FREE ESSAY ON NORTH KOREA

NORTH KOREA

One of the misconceptions about the North Korean prisoner camps, where the extraordinary
amount of brainwashing happening in them. The communists gave the American prisoners of
war some reeducating. Brainwashing proved in the long run to be unproductive, but it did
keep 21 Americans in camp. The American armed forces tried to find out what really
happened with their own psychologists, but the information taken was inconclusive. Some
of the POW's in the North Korean camps where corrupted with the communism toxin, which
made a few of the men turn on their own friends and country. No Americans ever escaped
from the Communism prison camps. The death rate was the highest in history, 38%. 
Lt. Col. William E Mayer, one of the psychiatrists who participated in the interviewing
and Eugene Kinkead, a free lance writer The revolution of the 1930's proved that the
American adolescence church life and schooling was developing a good character in the
children's society, which intern translated itself onto the line of battle. Where the
American POW's showed great weakness for the will to survive. As the author of the
American Prisoners of War in Korea H. H. Wubben points out about the armed forces, The
average soldier gave little concern to the conflicting values underlying the military
struggle , , , [and] Although he showed a strong but tacit patriotism, this usually did
not lead him in his thinking to subordinate his personal interests to the furtherance of
ideal aims and values. The soldiers also faced bouts of apathy or depression which
possibly led some of the troops to death. Kinkead-Mayer reported Failures in adjustment
were most apparent in the 18-to-23-year-old group who had little or no previous
experience and much overprotection.
Dr. Harold Wolff, a consultant to the Advisory committee reported that about 10% of the
Americans didn't put up a fight or corresponded to the enemies requests. The escape rate
was not impressive.
The Two aspects of the Korean POW story noted by the author H. H. Wubben. First, there is
the fact that a poorly understood historical experience is interpreted in such a way that
is makes a thoroughly inaccurate comparison between Americans past and Americans present.
Second, there is the acceptance by the general public of this 'nonhistory' as history,
largely without the aid of historians. Wubben also mentions that these two aspects where
recorded from the prisoners'
The POW's where put into a grouping, depending how they reacted towards the North
Korean's while in camp. 5% of the prisoners where resistors, 15% where the participators
and the other 80% where the middlemen, which means that they a varied opinion on what
stance they would take depending on the situation. 
Morris Wills, one of the 21 POW's that escaped, testified on behalf of the animalistic
approach. He acknowledged You really can't worry about the other fellow; you are at the
line of existence yourself. If you go under that, you die. You would help each other if
you could. Most would try; I wouldn't say all.
They chapter then discusses about the grueling march that the soldiers have to endure
before they arrived to the prison camps. Captive British journalist Philip Deance said
prisoners faced life or death under brutal march conditions. One of the Lieutenant's
pleaded with the North Korean soldiers to let a few of his men go, because he pleaded
that they would die of exhaustion anyway. The Korean executed him on the spot. 
Wubben wrote, by implication they blame most of the deaths on prisoner negligence, or
worse, on loss of will to live, but five POW physicians noted differently. They wrote
that Every prisoner or war in Korea who died had suffered form malnutrition, exposure to
cold, and continued harassment by the Communists. One of the writers of the American POW
behavior, Stanley Elkins wrote a similar story to the five soldiers. He was quoted in his
writings by saying profound changes in behavior and values being effected without
physical torture or extreme deprivation.
The conditions brought upon the American POW's where extremely brutal, which gave the
American soldiers less energy and/or motivation to except from the prison camps.
Bibliography
no biblio