Evening star., 1953-05-07

."I don't want to talk about it.
I try to forget. but I can't
though. But the Chinese did give
me medical treatment, in July
it was my first. That was when
a Chinese woman operated on
me. They gave me an anes-
thetic. The Chinese were better
to us than the North Koreans. !"
Perhaps It was no coincidence
that Tully's lower legs were OPP
Grated upon" at about tn e
time the armistice negotiations
opened in July, 1851.
At camp No. J, the prisoners
slept on the floor. on mats. They
were given cotton-battings uni
forms and fed 1.-TWO times a day
in winter and three times in
summer.
The food was rice and sar-
dines-the latter in bags rather
than tins, Tully said. They even
got letters from home. Tully re-
ceived nine from his family, all
censored. He never learned if
his mother and father got any
of the letters he wrote to them
during the long months that
followed.
Few Guards Friendly.
A few guards were friendly,
but mot the majority" grinned
Tully. None spoke English.
The prisoners never heard any
radio news, except Red propa-
ganda, and were given no read
ing material. except propaganda.
'They gave us propaganda ev-
erywhere, all the time" he said.
II don't want to talk about it.
Sometimes they offered us pa
pers to sign. Did I sign any
thing, you ask? Do you think
I'm crazy?"
Some time last year the Reds
issued a few safety razors, Tully
recalled. He was asked if he had
gone without a shave for more
than 18 months.
Tully grinned rather. sheep
ishly. "I didn't need to shave
then =. not by that time, any,
how. But you ought to see a
buddy of mine. He's about two
years older and his beard is so
long he can hold it up and
wave it,"
Tully's buddies helped him to
move around. He would not
estimate how many remain at
the camp or how many wounded,
but he added:
II know of some who are
needing repatriation veryabadly."
Tully never saw a Red Cross
worker or a representative of a
neutral nation during the 20
months. He and his friends
sometimes talked of the inter-
national agreement providing for
equal care of POWs, although
none of then knew too much
about it.
Bombs Fall on Camp.
The young CT, whose enlist
ment expires Saturday, said our
B-26 light bombers dropped
bombs on or near the camp four
or five times. There were quite
a few casualties" from one of
the raids
The buildings in which they
were quartered bore no mark
ings, as required by the Geneva
convention Later. after the
peace talks started, some sort of
signs were put up and there were
no more raids nearby.
Tully weighed 165 pounds
when captured and about 139
when liberated.
The soldier got the first word
Of freedom last April. He was
"just sittin' outside" the bar
racks when ordered to follow a
guard to regimental headquar-
ters. There he was told he was
to go home.
Il didn't believe it I couldn't
believe it, and nobody else did,
until a couple Of days later some
of us started south in a truck"
Tully is still a bit dazed by
the reception they received. The
waiting ambulances and helicop-
ters, the generals, reporters and
photographers. He said he had
to go easy on the food.
Wary Of Rich Food.
The first thing he asked for
was cup Of coffee and choco-
late milk shake. He tried a steak
later, but he couldn't get away
with all Of it.
II still can't eat much" he
said. "The foods too rich. I
eat one small meal, or small by
our standards, and it seems to
last me all day."
Tully expects to get out of the
service when his enlistment ex-
pires. He wants to get back on
his new feet as soon as possible,
return to Alabama and begin
to study to complete his high
school eniirse