundred cabbage. Any medical treatment in the camp? Oh, they had a Korean doctor, but he was a phony anyhow, you know. What sort of treatment did he have? Did he give? Oh, he came around, he was calling the butcher. Some of the guys took me for us, but frostbitten had just taken, cut them all off. And what about any other treatments, shots or? Well, that was later about we stayed there all when I moved from there in March of 51 when we come down to another school house, the new Cheung-gang, in the Cheung-gang area, but down, brother. That's where he had their famous shot, either kill or cure. And the guy looked bad enough that he was going to pass away, to give him a shot from the heart. And if he is alive next morning, he's pretty well good to survive. I know about two guys survived this shot. How many took it? I don't know, I imagine quite a few, about 40 or 50 maybe. Well, Don, do you find that you have difficulty in convincing people in this country that these things really did happen? It's no use to try and even believe anyhow, just a minute was over and seemed for himself, going through it, that's all. Well, thanks for telling us the facts, Don, and I hope you get out of the hospital real soon. Well, after talking with Corporal Don Schmeky, we went down the long corridors of Walter Reed Hospital into Ward 33, where we met Corporal Eugene W. Reed. Fine, sir. What gives us the arm? What you got? T.B. of the bone. Tuberculosis of the bone? And you got that during imprisonment in Korea? Yes, sir. How's it coming along now? It's coming along pretty good now. How long were you a prisoner, Gene? 27 months and then days, sir. Well, what exactly happened to you after you were captured then? Well, I just captured a, they took me upon a healing group, a group, and they started marching us north. And where did you march to? I marched up on next to the Yellow River. That's from the Imgen to the Yellow. Now, exactly how far is that? Oh, that's approximately about four miles. Well, when you finally got to that yellow prison camp, Gene, what was it like? It was very bad, sir. Guys had lights this and turn and went into things like that. I mean, sickness and it was weak and especially after that long march and everything, you know? Did any of the fellows die from malnutrition or disease? Yes, sir. How many? I really couldn't say. I mean, quite a few of them died. I really couldn't see the exact number, I mean. Nice. I mean, yeah. Well, what was that North Korean hospital like? Uh, it was, it was made because I don't know what it was, an old Japanese temple. It was, uh, made of mud and, and of course, some old-time guys had anything to, it basically was on the floor and like for guys, we took them up there, you know, and if he was about to go in and take them and put them in this dungeon, they had that for a guy that was pretty sick, you know, let's take them out and let them in and die. We always called it the, uh, stop off the boot heel. Well, you spent two years in that prison camp, Gene. Did you get any heat at all? Uh, very little. Not too much. Just, we got, we just, maybe we got to be on the floor, you know, Korean style, just for two hours a day. Sometimes not that long. What about blankets, that sort of thing? Like when we first got there, they almost gave us one blanket, uh, for two men. But after the, uh, two stalks died up, well, they did break their heart and they gave us one little thin blanket for a man. That's probably the only thing they had. Well, thank you very much, Gene, for telling us your story. Well, we left, we left Walter Reed Hospital and went back to the Pentagon, where a battle-hardened soldier awaited us. A dog-faced soldier, he calls himself. In July, 1950, he was the commanding general of the United States 24th Division, which was rushed to Tejon. The battle was going against the United Nations forces in Korea. The 24th Division, vastly outnumbered, held against heavy odds for three weeks. And then the city of Tejon was surrounded by the Communist hordes. The general and his aide helped carry a wounded soldier from the embattled area and tried to escape the onrushing Reds. But a Korean civilian proved a traitor and turned the general over to his Communist captors. He was held prisoner for 37 months. Now, here with me is General William F. Dean. General, in the details that you released when you returned home, you mentioned the many long hours that the Communists spent trying to get information out of you. Yes, that first month of September, they questioned me almost continuously. One stretch, they questioned me for 68 hours. Well, General, did the Communists try to indoctrinate you? They did. They tried various methods. They tried persuasion, bribery. They kept all lititure, all means of diversion away from me for a period of 14 months. And then when they gave me lititure, it was all Communist lititure. Treatment you've received in three years, practically in solitary, was an act then to try to woo you to their side. I do. Did they say anything about how they were taking care of your men? They didn't tell me how they were taking care of our men, but they said that our men were very happy and gay and were always singing and were so merry. And they showed me petitions with alleged photostatic signatures of POWs, a man from our own organization, men that I had known and men whom I could not make myself believe that they would sign such petitions. These petitions were directed toward the soldiers of our army that were