groups will need to speak up for the underside. to challenge the evils and ills of industrialization. to try to improve conditions in the factories, in the cities, on the farm. help the environment. and i'm here to tell you, that is in fact what's going to happen. but of course, that is our next lecture. there is more to the story, obviously. it's called the progressive era. where the government is going to pull back from being hands off to being very much hands on and try to correct some of the abuses of industrialization. but that is another story for another day. so, i'm done, enjoy the rest of your day. i'll see you next time. >> c-span's american history tv

continues now. you can find the full schedule for the weekend on your program guide or at c-span.org slash history. o ♪ ♪ ♪ >> from korea to germany, from alaska to puerto rico, all over the world the united states army is on the alert to defend our country, you, the american people, against aggression. this is the big picture. an official television report to the nation from the united states army. now, to show you part of the big picture, here is sergeant stewart queen. >> today on the big picture, the department of the army presents a documented report of the crimes and atrocities committed against american and other united nations prisoners

of war by their communist captors. you will hear the facts from repatriated prisoners of war. from major general william f dean and from the former supreme commander of the united nations forces in the far east, general mark w clark. to interview these men and to reveal these facts on the big picture, here is that noted network commentator and war correspondent, bill downs. >> the fact you are about to hear our shocking. the films you are about to see are not pleasant. some of them are revealed for the first time. but what you will see and what you will here is the stark truth that every american should know. ♪ ♪ ♪

those films were not shot on a hollywood lot for a horror picture. they are official army films. they are only a tiny fraction of the evidence of communist atrocities. and we could not begin to enumerate the number of the kind of terrible crimes committed by the communists against both military and civilian prisoners. but we are going to tell you about some of those crimes and we are going to show you some of their brutal results. not to shock you, but to reveal the true nature of the enemy. to give you an idea of the ruthless communist mind, of what would happen to civilization under communist rule. bear in mind that these atrocities have taken place not in the dark ages but in 1950 and 51 and 52.

look closely. we know it isn't a pretty sight, but if you remember what you see today, we will never again relax your emergence. these are captured prisoners of war, many of them americans, hand tides behind their backs, heads bashed in. some of them used for bayonet practice. yes, this is the pattern of communist, control of communist brutality, of horror piled upon horror. let us give credit where credit is due. the communist forces in korea have been able to out-match any fiendish nightmare the most imaginative creator of horrific shun could conceive. in their theory, they raided thousands of helpless village of their homes, clubbed them or bayonet them to death and dumped their bodies into abandoned mines or wells. this is an american soldier, one of the lucky prisoners of war who managed to survive. he's looking at the bodies of men who are captured with him

but who were not so fortunate. he may be recalling the terrible days of the death march which, for humanity, reached and surpassed the infamous death march on baton. one of the survivors of that credit merchants now recuperating at the army as well to read general hospital here in washington. we went to see a corporal from the 24th commission. one of the survivors of that korean death marches recuperating here in washington at the army's walter reed hospital. i would like you to meet corporal don schmidt gonna of baltimore, maryland. how are you feeling? >> fine, -- >> better than a couple months ago? >> better than i did before. >> how long were you a prisoner? >> 27 months in 14 days. >> how many hours? >> i couldn't say. >> how many do you figure finished this march? >> i want to say about 500. >> out of the 700 that started

originally? what figures out, as you say? >> doubles down now, there's only about 285 deaths today. because in the winter of, 50 we went to the school, have the korean school house. it was pretty cold and you had shaq's, a few checks. some anomie shanks. but every day, the 16 minute day. >> this was your treatment when you got to the prison camp? >> you've got chao twice a, day a race bull about the size. in the morning, i we had hundreds, either never had that. he thought maize or corn, cracked corn balls. and i date through a couple heads of cabbage. >> any medical treatment in the camp? >> they had a korean doctor. but he was a fool anyhow. >> what sort of treatment did he have, did he give?

