Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-26
Army Telling
Men 10 Resist
.BrainWashing
BY L. EDGAR PRINA

The Army is telling its soldiers
they must not succumb to Com
munist brainwashing in any
future war even if it means
risking their lives.
This was disclosed by top
Army officials in testimony be-
fore "a House Appropriations
subcommittee last month. The
testimony was made public last
night.
The prime advice, to the CT
and his officers of course, is what
it has always been: Don't get
captured.
In the event of capture, how
ever, the Army offers this advice:
Try to escape. If questioned by
the Communists give them only
four elementary facts-name,
rank, serial number and date OF
birth. Keep in mind the virtues
of the American way of life as
against the Communist system.
Ever since the Korean war,
when most of America for the
first time became acquainted
with the Communist technique of
mental torture called brainwash-
ing. the problem of how far the
captive should be allowed to go in
giving the enemy Information
has been wrestled with by the
Department of Defense and the
three services.
To date, there has been no uni
form policy for the services. The
handling of several special cases
by the Air Force and Marine
Corps show a marked difference
in approach to the problem.
A Marine Corps Board of In
quiry last year held a public
hearing into the false germ war
fare confession given to the Chi
nese Communists in Korea by
Col. Frank Schwable, a decorated
flyer of World War II.
Although the colonel was abb
solved because of the extreme
mental torture he suffered at the
hands of the Reds, the Marine
Corps found that his confession
dealt "a severe blow to the ma
tional interest and seriously i'm
paired" his future usefulness. He
was denied, command duty,
which, in effect, froze his career
Air Force Procedure Varies
On the other hand, the Air
Force designated five unidenti-
fled generals to consider in
an ultra secret inquiry the cases
of more than 80 officers and en-
listed men who confessed the
germ warfare charges under Red
pressure or who co-operated in
other Communist propaganda ef-
forts.
After the hearings, the Air
Force announced that because of
the mental and physical torture
involved and of the fact that no
precise instructions had been
given on what to do If captured
none of the men would be court
martialed. Twelve officers and
two enlisted men, however, were
ordered to show cause why they
should not be dishonorably dis
charged.
During the Schwable hearings,
several witnesses testified that
Air Force personnel in Korea
had been told by their superiors
that they could go beyond the
name-rank-serial number limita-
ton in the event of capture.
The brainwashing problem is
understood to have come up in
the high councils of the admin
istration recently when Read Ad-
miral Daniel Gallery, writing in
a national magazine, proposed
that we tell the world that our
fighting men have been in
structed to confess to anything
the Communists request.
President Said to Bristle
The admiral reasoned that this
way the Americans would not
have to undergo brainwashing
and the rest of the world would
not believe the Communist prop
uganda resulting from the "con-
feSSions."
Pentagon sources say that
President Eisenhower bristled at
this Gallery suggestion and let
the Navy know that the admiral
was speaking out of turn.
The Army said, too, that 1t ex-
poets to issue soon a new regu-
lation laying down the duties of
all soldiers from combat to
prison camp"