fighting in the South, and there were appeals to the American people stating that we had been misled, that they had discovered, that is, the POWs had discovered that the South Koreans had started the war and not the North Koreans, and that there is no point in our fighting further. They also showed me copies of broadcasts that they had alleged to have been made by these men and officers, and they requested me to add my signature to the petition, and they constantly urged that I go on the air and broadcast an appeal to the American troops to quit fighting. Why didn't you, sir? I mean, you were in pretty bad shape, weren't you? Why? I'm an officer in the United States Army, and even if I had believed that, which they were telling me, if I was still in the service of the United States and in the service of the people of the United States, I couldn't be a traitor. In the summer of 52... Well, General Dean, there should be some lessons that we who sat on the sidelines during this horrible affair should draw from your experience and the experience of the men who went through these horrible things. What would be those lessons? I feel that one of the first lessons is that we should teach at all levels what true Americanism means and is. We should teach what true democracy is, and we should teach it by practice, not by just citing it in words. We should not forget consideration for others. It's often too easy to think only of ourselves. We must teach and practice consideration for others at all times if we're going to beat this insidious propaganda of the communists. Well, General, if you had about a minute or a dozen sentences to say to the families and wives and mothers of the men who went through this experience, as you did, and the men who will find their permanent home in Korea, what would you say to them? I would say that they can certainly find a great deal of satisfaction, real satisfaction in the fact that their sons came through this ordeal with flying colors. In the face of this persecution, this torture, all these atrocities we've just witnessed, they came through steadfast to their faith. I feel that they can take real personal satisfaction and pride in their sons. General, we, of course, will never be able to repay that debt, but we can try, and I want to thank you very much. Thank you. First Lieutenant Robert S. Wood calls the nation's capital his hometown, but for three long years, his home was a prison cap in the far north of Korea. Well, Lieutenant Wood looks in pretty good shape now. You can't tell from his face the ordeal he's been through, but as you listen to his story, you'll be reminded again of man's inhumanity to man. Bob, you were captured in November 1950, weren't you? Yes, Bill. I was with the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division. Chinese hit us at Unsan about 70 miles north of Pyongyang. We were ordered to hold there and were surrounded. A little over 200 of us were captured at that time. Well, Bob, how were you treated? We received very poor food, very little of it, lost a lot of weight and strength, and one of the men was very badly wounded. He had to have his leg amputated. Well, what happened to him? The Chinese supplied the American doctors there with a rusty scalpel and some sutures, and the doctors were able to operate successfully. However, later he died of dysentery. Well, Bob, were there any hospital facilities for you at all? Yes, they had a hospital if you want to call it that. It was a filthy hole in some Korean huts. The dead were lying in among the living and the stench alone was enough to make a man sick. I know it drove some of the men out of their minds. Well, this American doctor you spoke of, wasn't there anything that he could do about the situation? I mean, would they listen to him? Yes, we had some American doctors who were in the hospital there. However, in a little while they released one of the doctors and sent him out of the hospital area. They said he wasn't a good doctor, that he wasn't politically conscious. He did not know who to save and who to let die. Well, what do they mean by that? Simply that they did not want to attempt to save the lives of anyone who fought their indoctrination program. Or were there any other similar incidents at your camp? Yes, there were many, Bill. They gave us a series of lectures, forced readings, discussion periods, examinations lasting up to 10 hours a day. There was one instance in which we were forced to listen to a speech that was made by Chow and Lai, the foreign minister for Red China. One of the majors spoke up at the end of the speech and said the speech wasn't worth the paper it was written on and cheap paper at that. Well, what happened to him? He was immediately yanked out, beaten, thrown into a hole for solitary confinement and completely broken. He later died as a result of this treatment. Well, how were you affected personally, Bob? Like all the prisoners of war, I suffered from malnutrition. I contracted a case of malaria, hepatitis and dry berry berry. Well, you're looking pretty fit now, Bob. Thanks to getting back to civilization, good food and decent medical care. Well, I hope you keep on keeping fit and good luck. Thank you. Lieutenant Wood was fortunate to make a quick recovery, but some of our men were not so fortunate. Like PFC James R. Wendling, who comes from Cincinnati, Ohio. We went back to Walter Reed General Hospital to talk with Jim Wendling, and we found him in bed. Hi, Jim. How are you doing? Just