Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-19
Cites
PW Plight, Hits
Defense Slash
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON

~@A@'AA~o - &NAA w - O&N
Senator Symington, Demo-
crat, of Missouri, today used the
case of the Is American airmen
held as prisoners by Red China
to launch a new attack on adj
ministration cuts in defense ex-
penditures.
The Senator said the airmen.
shot down by the Reds in 1858,
were sent on a combat mission
in an obsolete" airplane-a B.
29-while at the same time the
administration was cutting back
money for production of modern
equipment"
unfortunate" Situation
Terming the whole situation
unfortunate" the Missourian
said it illustrated 1.-The impor-
tance. of having modern military
equipment if we are in trouble"
The Eisenhower administration
Topped SIS billion in early 1858
from the Truman administra-
tion's estimates for Air Force
expenditures, and Senator Sym
ington has been fighting new
cuts in military defense requests.
Senator Symington is men,
Der of the Senate Investigations
subcommittee which yesterday
heard State and Defense Depart
ment officials say that a new
approach is being undertaken to
secure the release of the airmen
ands other Americans held in
Chinese camps.
The officials said that new
estimates of Americans, both
military and civilians, now i'm
prisoned by Red China have
been reduced to about sci.
Subcommittee Chairman Nc
Clellan told reporters after the
session that the group deferred
a decision on whether to in
vestigate the whole prisoner
problem pending outcome of
current negotiations. He said
the subcommittee would take
another look at the situation in
about three weeks.
Working Through u. N.
Senator Mcclellan said that
the new estimate includes both
military and civilian prisoners.
He said the new approach to
negotiations is primarily through
the United Nations.
The last previous estimate of
Americans held prisoner by Red
China put the number at ga.
1--WE learned that a large
number of those have been ac-
counted for" Senator Mcclellan
said. land we were told that the
figure is now 481 military per-
sonnet plus about 40 civilians"
The Senator said that those
who had been. as he said, sub
stantialiy accounted for" are
dead. He said that he did not
know whether they we're killed
in the Korean war or had died
since the armistice. 81
The subcommittee chairman
said that the approximate figure
of 521 did not include the 10
GIs who chose to stay in Red
China.
Bender Disputes Figures
Senator Bender. Republican,
of Ohio said later that American
officials know for certain of only
Is United States flyers and 10
American civilians held captive
in Red China.
"All else is conjecture" Sem
ator Bender said in an interview
with the Associated Press. He
is a member of the investi-
cations group and sat in on
the two-hour closed conference.
The Ohio Republican said it
was Cruel to raise the hopes
of the families of missing Amer
lean servicemen without any real
basis"
He said that as he understood
the testimony. except for the Is
airmen, the 48l figure repre-
sented military personnel still
unaccounted for.
But there was nothing to in
dictate that the other men are
prisoners" he said. In fact.
they said they had the very def
mite feeling that most of these
men are dead"
Can't Divulge Details
Senator Mcclellan said that
he was not at liberty to discuss
details of the new approach be-
ing undertaken to obtain release
of the prisoners.
He pointed out that the resolu-
ton under which the United Ma
tons has been negotiating with
Red China was directed prin-