Evening star., 1953-05-17
Pvt. Wong, Who WouIdRother Die ThonReturn
To Reds, Is Typical of rs, 500 POWs
After II Years Spent
In Army, He Is Fed Up
With Communism
By Robert Eunson

By Robert Eunson
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent
TOKYO, May 10 Pvt. Wong
was impressed into the Chinese
Red army II years ago. Today
he is in an allied prison camp in
South Korea. He VOWS that he
will commit suicide rather than
return to Communist rule.
Pvt. Wong, and the thousands
like him, are not merely the un-
willing pawnS Of Panmunjom,
whose disposition blocks a Ko-
rean armiStice. What happens
to them may also determine the
future of the world: Peace or
World War III.
All the unwilling Communist
subjects in the world are waiting
to see what happens to Wong.
How did Wong, this monde
script little fellow Of no great
attributes, arrive in his present
situation of such grave i'm
portance?
Here is his case history. The
Geneva Convention forbids cor
respondents to interview any Of
the 14,500 Chinese and $4,000
North Koreans who forSook
Communism when the prison
camps were screened a year ago.
Rules also forbid use of the
names of American officers who
interviewed them, but this COM
poSite Of Wong is an accurate
reconstruction from the notes
Of those officers.
Was Army Orderly at IL.
Wong was a 12-year-old lad
in a North China village when
he was impressed into the
Chinese liberation army" in
1912. He began as orderly to a
section chief.
During the next eight years
he climbed from hunky to squad
leader, fighting against the
Chinese Nationalists until they
were beaten, then training re-
cruits in the ever-expanding Red
Army.
He liked the military life, but
there were some things he did
not like about Communism. AS
q Chinese peasant, he had been
reared in a close family rela-
tionship; as a Red Army man.
he was isolated from his family
He had been taught a smatter-
Ing of Buddhism and philosophy
based on ethics; the Communists
laughed at ethics and religion.
Over the years, young Wong
forgot about these things, but
there still was one thing he
hated:
He never could get used to
Communist insistence on self
criticism. When any little thing
went wrong. he had to stand up
in front of his squad and blame
himself. The loss of face" was
almost unbearable.
Still, when the days drill was
over, there were dances to attend
and pretty girls to meet. Wong
remained a good and obedient
soldier.
Sent to Korea in 1850.
One day in 1850 Wong, then
20, was put aboard a troop train.
He had no idea where he was
going until he reached North
Korea. There he and his squad
were given enough rice for 10
days and started marching south
by night. BY day they hid from
Allied planes.
Put into a frontline position
on the western front, Wong and
his men were told by a political
officer:
Here you will fight. If you
retreat. you will be shot; and
remember that we Communists
never forgive a man who sur
renders"
There followed intervals of
hard fighting and periods of
dull, dangerous waiting. In the
daytime, Wong spent most of
his time crouched in a rude hill
side air shelter, hiding from
American planes.
One day a plane dropped a
small bomb that burst in air
and showered the hillside with
bits Of white paper.
Wong picked up one Of these
leaflets and read in Chinese:
This is a safe-conduct pass.
If you will place this pamphlet
on a stick and walk toward
United Nations lines, you will
not be fired on. You will be
conducted safely to a rear area
where you will be we'll treated"
It made no other promises.
Wong Idly tucked 1t away for
safekeeping.
Death on All Sides.
That night artillery fire hit
Wong's bunker and killed two
men. Wong thought hard about
the death that lurked behind
him If he retreated; death that
struck from the front; and death
that ruled the skies.
An American tank appeared
up ahead and began firing at
the bunker. Wong knew the
emmy had found him. To stay
N