Evening star., 1955-02-15

NorioHS IN koreo. ne enoUfeu TWO
yeors as q prisoner OF the Chinese
communists-with the II American
oirmen in whose behalf U. N. See
retory General HommarskioId recently
went to Peipins.
battle, the exploding shells and
din of radio chatter in my ears.
In their place was the soft swish
ing sound of the air spilling out
of my chute as I slowly swung
back and forth In the sky. It
was bitter cold.
I had difficulty breathing at
that height, but I did not lose
consciousness.
I could see the Yalu River be-
low, part of Northeast China, the
big power station on the Yalu
and the mountainous terrain Of
North Korea. I wondered what
my chances Of evading capture
would be.
When my aircraft was hit by
fire from the MIG. my squadron
was about 20 miles south of the
Yalu. 1t was patrolling to keep
enemy planes from approaching
Seoul while PreSident-elect Eli
senhower was in the city.
I had bailed out and was drop
ping into enemy territory. It
was December 5. 1852. The line
of battle was far south, in the
area of the 38th parallel, and I
was over North Korea.
Sees Trucks With Soldiers.
AS I got down to about $4,000
feet I could plainly make out
houses, roads and moving ve-
hicles. AS I neared the ground
I could see two trucks coming
around bend in a road. obvi-
ously headed in my direction
The thought passed through my
mind that / should try to slip
my chute SO I could drop side
ways and thus present a poorer
target If they opened fire on me-
It would also enable me to put
more distance between us. I tried
to pull the cords. but found I
was too weak from lack of oxy-
ooVo RI mo no oo II
The trucks were still coming
along the road, following my
descent. AS I dropped lower I
could see there were soldiers in
them.
I landed on the side of a
about 80 feet away
from an old woman gathering
grass for fuel. I'll never forget
the surprised look on her face
when I lighted at her feet. But
after a glance she went right
ahead with her work and paid
no further attention to me.
The trucks were now near the
bottom of the hill. I removed
my parachute, and dropped every
piece of gear I could to make it
easier for me to run. thought
that If I could get over the
out Of sight of the
soldiers, with luck / might hide
and wait for nightfall.
Warning Volley Fired.
But as scrambled on all fours
up the side of the mountain I
glanced over my shoulder and
saw the two trucks screech to
a halt. The soldiers jumped out
and came running after me.
as they ran. Some were
with Tommy guns. others
with rifles. There were Is men
in each truck and all 80 were
hard at my heels. They shouted
and waved to me to come back.
loosing a warning volley. I
could hear the bullets bouncing
off the rocks around me.
I realized that in my weak
ened condition I would never
be able to reach the top of the
So I stopped, got to my
feet turned around to face my
pursuers and waited. They con-
tinued to beckon to me as they |
advanced, but the firing stopped.
began to walk down the noun
tain to meet them.
Halfway down / was surround
ed. They did not strike me,
but kept me covered with their
One man, who ap-
peared to be the leader, mo-
toned to me to raise my hands.
did so. Then he and several |
of his companions stripped me |
of my As, which was in my arm
pit holster, and of my G-suit |
and Mae West. Then they |
my pockets of cigarettes,
a cigarette lighter, and other
personal articles.
Chinese Is Leader.
While they were doing this
locked them over with interest. |