Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-28
On Judging q Colonel and Corporal
TO the Editor Of The Star:


i Schwable is to be judged by the
established canons Of law. it will only
be necessary, In order to effect his
complete exculpation. for him to make
it clear that his confession" Of par
ticipating in germ warfare was wrung
from him under duress-the threat Of
2 death or the impairment Of health. or
mental torment which deprived him Of
free volition.
However, the imposing character of
the board of inquiry which has been
named by the Marine Corps to deter
mine what charges II any are to be
brought against Col. Schwable in
dicates that the inquiry will explore an
ra-legal field-the moral duty Of a
prisoner Of war undergoing physical or
psychological torture.
If this be a correct conjecture. 1t
seems to me that the members of the
board which has been appointed are
unqualified for the task assigned them
for u my opinion any one who has
not been subjected to the scientifically
barbaric treatment to which Col.
Schwable has been subjected is not
competent to judge him or to establish
rules Of conduct to govern in similar
circumstances.
If men are not available to constitute
board thus qualified. then at least
there should be added to the present
board civilian of judicial training and
an eminent psychiatrist.
Officers and men who possessed the
physical stamina. the intellectual force
nj ha arki $1V@o 70 witt cfoV ND
and survive the diabolical third-degree
methods of the Reds should receive a
citation evidencing the fact that they
have acted beyond the call of duty, but
those who Succumbed should not be
condemned.
Military honor permits man to sur
render his body when his situation
becomes hopeless: and by the same
token it should involve no sacrifice Of
honor for a prisoner of war to sur
render his brain when his situation
becomes hopeless. The Nation does not
demand that its warriors die .needlessly.
Moreover, an American prisoner of
war "confeSSing" to an implausible ca
nard had the right to believe that the
American public-familiarized as it has
been by our newspapers with Commu-
mist methods of extorting confessions"
would understand his predicament
and would know that he was acting
under dureSs
devoutly trust that the noble record
Of the Marines for authentic heroism
will not become diluted by the require
ment Of mock heroism on the part of
its men unfortunate enough to fall into
the hands of the enemy.
John r. Walker.
1t is dramatically clear that the mill
tary mind is not capable of dealing
with matters of high policy even as
they affect members of the armed
services. In other days and simpler
times the statesmen of our Republic
were convinced of this. Even the noble
and gifted Robert E. Lee avoided mat
tiers with political tinge. Today lesser
military men are more presumptuous
Thoughtful men now are alarmed at
their increasing participation in politi-
cal matters of great delicacy. Their
kind of education and training de-
velops in them an ineptness in public
affairs, which are not conducted by
the manual and under the subsisting
threat Of the Articles of War. / think
newspapers have unwittingly aided their
clumsy Intervention and authoritarian
approach to policy matters, both foreign
and domestic.
I am not concerned about the use
the Communists will make Of any
thing Corpl. Dickinson and Col.
Schwable have said or done. am
concerned about Dickinson and
Schwable and the hundreds of others
who may be in their position and the
effect on thousands and millions of
Americans in case war comes. / am
also concerned for the impression the
Army'S deceit will make upon the non
Communist part of the world. After
all, the Army is part of the United
States Government. even though it
sometimes acts as if it were not aware
OF this. We overrate the propaganda
value to the enemy of such incidents
as the conversion of Dickinson and the
admission of Schwable. The Com
munists do not need the false admissions
OF our men. They can and do manu-
facture their stories out of whole cloth
and in no case can their subjugated
millions verify the source. I think they
force out such stories to sadistically
display their dominance.
AS to Dickinson. do not know the
charges made against him by fellow
prisoners. but the charges were GER
tainly known to some responsible per-
son in the Army at the time he was
brought back. The whole country got
the definite impression that all was
forgiven: that the prodigal had re-
turned. Not until recently did any one
in the Army indicate by words or action
that this was not so. have grave
doubts that there is anything involved
but the breaking of an ignorant boy
by clever and persistent psychological
pressure. In the last war had init
mate knowledge of the conduct of
special courts-martial and know what
travesty on justice they can be. I have
no reason to believe that general
courtS-martial are any better.
The case of Col. Schwable is more
clear cut. The Marine Corps is an elite