“False” Confessions Cover-up: U.S. Told Airmen Who Admitted Germ War in Korea They Could Reveal Information If Captured
This article will explore the long-hidden fact that captured U.S. flyers, who stated under interrogation to their Chinese captors that the U.S. had undertaken a program of biological warfare (BW) in the Korean War, in fact had been told by their superiors that if captured they could tell interrogators whatever they felt they must. Some said they were even instructed to “tell all.”
No sooner were the controversial instructions on conduct under interrogation revealed during a high-profile military hearing in spring 1954 than the revelations from the hearing were classified and removed from public view.
The instructions to talk given to flyers prior to their capture differed significantly from those given to regular enlisted men, who were instructed they could only provide the standard name, rank, serial number and other simple demographic information to their enemy authorities. Airmen and regular troops differed considerably in age and educational status.