>> he came around, we would call him the butcher. some guys were frostbitten and they would just take it and cut it off. >> what about any other treatments? shots over? >> that was later about. we stayed and moved from there in march of 51 and would come down to the school house in the chengdu aung area. that's where they had their famous shut. it was bad enough that they pass him away, give him a shot through their heart. if he is alive the next morning, he was pretty good to survive. 18 two guys you survived the shot. >> how many took? it >> i mentioned quite a few, 40 or 50 maybe. >> don, do you find that you have difficulty in convincing people in this country that these things really did happen? >> to try and believe it anyhow, easy to see for yourself who went through it. >> thanks for telling us the

facts, don't. i hope you get out of the hospital real soon. after talking with corporal don schmuck, eat we went down the long quarters of walter reed hospital into ward 33. where we met corporal eugene w. reid. >> fine, sir. >> with the, arm what have you got? >> tuberculosis of the bone. >> tuberculosis of the bone, you've got that during president it in korea? >> yes, sir. >> has it coming along? now >> it's coming along pretty good now. >> how long were you a prisoner? >> the seven months and 11 days, sir. >> what exactly i have been to you after you were captured? >> on the captured, that they took us on the hill and a group marched us north. >> where did you march to? >> and marched next to the yellow river. >> from the engine to the yellow, exactly how far is that? >> that is possibly about four

miles. >> when you finally got to that yellow prisoner camp, jean, what was a? like >> it was rare days, sir. gaetz head lice, dysentery, things like sickness and weak. especially after that long march and everything. >> did any of the fellows died from malnutrition or disease? >> yes, sir. >> how many? >> i really couldn't say. quite a few of them died -- >> what was that north korean hospital like? >> it was no japanese temple, it was made of mud. and goods bedsheet was on the floor. it took a guy, it would go and take him in the dungeon. have a pretty sight, watching that manned i. always called the stop off the boot heel. >> he spent two years in that prison camp, jean. did you get any heat at all?

>> very little, not too much. a bit on the floor, korean style, for two hours a day. sometimes not that long. >> what about blankets, that sort of thing? >> when we first got, there they only gave us one blanket for two men. after the troop stocks tied up they gave us -- >> thank you very much, jeanne, for telling us your story. they left walter reed hospital and went back to the pentagon, where a battle hardened soldier awaited us. a dog faced soldier, he calls himself. in july 1950, he was a commanding general of the united states 24th division which was rushed to dijon. the ballot was going against the united nations forces in korea. the 21st division vastly outnumbered, held against heavy odds for three weeks. then the city of pettyjohn was surrounded by the communist forces.

the general and his aide helped carry a wounded soldier from the area and rushed to escape. but a civilian turned traitor in turn the general over to his communist captors. he was held prisoner for 37 months. now, here with me is general william f dean. general, and the details that you released when you return home, you mentioned the many long hours that the communists had spent trying to get information out of you. >> yes, that first month of september, they questioned me almost continuously. and one, stretch they questioned me for 68 hours. >> general, did the communists try to indoctrinate you? >> they did. they tried various methods. they tried persuasion, bribery, but kept all literature, all means of diversion away from me for a period of 14 months.

and they gave me literature, it was all communist literature. >> treatment you've received in three, years practically in solitary, was an act then to try to woo you to their side. >> i do. >> did they say how they were taking care of your men? >> they didn't tell me how they are taking care of our men, but they said that our men were very happy and gay and were always singing. and we're so mary. they should meet petitions with alleged full aesthetic signatures of p.o.w.'s, man from the whole organization. men that i had known and men whom i could not make myself believe they would sign such petitions. these petitions were directed toward the soldiers of our army

that were fighting in the south, that were appeals to the american people stating that we had been misled, but they had discovered, that is the p.o.w. 's, had discovered that the south koreans had started the war and not the north koreans. and that there is no point in our fighting further. they also showed me copies of broadcasts that they alleged had been made with ease, for these men. and officers. and they requested me at my signature into the petition. they constantly urged that i go on the air and broadcast an appeal to the american troops

to quit fighting. >> why didn't you, sir? i mean, you are in pretty bad shape, weren't you? >> well, i am an officer in the united states army. and even if i had believed that which they were telling me, if i was still in the service of the united states under the surface of the people of the united states, i couldn't be a traitor. >> general dean, there should be some lessons that we had on the sideline during this horrible affair could draw from your experience and the experience of the men who went through these horrible things. what would be those lessons? >> i feel that one of the first lessons is that we should teach, at all levels, went true americanism means and is.

we should teach what true democracy is and we should teach it by practice, not by just citing it inwards. we should not forget consideration for others. it is often too easy to think only of ourselves. we must teach and practice consideration for others at all times if we are going to beat this insidious propaganda of the communists. >> general, if you had about a minute or a dozen sentences to say to the families and wives and mothers of the men who went through this experience as you did, and a man who will find their permanent home in korea, what would you say to them? >> i would say that they can

certainly find a great deal of satisfaction, real satisfaction, in the fact that their sons came through this ordeal with flying colors. and the face of this persecution, this torture. all these atrocities that we have just witnessed, they came to steadfast in their faith. i feel that they can take real personal satisfaction and pride in their sons. >> general, we of course will never be able to repay their debts, but we can try. i want to thank you very much. >> thank you. >> first lieutenant robert s would cause the nation's capital his hometown. but for three long years, his home was a present camp in the

