Evening star., 1953-08-18

DOWN IN April, 1901. ne Was d
bridegroom of six days.
First I'll give you the picture.
Escape in a country where you
can't speak the language, read
the road signs. show your face
at all, is something that must
be thought out.
Dean, a Ianky Kansan with
the CUTS of a lion, wanted to
steal a MIG-15 and fly it back
to an airfield in South Korea. Be-
ing Air Force he knew how much
those things were worth. So
we planned to swim the Yalu,
sneak down around Antung,
Manchuria, lie up around the
airport a few days, and watch
the Chinese security guards.
Eventually he planned to snatch
a hot jet and fly it away.
Planned to Bribe Way.
I was going to steal fishing
boat or bribe or clobber some
body and get out the best way
I could.
There. were three of us in
volved in the escape plot.
We began to connive, scrape
food bowls for leftovers and
horde up everything we could
lay hands on that we could eat
or use for trading or bribery
Communists are easy to bribe.
We knew the route from the
camp we were going to take. 1t
was through a corn patch. But
the corn wasn't high enough.
So we watched that corn grow,
kept an eye on the moon and
bided our time.
One stormy night looked like
the night. We we're ready.
The third man had just come
down with yellow jaundice.
Dean and I decided to go it
alone. That is not good because
in that country you might sprain
an ankle tripping over under
growth. It is best that three
men go together just in case Of
illness, injury or to keep watch
while the other two slept.
But Dean and I were eager.
We sneaked out into that corn
patch.
Carried All Possessions.
The rain was beating down.
We had all our POSSESSIONS
Deans wrist watch, two or three
fountain pens, about SO in
greenbackS I had borrowed from
Turkish prisoners, a straight
razor Dean had stolen from the
company barber shop, a Boy
Scout knife I had, a couple of
rocks and the cover for a Sleep
ing bag which we we're going to
use for a sail on any small boat
We might steal.
We got through that corn
patch all right, Then we hit a
wood and tripped over the un-
dergrowth and I slid down an
embankment that left my der
rier bare. think it was an
open grave the Reds had dug
We f1oundered around there and
got going again.
It was black as pitch. We
didn't know it but we had night
blindness due to a lack of vita
minis. We stumbled on and
pretty soon we came to a little
opening. Blindly I walked on
fell over a fence and right into
q pig sty.
Well. that damned pig wanted
no human company. He Squealed
and mouthed around there until
he woke up the Korean farmer
The farmer poked his head out
of window, a cigarette glowing
but he never did come out.
We held our breath.
Nothing happened. We would
have killed that pig if we had
q weapon.
Slept in Bushes.
The rain was beating down
on those corn stalk leaves,
making a sound that is con-
ducive to sleep. That lulled the
pig and that North Korean. The
pig quit squealing. The Korean
quit smoking. Dean and stole
silently away.
It took us most all night, but
we swan the half mile e-wide lake
and got over on the other side
of it. All night long we walked
Yet we didn't make over a mile
from the camp, but we had the
lake between us and the camp
We slept all day in some
bushes.
1t was raining and we were
wringing wet.
We we're heading for the Yalu
going to swim across.
Trails in that country all have
security guards on them. We
Travelled only at night, of course
and we couldn't see much or
account of this lack of vitamins
We almost bumped into two OF
three guard hutS but escaped.
That night we had a talk,
Dean said:
I'm going to steal a MIG
(MIGS can not carry any pas.
sengers) and I'll have to go il
alone. What are you going tc
do?"
said:
"I'l stick with you until you take
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