IN EVERY WAR BUT ONE

by Eugene Kinkead ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Based on an article which appeared some ago in The New Yorker, this is a clear-eyed examination of one of the most puzzling- and disturbing- phenomena of our time, the breakdown of morale and wholesale collaboration with the captors by American prisoners during the Korean war. For in every war- except this one-the conduct of our servicemen, enduring far greater suffering than they did in enemy camps in Korea, was irreproachable. The story of what happened, and why, is not only a demonstration of Soviet Russia's ""total psychological weapon"" in action, but also a ""haunting and inescapable challenge to every American"". Kinkead, with the Army's cooperation, had access to the data which he has correlated and evaluated here, and through this evidence as well as the direct interviewing of a number of Army officials has been able to present the facts- and some of the answers. Some of the most fascinating material is on the use of indoctrination (repetition, harassment and humiliation) and its twin, interrogation (coercion as against actual torture)- its success attested the single statistic that more than 13% were guilty of serious collaboration, rebutted by the fact that those who resisted from the beginning were left alone from then on. This examines as well the dossiers of those repatriated and the extensive psychiatric testing which followed; the treason trials- of only the most definite and flagrant cases- which occasioned so much unfavorable criticism; the categorizing of the collaborators; the physical aspects of the imprisonment they endured; the ethical and moral considerations. Not as censure, but as a rationale of why discipline sagged- there is one Army man's criticism of the ""new softness"" which prevails today- right from the top on down.... Level and factual, firm but non-judgmental, this is a fine piece of reporting with implications far greater than the immediate area of inquiry.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 0313231133

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION