The Sidney herald., 1955-03-10
washing given them by the Reds.

washing given them by the Reds.
1 like very much what Rear
Admiral D. V. Gallery, USN, had
to say about it. He said:
GAS an American, I'm ashamed
of the position we put them in.
This must never happen again.
We must fix it SO that no prison
err will ever again have to endure
torture to preserve the good
standing of the United States be-
fore the other free nations or
feel that an absurd confession ex-
torted from him may be held
against him, if he survives"
He goes on, saying: General
Dean, captured early in the Ko-
rean War, is a brave man. He got
the Congressional Medal of Honor.
He was never actually brainwash-
ed, but when threatened with it,
he decided the only way he could
prevent the Reds from getting
what they wanted out of him, was
suicide"
We have got to find some bet
ter choice for the defenders of
our Freedom than torture, suicide,
or disgrace.
Marine Col. Frank Schwable,
according to the Chinese Com
munists, confessed to "germ-war-
fare charges" You and I are pref
ty confident no such action was
taken by our government.
Brainwashing is a devlish new
process, developed by the Rus
slams through experiments on dogs
and rats. Their psychologist,
Pavlov, found that by regiment
ing and frustrating animals, and
by constant repetition of a set of
circumstances, such as ringing a
bell just before feeding them, he
could condition their reflexes'
SO that the animals mouth would
water every time a bell rung.
Isn't that a hell of a way to
treat human beings?
They make you live in SOIi-
tary filth, deprived of all human
contact. They strip you of all
human dignity and deny you
food and sleep until you are
nearly, but not quite, dead. Tor
ture is used with clinical skill.
Time drags out into eternity,
where you are alone with your
thoughts. You become a border
line case between a human be-
ing and a rat struggling to stay
alive. Eventually your natural
instincts may be replaced, like
the rats, by conditioned reflexeS.
All you car do now to stop the
torture is to confess" or "die."
Our present policy Of dealing
with some of u own prisoners
of war is a Windfall to the COM
munist. Compare how we treat a
brainwashed CT with the treat
ment guaranteed by the Constitu-
ton even with criminals.
A soldier who had obviously a
false propaganda confession tor
tured out of him, can be tried by
court-martial for giving laid and
comfort to the enemy"
A criminal who has a true con-
fession beaten out of him by the
police goes ~scot-free if he can
prove that he was forced to tell
the truth about an actual crime.
1 am ashamed Ask your
self if you don't feel ashamed
also.
Rear Admiral Gallery con-
cIudes with this - I will also
conclude with ito leave the
solution of his problem in mill
tary hands isn't fair to anyone
concerned, including the much
maligned military brass. Military
men have a Spartan code of ethics
of which they are justly proud,
and the American people rightly
expect them to live up to it. If
we leave this problem in their
hands, we can expect a Spartan
solution, all wrapped UP in a neat
little ball of military wax, such
as name, rank and serial num-
ber," for foot soldiers and the
bombardier of a BAT alike.
The problem is only partly mill
tary and it is much too big for
any such pat solution as that.
Still quoting Rear Admiral Gal
lery "We have to educate the
American people to realize that
we aren't playing a game any
more, a game that can be run by
gentlemen's agreements and inter
national pacts."
We are in a Iife-and-death
struggle with a goddess system
which regards human dignity as
a zero quantity.
Against the b~rainwashers the
Geneva Convention is as obsolete
as the TINT bomb.
1t is u duty to the future de-
tenders of our freedoms to find a
better answer to it.
When the FavOrite FlOps
ffr - - 49, 4r.T0