far north of korea. lieutenant would looks in pretty good shape now, you can't tell from his face the ordeal he has been through. but as you listen to his story, you will be reminded again of man's inhumanity to man. bob, you were captured in november of 1950, weren't you? >> yes, bill. i was with the eight cavalry regiment of the cavalry division. chinese hit us about 90 miles north of pyongyang. we were ordered to hold there and we're surrounded, a little over 200 of us were captured at that time. >> bob, how are you treated? >> we received very poor food, very little of it, lost a lot of weight and strength. one of the men was very badly wounded, had to have his leg amputated. >> what happened to him? >> the chinese supplied the american doctors there with a rusty scalpel and some suitors. the doctors were able to operate successfully. however, later he died of

dysentery. >> bob, were there any hospital facilities for you at all? >> yes, they had a hospital, if you want to call it that. it was a filthy hole in some korean huts. the dead were lined in among the living and the stench alone was enough to make a man sick. i know it drove some of the men out of their minds. >> this american doctors book of, wasn't there anything he could do about the situation? would they listen to him? >> yes, we had some american doctors who are in the hospital there. after a little while they release one of the doctors and sent him out of the hospital area. they said he wasn't a good doctor, that he wasn't politically conscious, he did not know where to save and who to let die. >> what did they mean by that? >> simply that they did not want to attempt to save the lives of anyone who fought their indoctrination program. >> were there any other, similar incidents at your camp? >> yes, there were many, bill.

they gave us a series of lectures, forced readings, discussion periods, examinations, lasting up to ten hours a day. there was one instance in which we were forced to listen to a speech that was made by -- the foreign minister for red china. one of the majors spoke up at the end of the speech and said the speech wasn't worth the paper it was written down, cheap paper at that. >> what happened to him? >> he was immediately yanked out, beaten, thrown into a hole for solitary confinement. and completely broken. he later died as a result of his treatment. >> how are you affected personally, bob? >> like all prisoners of war, i suffered from malnutrition. i contracted a case of malaria, hepatitis and -- >> you're looking pretty fit

now, bob. >> thanks to getting back to civilization, good food and ease and medical care. >> well, i hope you keep on keeping fit, and good luck. thanks. lieutenant wood was fortunate to make a quick recovery, but some of our men were not so fortunate. like p fc james are wind ali, who comes from cincinnati ohio. we went back to walter reed general hospital to talk about jim when delaying, we found him in bed. >> hi, jim, how are you doing? >> fine, sir. >> he looked pretty good, how do you feel? >> just fine. >> tell me what happened to you. when and where were you hit. >> -- on the 22nd of april. >> north of the 38? >> 50 miles north 38, and it

was summit as a counterattack. we waited around for a while and that the chinese started popping up and found our holes. 15, 20 minutes later it was overrun by chinese. there is only five of us left. so, we figured we'd taken to try to find a way of the hill. a concussion grenade went off in my face and knock me out. i figured about two hours afterwards, they had as down into a foxhole. i woke up and was surrounded by chinese. >> you lost your eye in this? >> yes, -- they told me they were going to move me out on a march. it would be about 25 miles per day to pyongyang. >> this is the only medical treatment you have received? >> yes. >> the water, to wash your face off? >> yes.

well on the march, they would let us take any water, no water has crossed the pond, we could scoop it up with the cup or whatever we had in our hands. they had a trial on this one kid, they said he shot a chinese. >> they had a trial, they claimed he shot a chinese? you didn't have any weapons. >> we had no weapons whatsoever on the march. they told us to be in the school building at such and such time. they came and got, as told us let's go down inside of the floor. , so we sat and they lead off a big line of stuff on a sheet, his comrades arrived and we had to shoot him. they took him up on days upon the hill and shot him. >> did they line everybody up so they could watch this? >> yes, sir. >> then, did the chinese are you out of bed, while the trial was held and you are forced to witnesses execution? >> yes, sir. >> where did you end up? >> we ended up in a prison camp, which was called john song.

