Evening star., 1953-11-29
Atrocities in Korea
To Be Described in
Hearings This Week
By J. A. O'Leary

lie grim SIUly VI IIuClCIcS
inflicted on Americans in Korea
will be unfolded this week before
"a Senate subcommittee headed
by Senator Potter, Republican,
of Michigan.
The Senate hearings will coin
eide with debate on the atrocity
issue in the U. N. General AS
sembly starting tomorrow. Sem
ator Potter is expected to an
nounce tomorrow the day on
which his hearings will open.
In the atrocity investigation,
Senator Potter is a one-man
task force for the Investigations
subcommittee, headed by Senator
Mccarthy, Republican. of Wis
consin.
In his television speech last
week Senator Mccarthy sharply
criticized the Eisenhower admin
iStrati0n'S handling of the Ko-
rean situation, saying it had
failed to win the release Of 900
American prisoners still unac-
counted for in the prisoner ex-
change. Senator Mccarthy ad-
vocated withholding Americans
aid from any country trading
with Red China, as a means of
forcing release of any Americans
still held
Working With White House.
Senator Potter made it clear
yesterday, however. that in pre-
pairing for these atrocity hear
ings he has been working closely
with the White House and Am
bassador Lodge at the United
Nations.
The Michigan Senator did not
commit himself to the McCar-
thy suggestion for trying to force
the release of the missing serv-
icemen by an indirect economic
blockade.
Il think we should do every
thing possible to get these men
out" said Senator Potter, but
as TO the methods, I am not
ready to say"
He said he is going to hit the
angle of trying to find out where
these men are" and said he as
sumed American negotiatorS in
Korea are trying to find out all
they can about the missing
Americans, mostly airmen.
About 600 Unaccounted for.
Defense officials indicated re-
Gently they believe the number of
Americans still unaccounted for
and thought to be still alive is
closer to 600 than 900.
The 37-year-old Michigan Sem
ator is the youngest man on the
Republican side of the Senate,
and is himself legless veteran
of World War II.
1T won't be pleasant" Senator
Potter said of the atrocity hear
ingS, but 1 think the American
people should know the type of
enemy they have been fighting.'
The Senator said the hearings
will last about three days. and
will be opened to radio and tele-
vision, if permission is sought to
put them on the air.
Senator Potter charged that
"these inhuman and barbaric
acts committed against Ameri-
can and allied troops by the
Communists in Korea constitute
one of the most ruthless and
bloody chapters in the history of
civilization"
To Back Stand in U. N.
He added:
Every mother. wife and
sweetheart with a man in the
service-every relative of the
900 Americans still missing in
action-every kin of the Glib
Americans who were probably
slain or tortured in Korea-in-
deed, every citizen of America
and the free world must be told
of these horrible crimes if we
are to know the true fanatical
character of our Communist
enemy"
Senator Potter said one of the
purposes of this weeks hearings
will be to strengthen the hand
of our U. N. Ambassador and
the ambassadors of all the free
nations in an effort to get at the
bottom of these savage acts"
Witnesses will include eye-wit-
nesses and survivors of atrocity
cases, as we'll as officials qualified
to give the overall picture. Sen
ator Potter returned yesterday
from Hawaii and California,
where he interviewed returning
prisoners.