American POWs in Korea : Sixteen Personal Accounts [Paperback]

Harry Spiller (Author, Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786405619 | ISBN-13: 978-0786405619 | Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Over 7,000 Americans were captured during the three years of the Korean War. They wound up in 20 camps throughout North Korea with nearly 40 percent of them dying there. Some were murdered or starved, others died from poor medical treatment or from the severe cold. Despite brutal conditions, most of the POWs survived the isolation, cold, hunger and disease. Here are 16 personal accounts of men who fought the North Koreans and the Chinese and then faced life as a POW. They talk about the psychological effects, the living conditions, the medical situation, the day to day details, and liberation. These compelling stories paint a full picture of life as a prisoner of war in Korea.

Editorial Reviews

Review

recommended --Library Journal

recommended --Military

About the Author

Harry Spiller served two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. He is an associate professor of criminal justice and lives in Marion, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 189 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786405619
• ISBN-13: 978-0786405619
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I published my first story with True Detective magazine. And published numerous other stories after that until the company went out of business. My first book Death Angel a memoir of in country and delivering death messages to families after my first tour in Viet Nam was published in 1992 after five years of rejection. Since that time I have published 13 books of oral history about World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. I also have a series Murder In The Heartland of three books. I am presently working on the fourth and fifth book of that series and a oral history on the Iraq war. I served 2 tours in Vietnam, was Sheriff of Williamson County,Illinois, and a retired Associate Professor of Criminal Justice. I have also been involved in writing conferences and have spoken at many writing event.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Collection of Essays; Poor job by the Editor, August 20, 2002

By 

Gary J. Jakacky "nagaisan" (Pittsfield, Ma United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American POWs in Korea : Sixteen Personal Accounts (Paperback)

There are parts of this book which are engaging reading, but for the most part it is a set of sterile-if painful-renditions of the lives of 16 POWs in North Korean prison camps from 1950 thru their release under operations Little and Big Switch. Mr. Spiller edited this book, leaving the personal accounts largely untouched. However, his editing leaves much to be desired. Consider Donald Elliot: he joined the Army on Nov. 25, 1950, but there are references to `his unit' being in action as early as August 19th, 1950 in Pusan. Even worse is Daniel Johnson's story. There are references to the Pusan Perimeter Battles...in February, 1951?? It is possible that Johnson might be confusing the several Chinese offensives of early 1951 with the steady attack by the NKPA the previous summer; but even so, for Spiller not to correct these misconceptions is ridiculous and detracts from the rest of the book. Spiller could also have more effectively and uniformly summarized the pre-war pre-enlistment experiences of his subjects.

There were three general phases to the POW experience for most of these men. The first was the `marching phase' when they walked-often barefoot and poorly clad in bitterly cold weather-from their point of capture to camps deep in NK, near the Yalu. The 2nd phase lasted until October 1951, when control of the camps was delegated largely to Chinese control. This 2nd phase resulted in enormous percentages (40%) of deaths from starvation, malnutrition and denial of medical care by pitiless NKPA guards. The Chinese, who took over for the 3rd phase in late 1951, were better; treatment of POWs improved, at least as much as the PLA's limited resources would allow.

I found meaningful commentary and analysis in all 16 of these interviews. Several men refer to night blindness among prisoners and guards, a consequence of few vegetables in their diet. Some of the men even used this to their advantage in the camps. Nor are all the renditions monotony about torture, lice, cold, and dysentery. Funchess and Osborne referred to pranks and crazy weeks in the camps; one commandant even offered a bag lunch and 2 hours head start to any POW who wanted to try and escape. Private Paul Smith escaped from his POW camp-then again, he had experience, having done the same from a German camp in WWII. Several men discussed marijuana use and abuse in the camps; the weed grew wild throughout North Korea, and the Turkish POWs noticed it first. Sometimes the Chinese would throw bags of the weed into the barracks and the men would roll it in newspapers. All of them referred to starvation, lack of medical treatment, and infectious diseases as the scourge of life in the camps, where 40% of prisoners died. There are numerous references to differences in treatment by Chinese vs. North Korean guards, the latter far more cruel. Chinese interrogators, Bill Gaddy says, `respected tough prisoners; they had no room for collaborators.'

The appropriately named Willfred Ruff taunted and slapped some of his guards and paid a high price; still, armchair flagwaving rightwingers (damn there are a lot of them in post 9-11 america) might want to look long and hard about how this man felt about one collaborator in particular.

Several of the interviews stand head and shoulders above the others. Ken Neville's story is by far the most cerebral and analytical account of his days in the camps. He has a precise account of his feelings, the games he played to try and deceive and appease his interrogators; and a lot of thoughtful reflection about how his POW experience affected his later life. Much the same can be said about Donald Slagle: readers of James Thompsons "True Colors" might enjoy Slagle's comments about the same camp V. Read about how he darned socks from a small blanket; used garlic to purge tapeworms (unlike the Turkish prisoners, who just pulled them out of their butt when they got long enough). A postscript to the Slagle story states that many POWs kept an oath of silence because collaboration investigations and trials. For more on this issue see Raymond Lech's "Broken Soldiers"

In general a worthwhile book to read. I hope a 2nd edition is released with the editing errors rectified.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars American POWs in Korea - deserve better, March 24, 2009

By 

John N. Powers - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American POWs in Korea : Sixteen Personal Accounts (Paperback)

Spiller's American POWs in Korea:Sixteen Personal Accounts is poorly constructed. Photos of POWs in camps and of camps themselves, including the cover, are not of Americans but North Korean and Chinese POWs in UN camps. Dates, directions, and distances are often in error. Especially in error are the locations of POW camps holding Americans and the dates those camps existed. There were no recorded escapes from the permanent camps but one appears in this book. Too many obvious mistakes on a topic that should be treated with more respect.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Military Magazine, August 2000, September 5, 2000

By 

Lloyd W. Pate President Korean Ex-POWs (Grovetown, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American POWs in Korea : Sixteen Personal Accounts (Paperback)

I recommend the book to any serious reader of the Korean War. To hear from the mouths of these men of the hell they went through at the hands of their captors.