(Text/Song Yu)
When this reporter met Jiang Kai, a veteran soldier of the volunteer army in Beijing, the old man sat on the sofa in the living room with his back straight, which was his habit of joining the army for many years.
At the age of 96, Jiang Kai's spirit is strong and full of red light. Not only that, the old man's thinking is clear, for more than an hour, he almost uninterruptedly recounted to reporters the extraordinary period of 70 years ago, which can be said to be a "unique" experience in the history of the world's prisoner-of-war camps.
"American soldiers do not want to fight in North Korea"
In March 1949, Jiang Kai, who was studying in the Spanish Department of Peking University, resolutely threw himself into the revolution under the influence of progressive ideas and went south as a reporter accompanying the army. Jiang Kai recalled that when the liberation of hainan island was celebrated on May 1, 1950, he was in the same mood as his comrades-in-arms, "the day of peace and stability has finally come."
However, more than a month later, the Korean War broke out. Soon, Jiang Kai's 15th Corps of the People's Liberation Army (reorganized into the headquarters of the Volunteer Army after entering the DPRK) was ordered to go north to defend the northeast border. After arriving in Andong (present-day Dandong, Liaoning), because of his foreign language advantages, Jiang Kai was ordered to take over the work of foreign prisoners of war after entering the DPRK. On the evening of October 23, Jiang Kai and his corps entered North Korea from the mouth of the Changdian River on the Yalu River.
Soon after the first campaign began, the front-line troops captured an American officer and sent him to the volunteer headquarters. Jiang Kai took over the prisoner and began his six-year management of U.S. prisoners of war.
He recalled that the prisoner of war, Jones, was a military adviser sent by the U.S. Army to the Sixth Division of South Korean troops. "When he saw us, he was very nervous, worried, and refused to talk much."
Jiang Kai and his comrades-in-arms arranged for Jones to live in a korean hometown, let him eat a full stomach, put on a winter coat, and put on a medicine for his injuries, slowly eliminating Jones's fear of "being killed and abused". "Jones told me that he didn't want to come to Korea to fight, that his wife and children were in the United States, and that his only hope was to come home alive to see his loved ones." Jiang Kai said that Jones's change of thinking made him appreciate the role of our army's policy of leniency toward prisoners of war.
File photo: Jiang Kai in North Korea. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
The "Prisoner of War Camp Olympics" make history
As the war progressed, a large number of prisoners of war were sent from the front to the rear, and the task of establishing prisoner of war camps was imminent. In 1950, when the winter in North Korea was unusually cold, Jiang Kai and his comrades-in-arms marched through the night against the wind and snow to Beatong on the banks of the Yalu River and built the first prisoner-of-war camp of the Chinese Volunteer Army in a town that was bombed into ruins by the US army.
After the establishment of the Bitong Prisoner of War Camp, the living and living conditions of prisoners of war were improved. "At that time, the central government decided that the Chinese side would take over the supply of materials for the prisoners of war." Jiang Kai said that the improvement of life has played a great role in stabilizing the mood of prisoners of war.
Later, five prisoner-of-war camps were successively established in the area around Bitong, containing about 4,000 PRISONERs of war of the "United Nations Army". Jiang Kai told reporters that they not only fed and clothed the prisoners of war and treated their wounds and illnesses, but also carried out cultural and sports activities in the prisoner of war camp, and even held a sports meeting in 1952 with more than 500 prisoners of war from 14 countries and regions. "They were impressed by the 'POW Camp Olympics', and some commented that 'an unprecedented history of POW camps' was created."
The old man also specifically mentioned two details, one is that a prisoner of war who can take photographs has taken many photos of life in the camp, there are volunteers who distribute winter clothes, haircuts, and family letters to prisoners of war, and scenes of prisoners of war dancing, playing poker, and celebrating Christmas, which caused a sensation in Western society after being released by the Associated Press. The other is that Jiang Kai and his comrades-in-arms helped prisoners of war exchange more than 120,000 letters with their families in more than two years, "communications to a certain extent to meet the needs of prisoners of war to miss their families, but also expand the impact of China's policy of leniency in American society."
The released prisoners of war were moved to tears
At the beginning of the establishment of the prisoner-of-war camp, the experience of releasing prisoners in the battlefield made Jiang Kai remember it deeply. In November 1950, Jiang Kai and his comrades-in-arms suddenly received a notice from the headquarters of the Volunteer Army to select a group of prisoners of war to be sent to the front line for release.
"The release of prisoners of war in a state of war is a pioneering undertaking." Jiang Kai recalled that at that time, they selected 27 PRISONERs of war of the US army and 76 prisoners of war of the Rok National Army, and "as soon as the names of the prisoners of war were announced, they immediately caused a great sensation, and the released prisoners of war were moved to tears."
In July 1951, negotiations on the Korean armistice began. On April 20, 1953, the two sides exchanged wounded and sick prisoners of war at Panmunjom under an agreement. Jiang Kai served as an English interpreter for the Sino-DPRK joint team and witnessed the repatriation of prisoners of war from the United States, Britain, and other countries. He recalled that the "UN" PRISONERS, dressed in blue uniforms, "shook hands with us one by one with a smile and said goodbye, thanking us for our 'humane and benevolent' care" and saying that "we will never forget the friendship of the Chinese Volunteers".
Jiang Kai said: "The list of directly repatriated prisoners of war handed over by our side to the other side totaled about 12,000 people, and the names, nationalities, unit numbers, and health status of each prisoner of war were all clear, which was completely unexpected by the other side." At that time, the Americans found the name of William Dean in the prisoner-of-war list, and the commander of the US 24th Division spent 3 years in the Sino-Korean prisoner of war camp. American newspapers immediately reported the incident under the headline "Dean is still alive in the world." "It is also a miracle in the history of prisoners of war that a senior U.S. general was able to return home safely after two or three years. After that, even if the United States wanted to make a fuss about prisoners of war, it could not stand. ”
File photo: Jiang Kai recent photo. (Photo by Song Yu)
【Biography】
Jiang Kai, born in 1924 in Heqing County, Yunnan Province, was admitted to the Southwest United University in 1945 and later studied in the Spanish Department of Peking University; joined the revolution in March 1949 and participated in the campaign to liberate Guangzhou and Hainan Island; entered the Korean War on October 23, 1950, participating in the management of prisoners of war on the Korean battlefield; joined the Communist Party of China in 1956, then worked in the Tibet Military Region, Chengdu Military Region and the Liaison Department of the General Political Department; and retired in 1985.
Source: Reference News Network