American Prisoners of War in China! Part 1/5
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Transcript
00:00When I was a boy in my hometown Jinan in eastern China, I saw a smiling Westerner
00:07dressed like a Chinese worker riding a green bicycle. I was astonished. It was
00:16the Cold War and China was cut off from the West. This Westerner was the first
00:22I'd ever seen and was as alien to me as a creature from outer space. His name was
00:32James Veneris. He was captured during the Korean War and had chosen to stay in
00:38China.
00:42Veneris had served in the US Army in World War II in the Pacific Campaign
00:48against the Japanese. Like many veterans, he was unable to find work in peacetime
00:56America and had been enlisted at the start of the Korean War in 1950.
01:03President Truman had sent American troops to Korea to stop the spread of
01:10communism. The USA was his allies under General MacArthur and the flag of the
01:18United Nations crushed North Koreans and threatened my country, the People's
01:24Republic of China. Chairman Mao mobilized a Chinese volunteer army which pushed
01:33the U.N. troops back to the 38th parallel.
01:40After three years of war, a million and a half dead and two and a half million
01:47injured, the United Nations command and the communist forces signed an armistice
01:55on July 27th, 1953. Korea remained split into two countries, North and South.
02:07There were thousands of prisoners on both sides. All those who refused
02:13repatriation to their homeland were transferred to a neutral zone and given
02:1990 days to reconsider their decision. 23 of them, including James Veneris, were
02:27Americans. There was also one British.
02:43Freedom song! Freedom song! We rejoice to show the world that we are strong!
02:50We are strong! We are strong!
02:54Does anybody want to go home? No!
02:58Before the 90 days expired, two Americans, Edward Dickinson and Claude
03:05Batchelor, decided to return home.
03:09Corporal Batchelor, how did you become a progressive? By reading several of the
03:14books that the communists had and newspapers, gradually, little by little, I
03:20began to believe a lot of their charges against the U.N. side. Well, I really, I
03:26never decided to go to Communist China. I wanted to get my revenge for my
03:31buddies that have been killed and starved to death and what they have done
03:35to me. Corporal Edward S. Dickinson back with us once again here in the free
03:41world. Nevertheless, both were court-martialed and sentenced to 10 and
03:4920 years in prison. If I'd returned, take a look at what happened to Dickinson and
03:55Batchelor, I'd be in the same place they are, more likely up for a death sentence
03:58or a prison term. I don't feel it's right. I'd like to see each and every one of
04:03you Americans stand up now and oppose McCarthy and his acts. My name is Harold
04:07Webb from West Palm Beach, Florida. My name is Aaron Wilson from Urania, Louisiana.
04:13This is a very happy moment for me for now I am free, free from McCarthyism.
04:19Friends, the only way to stop fascism in America is to do as I have done, stand up
04:25and fight for our rights. William C. White, Arkansas. For the first time in my life,
04:32I've witnessed complete equality. South Koreans, Mexicans, Filipinos, white men all
04:41mixed together. My name is Louis Griggs and my home is at Jacksonville, Texas. I stayed
04:46behind to escape the red bait of McCarthy and to assure that I'll never again have to
04:51fight in another unjust war as I did in Korea. Even if I had won in repatriation,
04:57the fate of Dickinson and Batchelor would have stopped me. My name is Richard
05:00Dennison. I live in Alden, Minnesota. People who hate war and stand up for their beliefs
05:06are faced with McCarthy and his fascist sub-control House Un-American Activities Committee. I
05:12will return someday when I can speak for peace lawfully.
05:16The USA was alarmed by the Red Madness and believed that the Chinese had brainwashed
05:24the American POWs. Senator Joseph McCarthy, head of the Committee on Un-American Activities,
05:35led a series of investigations feeding on public hysteria. McCarthy branded the 21 soldiers
05:45as traitors and turncoats. I have never forgotten the Westerner on the green bicycle and have
05:56always wondered what happened to James Veneries and the other POWs who chose to live in China.
06:04But 50 years have passed since their fateful decision. After a long search, I found one
06:12of them, David Hawkins, the youngest of the group. I met him on his first trip back to
06:18China after 47 years. It's kind of like coming home, believe it or not. It's kind of like
06:28coming back to a place that has a lot of memories for you.
06:32The turning point of my life, I guess you would say. I've always had an affinity for
06:36the Chinese people. I've always wanted to come back and see it later, to see what changes
06:40were made. Oh, wow.
06:47As I traveled with David Hawkins in China, I realized that it was a act of great courage
06:54for him to appear in this film.
06:59We are South Koreans, Americans and British who love our homes, our people and our countries.
07:04What unites us all is our desire for peace, for real democracy and social equality. Anyone
07:10who breathes the word peace in America now becomes at once a communist and an outlaw.
07:14But here we have learned much and have caught a glimpse of what man can achieve when he
07:18works for the common good and not for personal gain. That goal of happiness and peace can
07:22never be reached unless peace is kept. We believe that our greatest task is to keep
07:26the peace and win democracy for our people. But if we return, our voices will be silenced.
07:31That is why we are here.
07:32My guest tonight is the youngest U.S. Army turncoat of the Korean War. You see him behind
07:37me. He's David Hawkins of Oklahoma City.
07:40The Mike Wallace interview.
07:44Three years ago, the United States was stunned by an announcement from war-torn Korea. U.S.
07:50Army Private David Hawkins and 20 other prisoners of the communists had become turncoats. They
07:55had renounced their own country and disappeared behind red China's bamboo curtain.
08:01Dave, first of all, let me ask you this. Another explanation of the turncoats was suggested
08:08in the New York Times on August 14, 1955. Most of the turncoats really were not converts
08:16to communism, but were themselves guilty of crimes against their fellow Americans in captivity
08:23and did not wish to return to face the music. What about that?
08:29I don't consider that true. None of the fellows that were with me were. I read some articles
08:37also on this on clippings that we received while in China that said that a lot of us
08:41were guilty of murder or had committed acts of treason while in the camp or stolen food
08:50from their bodies or was responsible directly for another fellow prisoner of war losing
08:55his life. This is not true.