they named camp one. >> was treatment better there than on this march? >> no, sir. >> jim, i know it must be a strain, will drop it here and i want to wish you a speedy recovery. >> thank, you sir. >> the summing up is perhaps best interest by the former supreme commander of the united nations forces and the far east, general mark w clark. general clark, you have heard these repatriated prisoners of war. i know their stories are not new to you. but do you have any releasable figures on the number of victims of communist atrocities? >> yes, mr. downs, actually we recovered, uncovered i might say, for 10,000 bodies. victims of communist treachery and savage murder in korea. as a matter-of-fact, the evidence indicates that there are over 30,000 that have been murdered in cold blood by the

communists. of which about 11, 000, 600 actually where united nations troops. >> what has been the treatment of red prisoners and our own camps, general? >> notwithstanding the communist screams to the contrary, we abided strictly by the terms of the geneva conference with regard to the care of prisoners of war. with regards to clothing, food and medical treatment. as a matter of fact, they never had so good as they did in these p.o.w. camps that we administer. >> how the medical treatment of american prisoners of war and in their camps? >> it was pretty crude. there are surgical procedures were really barbaric. they didn't permit our own doctors who had been captured to have any medicines or means by which they could care for our own sick and wounded people. we have evidence of many amputations that took place where no anesthetic was used at all. it was extremely crude. >> it has been said, general,

that the accepted communist medical prescription was a bullet. do we find that was true? >> yes, we did. we found many cases are not only the body but the evidence of some of the perpetrators and men who witnessed the cold blooded shooting in the back of the head, with a russian-made bullet. >> thank you very much, general clark. does the first time in our history that united states forces have met by communists on the battlefield. let us hope that what we have seen here today is not a preview, but a conclusion. yet, within official files, there is sufficient evidence to show that these atrocities were all part of a premeditated campaign in korea. from the voices of repatriated prisoners of war, you have heard identical incidents of brutality, malnutrition, lack of any decent medical care. of want to disregard of human life. the communist pattern, obvious and terrible. remember to that only when the truce talks began, when the

communists knew that they could not win, when they saw that we are backing up our resolve to remain free with men and with arms. only then did the brutality lesson. only that were our prisoners of war treated somewhat like human beings. you are looking at the true face of communism. never forget it. >> you have seen and heard the shocking facts about communist atrocities and brutality. your commentator was bill downs, well-known network correspondent. >> the big picture is a weekly television reporter the nation on the activities of the armor at home and overseas. produced by the signal corpse pictorial center. presented by the u.s. army, in cooperation with the station. >> recently on american history tv, ron james discussed his

book the truman, court law and the limits of loyalty. and whether president harry truman said the president for a politicized supreme court with his nominations. >> it is a shock to the system, i think it's an excellent point, steve. i've spent a good amount of time thinking about it over the last few years. about how that was a shock to americans reading their newspapers or listening to the radio. and saying, who even is this guy and what is happening here? and we are at war. it kind of came to a head in later times. part of why it came to a head was in part his supreme court nominees, as he began to nominate his friends. which brings us to tom, clark one of his friends. he nominated tom clark to be attorney general of the united states. tom clark, at the time, was a

year older than i am now. i'm 40, three clark was 45 at the time. clark had been and an exceptional law student, actually ended up in washington by accident. franklin roosevelt had wanted to hire tom clark's older brother, it was an exceptional law student, big shot lawyer and was by all accounts on his way to doing grand things. complex older brother said no, i'm doing very well here in texas. so, then, the senator from texas said to the, white house i've got his younger brother. take him. they said, finn sent him up. they gave tom clark initially something of a lackey job in the department of justice. but clark worked his way up. what he may have lacked in perhaps academic ability, he certainly made up for in work ethic. he became chairman's attorney general and became very

successful in being an aggressive attorney general. in part because he recognized that he was not the best lawyer in the building. so, what he did was manage the department of justice and say, what can we do to advance the administration's agenda? now, we expect that of our attorneys general. the president certainly expects it of the attorney general. but at the time, prior to that, the attorney general had generally been kind of what we think of now, what these lawyers think of now, as a solicitor general. as an exceptional lawyer with impeccable credentials. now, you can get someone in there like president trump had to senator jeff sessions in there. carrying out his agenda. and president george w. bush had alberto gonzalez. neither of those were these great, incredible legal minds. they were effective, though for the time and which they were there, in carrying out to the presidents agenda.

that, i would contend that that began in earnest with tom clark working for president truman. >> follow the presidency programs that have been featured on american history tv, availae to watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history. >> you are watching american history tv. to see what's coming up today, visit c-span.org slash history. you can also follow along on social media at c-span history. on twitter, instagram and facebook. >> our weekly has serious, the presidency, highlights the politics, policies and histories of u.s. presidents and first ladies. this, week scientist and abraham lincoln historian david kent talks about the 16th presidents interest in science and technology. from farm science to patent cases to advances in warfare. mr. kent is president of the lincoln group of the district of columbia, which hosts this