fine, sir. You're looking pretty good. How are you feeling? Just fine. Good. Tell me what happened to you? When and where were you hit? Well, I was up in Yucaldi, and I was on one in 22nd April. That was north of the 38th, yes, 15 miles north of the 38th. Then there was someone that was going to be a counterattack. So we waited around for a while, and then Chinese started hopping up in front of our holes. And then, well, 15, 20 men said this was overrun by Chinese, and there was only five of us left. So we figured we'd try to find a way out for the hill. So 15 men said to us, a Caucasian grenade went off in front of my face and knocked me out. And I figured about two hours afterwards, they had us down into a foxhole where I woke up and was surrounded by Chinese. This is a, you lost your eye on this? Yes, sir. There's washing of blood off from my face. And then they told me that there was going to move me out on a march. It would be about 25 miles per day at the point, eh? Is this the only medical treatment you received? Yes, sir. About water to wash your face off? Yes, sir. And while on a march, they wouldn't let us take no water. The only way we could get water was as we cross upon and scoop it up with a cup of water we had in our hands. After them, they had to shoot down this one kid, which they said he shot a Chinese. They had a twirl and they claimed he shot a Chinese, you didn't have any weapons? No, sir. They didn't have any weapons whatsoever on the march. And they told us to be in the school building at such, such time. So they come up and got us and we went in there and they told us to squat down and sit on the floor. So we sat there and they read off a big line of stuff on a sheet. And then they said, well, in return of him killing one of these Chinese comrades, we had to shoot him. Which they took him up one day, up under the hill. He shot him. Did they line everybody up so they could watch this? Yes, sir. Well, then did the Chinese order you out of that park where the trial was held and you were forced to witness this execution? Yes, sir. What did you end up? Well, we ended up in the prison camp, which was called Chongsun. And they named it Camp One. And how was, was treatment any better there than on this march? No, sir. Well, Jim, I know it must be a strain and we'll drop it here and I want to wish you a speedy recovery. Thank you, sir. The summing up is perhaps best done for us by the former Supreme Commander United Nations forces in the Far East, General Mark W. Clark. General Clark, you've heard these repatriated prisoners of war. I know their stories are not new to you. But do you have any releasable figures on the number of victims of communist atrocities? Well, yes, Mr. Downs. Actually, we've recovered or uncovered, I might say, over 10,000 bodies, victims of communist treachery and savage murder in Korea. As a matter of fact, the evidence indicates that there are over 30,000 that have been murdered in cold blood by the communists, of which about 11,600 actually were United Nations troops. What has been the treatment of red prisoners in our own camps, General? Well, notwithstanding the communist screams to the contrary, we abided strictly by the terms of the Geneva conference with regards to the care of prisoners of war, with regards to clothing, food, and medical treatment. As a matter of fact, they never had it so good as they did in these POW camps that we administered. Well, how was the medical treatment of American prisoners of war in their camps? Well, it was pretty crude. Their surgical procedures were really barbaric. They didn't permit our own doctors who had been captured to have any medicines or means by which they could care for our own sick and wounded people. And we have evidence of many amputations that took place where no anesthetic was used at all. It was extremely crude. Well, it has been said, General, that the accepted communist medical prescription was a bullet. Would we find that was true? Oh, yes, we did. We found many cases of not only the bodies, but the evidence of some of the perpetrators and men who witnessed the cold-blooded shooting in the back of the head with a Russian-made bullet. Thank you very much, General Clark. This is the first time in our history that United States forces have met the communists on the battlefield. Let us hope that what we have seen here today is not a preview, but a conclusion. Yet within official files, there is sufficient evidence to show that these atrocities were all part of a premeditated campaign in Korea. From the voices of repatriated prisoners of war, you have heard identical incidents of brutality, of malnutrition, of lack of any decent medical care, of wanton disregard of human life. The communist pattern, obvious and terrible. Remember, too, that only when the true stalks began, when the communists knew that they could not win, when they saw that we were backing up our resolve to remain free with men and with arms, only then did the brutality lessen. Only then were our prisoners of war treated somewhat like human beings. You are looking at the true face of communism. Never forget it. You have seen and heard the shocking facts about communist atrocities and brutality. Your commentator was Bill Downs, well-known network correspondent. The big picture is a weekly television report to the nation on the activities of the army at home and overseas, produced by the Signal Corps Pictorial Center, presented by the U.S. Army in cooperation with this station.