Evening star., 1954-01-02
Repafriaied Corporal
Urges Weapon Hunt
In Prison Camp ! :.
sy the Associated essss

SEOUL. Jan. "A young
Texas corporal-one Of % Amer
ican war prisoners who originally
stayed with the Communists
said today there might be others
who would come out" If given
protection from dagger welding
fellow captives.
Corpl. Claude J. Bachelor,
who changed his mind and asked
yesterday to go home, called for
an investigation of conditions in
side the prot Communist neutral
zone compound and said Indian
guards should search it for hid
den weapons.
Bachelor of Kermit, Texas, Is
the second of the 20 Americans
to ask repatriation.
His story of life in the wire
enclosed compound near Pan
munjom. told during a 40-Ynin-
ute press conference here. con-
flicted at many points with re-
ports of the Indian command on
conditions in the stockade now
holding 81 Americans, Briton
and 327 South Koreans.
PrO-Reds Armed.
The 22-year-old CORPORAL
calmly faced a battery of news
men. cameras and microphones
as he made these points:
l. Both South Korean and
American pro-Red prisoners in
the camp are armed with dag
gers to intimidate any prisoner
who wishes to escape. "It would
be difficult at times for the
Americans to get out"
2. Chinese Communist leaders
have some contact" with pris-
onerS in the neutral zone COM
pound. despite Indian reports to
the contrary.
3. "A lot of fellows there are
quite mixed up and there might
be others who would come out"
II they had a chance.
4. All outgoing letters from
the camp are written jointly and
read to the other prisoners.
5. The prisoners are split into
factions and the leaders of vari-
Gus groups sometimes fail to pass
on information given them by
Indian officials.
Story Of Weapons Disputed.
Indian spokesmen have said
repeatedly there are no weapons
IN the compound and that it
would be simple matter for
any prisoner wishing repatria-
ton to contact guard.
Corpl. Bachelors calm and
polse contrasted with the ex-
treme nervousness of Corpl. Ed
ward S. Dickinson of Big Stone
Gap, Va, who was repatriated
from the north camp October %
batchelor repeated his state
ment Friday that tender love
letters from his Japanese wife
kyoko played a major role in
his decision to return home. He
said growing suspicion of Com
munist motives finally persuaded
MIN about a month apo to re-
turn.
Sunday morning the young |
corporal will fly to Tokyo for a |
hnal medical checkup and a
meeting with his wife.
Corpl. Bachelor refused to
answer many questions concern
ing conditions inside the camp.
Gradually AbsOrbs Doctrine.
He said he did not want to
incriminate any of the men re-
manning, but it appeared that |
he might have been following
the advice Of United States ARMY |
officers who have talked with |
him for hours since his return.
The corporal explained how he
gradually picked up Communist !
doctrines.
There were all kinds of study |
groups and bull sessions" he
said. "They gave us all kinds
OF literature on Marxism. Com
munist theology, the class strug- |
gle. political economy and Amer
1can aggression. Some of the
books were by Stalin."
He said he did a lot of reading.
My mind was confused. Not
all the Communist propaganda
is wrong. They use bit of truth
or they could never convert any
one.
I never thought of myself as
Q Communist so much as a peace